What is Back Translation?
Filed under: Accurate Translation, Back translation, Certified Translation, Cultural Training, Globalization, Interpretation, Localization, Market Research, Proofreading, Transl8 Language Solutions
Back Translation is the process of translating a document that has already been translated into a foreign language back to the original language – preferably by an independent translator.
Translation of raw data such as focus group transcripts back into the language of a client from the language of the consumers is common in market research area. In fact translation remains one of the most important parts of a market research project.
A Free Digital Collection of The Harvard Classics
During his days as Harvard’s influential president, Charles W. Eliot made a frequent assertion: If you were to spend just 15 minutes a day reading the right books, a quantity that could fit on a five foot shelf, you could give yourself a proper liberal education. The publisher P. F. Collier and Son loved the idea and asked Eliot to assemble the right collection of works. The result was a 51-volume series published in 1909 called Dr. Eliot’s Five Foot Shelf. Read more
Pun Intended
Filed under: Accurate Translation, Cultural Training, Learning a New Language, Transl8 Language Solutions, Translation
The ability to make and understand puns is considered to be the highest level of language development.
Here are the 10 first place winners in the International Pun Contest:
Cross-Cultural Perspective Helps Teamwork
Filed under: Cultural Training, Globalization, Learning a New Language, Localization, Market Research, Transl8 Language Solutions
In this era of globalization, many companies are expanding into numerous countries and cultures. But they should not take a “one size fits all” approach to their business and management styles. As the authors of a new article on Culture and Psychology in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, point out, people in different cultures think about work in different ways. Being aware of the cultural environment that their coworkers come from may help people work together better.
Do Mystery Product Names Really Sell?
Filed under: Cultural Training, Globalization, Interpretation, Localization, Market Research, Transl8 Language Solutions, Translation
There is a certain attraction in foreign words and made-up names. Psychologists discover that people associate positive ideas with words that they do not understand. Especially in the United States where an average American citizen speaks 0.18 foreign languages. (by Dr. Julianne Malveaux).
So for 4 out of 5 Americans A “Grande Mocha Frapuccino” is a fascinating foreign name calling for higher price than your regular next-door Shake with Shaved Ice Chocolate and Coffee would. Starbucks figured it out, hooking caffeine addicts to their exotic-sounding “venti” and “grande”. Read more
Life With Books: Turning Pages Into Digits
Filed under: Cultural Training, Globalization, Market Research, Proofreading
According to GIZMODO, there is a new tool on the market allowing you to digitize your entire library!
The BookLiberator Project is kit of open source hardware and software, designed to help you digitize your personal library without damaging your collection. It won’t spare you from having to turn each page, but it is some seriously clever design. Read more
When it comes to translating, it’s the little things that count.
Filed under: Cultural Training, Globalization, Interpretation, Localization, Transl8 Language Solutions, Translation
Too many companies, not anticipating the sometimes subtle differences between countries and continents, send their products abroad without sufficient prior research. Later, they wonder why the sales results don’t match expectations.
Here’s a collection of real-life mistakes and some examples of machine translation, a technology that isn’t quite capable of all that’s often claimed for it. Read more
