Intercultural Communication and Translation News

At the last estimate it was thought that there are around five hundred and thirty seven million users who make use of the internet in the English language, on top of this around 445 million people use the web in the Chinese language. These are the two main languages that the public use in order to navigate the internet, but there are a huge number of people who use countless other languages to surf the net and these add up to around 995 million.
Many businesses miss out on a huge untapped global market by alienating customers who cannot speak the language in which the website has been written.
In a Eurobarometer survey, it was found that around 90% of all European web users will make the choice to use a website that has been written in their first language, as they feel it gives them a better feeling of security and confidence that the transaction will go well.
It is clear then that if a global business does not want to alienate a large consumer market then they must take the issue of language translation very seriously.
The new generation that is coming through which has been named the Millennial generation is bound to make a large impact on the global business world as many of these people use the internet every single day. The Millennial generation are also proving to be entrepreneurial and with many of them coming from emerging markets, it seems that they are making the most of the internet to start-up companies.
In order for them to reach as many people as possible with their websites (and as a result maximise revenue) they are using machine translation services. But using a machine translation service over a human does have its drawbacks, as whilst it might be cheap it is also sometimes in accurate. It is therefore up to companies to balance the importance of language translation with the cost of the service.

If you have ever been abroad and come across a problem that has meant that you are in need of some help then you might have found that the language barriers can cause issues. However, now a new telephone service has been launched that aims to help out British travellers who find themselves in a tricky situation when they are on holiday.
The idea is that travellers can pick up the phone and will be connected to translators who will be able to translate into 200 different languages.  The phone line is aptly named Interpreter Live and travellers can use it for anything from emergency situations to asking help to interpret a menu.
The phone line is the brain child of a former British army officer named Lee Mears who saw that there was a gap in the market when he was on tours of duty and experienced language difficulties himself.
The service works with the traveller calling the phone number which is then routed through to the necessary translator who will be able to help the people who need rescuing whist they are on holiday. Users can either set up an online account or use a pre-paid phone card that will help them to keep track of how much they are spending on the service.
The translator will act as a go between if needed between the holiday maker and any locals that they want to talk to.
The creators are calling it an essential travel tool for holiday makers, who need a little extra help understanding the local lingo.

Movie studios are no strangers to putting out their films in many different languages in order to maximise box office revenue from as many different countries as possible. In fact one recent example, Pixar Animation’s “Cars 2″, was sent out to 44 countries when it was released this summer.
However as many translators have found it proves challenging to completely capture colloquialisms that do not transfer into other languages. If the main character in the film has a very distinct dialect, this is hard to translate for people outside of the America and the UK.
The subtle nuances in languages can be hard to get across in other languages – and this is especially challenging when it comes to comedy.
For countries that choose to use subtitles over spoken voice overs, they face their own challenges with language translation as they have to make sure that they condense what is being said so that there is not too much to read, whilst still conveying the message of what is being said.
The more slang and regional language that exists in the film, the more of a dubbing challenge that it offers to the translators. They also have to be careful with regards to offensive words, as some words can be rude in some languages but perfectly acceptable in others.
And for films that are set in a by-gone era the dubbers must find old fashioned language equivalents which can sometimes be a challenging and painstaking process.
In a film world where a large chunk of revenue is coming from over sees the process of dubbing has never been more crucial.

If you are going to do a job then you need to make sure that you do it properly and this is what many translators already know. If you are going to translate anything whether it be a document or a speech for your business then you will need to make sure that it is done well in order for it reflect properly on the way that you work and the way in which you conduct your business.
A bad translation can have a very negative impact in the way in which your business is perceived and can do much more damage than just embarrassment for your organisation.
Up until recently you could have travelled to foreign places and found amusement in mistranslated signs (you might have even taken a picture of them to take home and show your friends for a laugh). However, one place where the chance of this happening is now very low is in China.
China is putting great emphasis on correct translation and it seems that many Chinese businesses have seen the light about how much a bad translation can give your business a bad image.
It’s clear that in China being a translator is taken as a serious job, with Chinese translators being the third most popular group of translators behind the Norwegians and the Americans.
It seems that the rapidly expanding economy in China is making room for a quick growing trend of translators and languages services that are springing up to keep up with the demand of the foreign trade that is emerging in the economy.

The Apple App Store has a huge range of apps for its users to enjoy ranging from entertainment apps such as games, to the more business and money orientated apps to help today’s business world. There are currently 30,000 apps in the App Store for the iPhone user to choose from.
Apple offers its business users a selection of apps that it thinks will be the most useful for those who are on international business travel. These recommendations are a huge boon for the companies who made the apps as they receive the direct recommendation of Apple.
Kwintessential are one of the companies who have been featured in the top five apps that are recommended for business travels who use an iPhone.
Other recommended apps include guides on business etiquette for those who are conducting business deals abroad in unfamiliar countries. One of the tops tips for example emphasises the need for people who are doing business in China to be punctual as this is highly important to the Chinese people.

Kwintessential’s app offers invaluable information to the iPhone user about how they should conduct themselves when they are away on business. It focuses on etiquette and provides the user with direct links to the company’s website which offers translation and cross-cultural training services to companies who conduct a lot of their business overseas.

