‘Translation Tips’ Archives
Conference Interpreters Work in Pairs
Conference interpreters should work in pairs so that they can switch off every 30 minutes and avoid interpreter fatigue as mentioned below in the video "A Day in the Life of a Translator/Interpreter." Interpreter fatigue is a very real issue. Studies have confirmed a very real decline in quality after 30 minutes of interpreting. This reality [...]
Translation Alignment
Companies that begin using translation memory may benefit from translation alignment. Alignment is the process of creating translation memories out of previously completed translations. If translations are completed using translation memory tools, such translations will usually be added simultaneously and automatically to a translation memory [...]
Unicode Benefits
At one time or another, everyone has seen a page of multilingual text that will not display correctly. "Garbage characters" (also called Mojibake in Japanese) are rendered using encoding that does not match the original, and the result is unreadable. In other words, the application that wrote the text used a character encoding that said a [...]
Internationalization Benefits
Localization is not only translation, but also adaptation for a particular locale. If your website, software, online course, or other product requires localization, you should internationalize it first to avoid costly and time-consuming re-engineering. Internationalization is preparation that ensures your localization process will be [...]
Multilingual SEO | MSEO
Two important things to know about Multilingual SEO (MSEO) are, first, that MSEO is more than just website translation and, second, that the golden rule of localization applies to MSEO. Multilingual SEO is More than Just Website Translation Localization is translation and also adaptation for a specific locale. Naturally, MSEO and SEO keyword [...]
Golden Rule of Localization
Former German Chancellor Willy Brandt once said, "If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying from you, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen." In other words, then you must speak my language, German. This might be considered "the Golden Rule of Localization," to localize for buyers as you would have sellers localize for you. [...]
Browser Language Detection and Automatic Redirection
Browser language detection is often used to automate global navigation on a multilingual website. The browser language preference is automatically detected by the website so that the visitor can be automatically redirected to the language version of his choice. In many instances, this enhances the user experience more than manual language [...]
Internationalized Domain Names
Are you already localizing your website content into other languages? Consider doing the same to the website URL. Consider acquiring ccTLDs (country code top-level domains) like ".de" and ".es" for your multilingual website. ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has recently approved non-Latin ccTLDs. Prior to this [...]
Language Use by Region
What are the top 10 languages by population in New York and other states? Where are the most Armenian speakers living in the United States? The U.S. Census used to track and report the number of language speakers for virtually every language in every state and county. This data was very useful for companies planning localized multilingual [...]
Native Speakers
Use only translators that are native speakers of the target language. The same is true for editors and internal reviewers. Companies should not hire non-native speaking translators and interpreters for the same reason they should not hire non-native speaking copywriters or spokespersons. Even a native speaker who has been living outside of [...]
