When writing a manual for the European market, most companies do not take into consideration the Japanese translation market and the fact that around 70% of Japanese people actually read the manuals when they buy a product. It is important to comply with the EU directives for European targeted manuals; however, it is equally important to […]
Language Requirements For Medical Devices – Asia
As with Europe, countries within Asia have specific translation requirements for computer software, Instructions for Use (IFU), packaging, and other Medical Device and Pharmaceutical labeling. In this ever-changing regulatory and international market clearance environment, it is vitally important for you to have this information at your fingertips. Without it you are unable to proactively properly plan your […]
The Importance of Mechanical Quality Assurance in the Translation Process
The final quality of a translated document depends on many important factors. Two of these happen before the translation process starts: Before any translation is performed, you first need to start with an error free source document. Errors and discrepancies in the source material will propagate throughout the target languages into which you need to translate. […]
It’s all Globish to me
It is estimated that there are four times as many people who now speak Globish as there are native English speakers — about 1,200,000,000. The actual number may be even larger. All of them are trying to use Globish as a middle-ground language. So what is Globish? Wikipedia defines the word Globish as follows: “Globish […]
Specialized Translation: Driving Project Success
When dealing with translators who have highly technical experience and translate very specialized text, you may think that there isn’t much you can do to assist them during a translation project. Indeed, specialized translators know their field very intimately, but there are many tools that you can provide to help them do their work more […]
Going Global With Multilingual Publishing (part 2)
Going Global, Part 2: First some basics: Any document consists of content and layout. The multilingual publishing process consists of recreating a document in the target language that is equivalent to the source document in both content and layout. So, the document translation process has two main subprocesses: content translation and layout adjustment. Content translation […]
Superior Translation Projects Begin with Proper Preparation
Proper preparation of your source text will result in a superior translated product. Keeping in mind a few simple steps will make sure your translation projects begin in the right direction. Before all other considerations, make sure that the source text clearly and accurately describes your intended message. Ambiguous or incorrect descriptions will limit the […]
Can Something Funny in One Language, be Funny in Another?
Funny Here. Funny There. Springtime cleaning treasures. In rummaging through the basement, I came across a box with my Dutch cartoon collection. In it I found Dutch copies of Garfield, the comic strip about the fuzzy, orange tabby cat’s reflections on eating, diets and exertion. Humor requires shared values and references. When something is funny […]
Portuguese Spelling Agreement
About The Portuguese Spelling Agreement (Acordo Ortográfico) aims to establish a unified spelling code for all Portuguese-speaking countries. Currently, the spelling rules differ across all Portuguese-speaking nations. The spelling discrepancies between Portugal and Brazil are of particular interest to U.S. based companies, because these contain the world’s two largest Portuguese-speaking populations, and are therefore the […]
The Fifth Element
In the vast localization sea, we are all enrolled in a tireless quest, trying to find the right definition of quality and to identify substantial boundaries that will finally allow us to grasp it. However, despite its heavy presence in blogs, tweets and forums, it constantly manages to leak away from our objective variables and […]