During the month of Ramadan Muslim followers are expected to not eat, drink, smoke or have any intimate relations between the hours of sunrise and sunset.
As many Gulf countries are now popular holiday destinations for many western tourists, people who are not observing this holy time are being requested to be respectful to those who are marking Ramadan and to behave accordingly. Of course it is not only holidaymakers who find that they stumble across holy festivals such as Ramadan when they are in the Gulf but expats who live in that area also find that it affects them as well.
The importance of Ramadan is such that one language school in Dubai is offering a free “Ramadan etiquette” course for non-Muslim expats, in order to try and get the importance of the religious significance across to people who do not belong to the religion.  As well as this a number of media publications are also putting their names to guides in an attempt to help expats navigate through the maze of religious symbolism that is Ramadan.

Some western embassies have also started to release guidelines for those who are living in Muslim areas. It is important that rules are adhered to as not only can it cause offence amongst locals but expats can also find that they receive a fine for improper behaviour.

Kwintessential also have their own Ramadan Guide for the Workplace which is more UK centric.

McDonald’s seems to be cashing in the current US fascination with us Brits and is bringing out a new burger that evokes the types of burgers that you will get in a good old fashioned British pub.
The United States were hit with Brit fever over the past couple of weeks as The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge went on their tour of the US and Canada.
The successful fast-food giant is constantly trying out new menu ideas and this time round it is the English Pub Burger.
Interestingly it is not just the taste of the British pub that the fast-food company is trying to encapsulate with its new burger but also the language you will get down your local too!
The advertising campaign uses typically British language such as “gobsmacked”, “fancy” and “smashing”, all no doubt trying to bring a sense of Britishness to the occasion!
The opposite is being done in the UK and Ireland too with McDonalds advertising a range of sandwiches in their outlets that gives their British and Irish customers a taste for food from over the pond.
In the UK we will be able to sample typical US delights such as the Miami Melt, Chicago Supreme, Texas Grande, New York Classic and New Orleans Deluxe.
So it is working both ways across the Atlantic, over here though we are far more used to the use of Americanisms in our advertising, we have yet to see how the use of British language goes down stateside!

EPSO which is the European Personnel Selection Office has launched the 2011 linguist selection procedures that will help to set out a clear set of guidelines that will help member states of the EU to find capable translators and interpreters to work in top jobs across Europe.
The move continues to reinforce the clear message that is being put out by the EU stating that multilingual communication is very important for a successful Europe. It is clear that the EU thinks that translators and interpreters are vital in helping to break down the language barriers that still exist throughout Europe.
Translators and linguists are the key to making sure that ideas and information flow freely between the different countries in Europe without anything important getting lost in translation along the way.
The new guidelines for the selection procedure of new translation and interpreting staff comes approximately one year after the EU introduced an assessment that enabled EU officials to be selected for jobs across the whole of Europe. It was hoped that the guidelines that were set out then would help to set a benchmark from which recruiters could make sure that their staff were up to the standard of the EU- with the hope that it would help the EU to run more efficiently.
The new guidelines for the recruitment of linguists in Europe will hopefully do the same for language jobs in countries that are members of the EU.

The web is navigated in English by 537 million users who choose to use the English language as the primary way in which they conduct their business on the internet. 445 million users do the majority of their transactions over the internet in Chinese. However on top of these two main languages that are used, 985 million people use the internet and visit websites that are written in languages other than English and Chinese.
A common misconception is that the internet can be used by everyone all around the globe, but what many people fail to understand is that  you can only use a website of you understand it and can read what is written. Very few of the world’s websites are constructed with a global audience in mind and so therefore they are restricted in whom they appeal to.
It is only natural for users to gravitate towards languages that they can understand so internet shoppers and business users are far more likely to look at websites that are constructed in their native language, In fact only 18% of all purchases that are carried out over the internet are done by those who are not a native speaker of the website’s language.
However the millennial generation recognise the importance of the global reach of the internet and many of these young people are conducting their lives and positioning themselves firmly with the internet at the centre of their day to day living and as such heavily rely on the internet to help them to reach global shops, businesses and contacts.
As the global barriers are being broken down it is important that the companies who are making the websites that are being visited by the millennial generation understand the vital importance of making sure that proper translation services  are used so that as many potential customers are reached as possible. This will of course mean that proper translation will not only make a website and business globally available to all users but as a result this will also boost revenue.

It seems that legal clerks are going to be required to undergo diversity training if they want to continue working successfully within the legal field.
Legal chambers are now seeking to protect themselves against the lack of cultural knowledge that their staff may have by making sure that diversity training is undertaken. The move comes after the 4 Square case where discrimination charges were laid at 4 Square’s door.
The regulator, the Bar Standards Board (BSB), is currently drawing up set of guidelines that will help to steer the legal profession through the minefield that is culture and diversity training. It is hoped that these guidelines will be approved and will be included in the code of conduct by the end of next year.
Legal companies are starting to realise the importance of cultural training and courses are filling up within hours of being made available to firms.
Legal companies have responded to the move saying that they welcome the new regulations that will require staff to be fully made up to date on cultural and diversity issues that are facing the UK at the moment.
More and more clients also expect their lawyers to know all about the dangers of discrimination so in order to give the clients what they need the firms need to make sure that all of the staff are brought up to speed.
4 Square barrister Aisha Bijlani has highlighted this issue after winning a claim against 4Square in which she accused the firm of racial and disability prejudice.