The first essential characteristic a voice-over artist has to acquire relates to voice and diction: They need to be able to give clear precise instructions while still retaining natural articulation, regardless of the type and content of the sound recording.
Similarly, a foreign-language voice recording requires fluent speaking, but this does not have to be completely accent-free (depending on the requirements), because the professional’s natural accent can sometimes even be useful to stimulate the interest of a listener or as proof of authenticity.
A professional voice-over artist has the ability to modulate the tone and personality of their voice to match the characteristics and purpose of a recording perfectly. These qualities are indispensable for the dubbing of films as well as for voice-overs in different languages.
Natural talent, as well as the flexibility of the speaker are essential requirements for voice recordings. Professional voice-over artists should be able to modulate their voices to captivate the listener by presenting the story or topic in an interpretatively interesting and thus literally coherent way.
Professional voice-over artists also know how to best match the intonation to the respective audio recording (socially and contextually, telephone messages, speeches or interviews, for example, differ considerably from each other in terms of vocal-auditive skills).
In addition, a professional voice-over artist should be able to adapt the rhythm of their speech. This is an important skill for the sometimes quite different speech recordings they will make during their many years of professional practice.
A dubbing artist, for example, should be able to adapt their speaking rhythm, in such a way that their voice matches the original sounds emotively as well as remaining source-synchronous/mouth-synchronous to the original visual. A foreign-language text may become longer or shorter after translation, so the professional speaker must be able to adjust their speaking tempo to match the original version.
Multilingual dubbing is used for many projects, especially in the B2B or B2C sector: for example, voice recordings for answering machines, voice-overs for company presentations on YouTube or recordings for e-learning or training projects.
The professional voice-over artist must always provide a flawless voice recording. The voice-over artist’s diction should be clear, but in addition to pronunciation, the voice-over artist must also make sure they adapt the recording so that the message of the original version is conveyed convincingly.
It goes without saying that the respective information must be interpreted and conveyed in a linguistically correct manner in every aspect to represent the brand image of a company or product.
Sensory perception is one of the most important qualities needed by a professional voice-over artist. In order to do justice to the different tasks and to meet the client's specifications the ability to concentrate and listen attentively are essential requirements. If the speaker successfully implements the client's specifications, this can only be to the benefit of all those involved.
Despite the fact that English has a far and wide reach today, the impact of local culture and language remains as strong as ever. With the growth of Internet and communications technology, it is relatively easier to reach audiences that are thousands of miles away purely on the back of effective translation. This in turn has resulted in a need for translation in diverse fields such as education, mass communication, science and technology, literature, tourism, religion, trade and business, etc.
Today, the translation industry as we know it includes a multitude of companies providing services such as -
Translating written material and paper-based documents
Interpreting services and Sign-language services
Digital documentation translation
Software translation and website translation (localization)
Translation is exceptionally important for companies and businesses which operate in multiple countries and often need to share and receive information from different global offices and branches across the world. In such cases, the shared information needs to be translated into a locally preferred language so that everyone involved is on the same page. Translation is also useful when companies need to tie up with local businesses, or make governmental proposals
Music, literature, films, and various other art forms transcend global boundaries because of the way they are effectively translated to reflect local languages and sentiments. Translated and subtitled films today generate more revenue than ever for the global film industry, with blockbuster movies looking at China as the next big market, where the success of translated films have led production houses touch the $1bn mark more frequently than ever. And it's not only the film industry which has benefited from translation, as translated music and literature allows artists to earn more royalties and international fame as an added bonus.
Today, international diplomacy is the most important aspect of a nation's external affairs. Be it a global summit or new economic deal, diplomats and world leaders always present their ideas and thoughts in a language they are comfortable in. It is very important that these ideas are translated in an expressive, non-condoning, and accurate manner, barring which it can lead to significant problems between diplomatic relations of two or more nations.
Unless transferred and translated properly, world news would be nothing more than gibberish when received by news agencies. Whether it is news coming from local bodies, regional centers, or even countries with strict news censorship, translation serves as an effective tool without which news will remain ineffective and unreliable.
Translation can effectively help in solving one of the biggest tourist dilemmas, that of being short-changed or fleeced by unfamiliar people in foreign destinations. At the same time, translated tourism materials not only help tourists feel welcome in an unknown country, but also boosts the country's popularity as a tourist friendly destination, thereby leading to significant tourism-related revenues.
The most important business destinations of today are the BRIC countries, i.e. Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Anyone with proper business acumen will know that it is in these emerging markets that new fortunes will be forged, as it is widely forecasted that the BRIC countries will overtake the G7 countries within twenty years in the amount of business revenue earned.
For many businesses, the biggest question is how to outsource translation services, and what they can outsource. Outsourcing not only offers a cheaper, more effective alternative to traditional translation services, but also offers you access to the expertise and technical resources that translation requires.
A translation service is useful in a wide range of situations. International businesses need translators to translate marketing materials, contracts, manuals, and other documents, while law firms with multiracial or multinational clients also have lots of legal agreements and documents that need to be translated. Individuals who wish to communicate meaningfully with their international friends may also want to have their messages and letters translated. As more and more people are using the Internet and setting up content-rich websites, there is a greater need for translation of web content as well. Why do website owners need to translate their websites?
Internet users prefer to visit websites that offer a lot of useful information, because such websites enable them to learn more about certain areas of interest and make well-informed choices when they are making purchases. If your website has plenty of information that is beneficial to your target consumers, it will naturally generate a greater amount of traffic. However, if the content in your website is only written in English, you will only draw people who can understand the language. Even though English is the most common language on the Internet, it is only one of the many languages that are used by Internet users. Billions of users communicate in other languages, which can range from Spanish to Chinese, and you will not be able to reach out to these people if you only have English texts and articles in your website. Some foreign-language speakers may happen to come across your website, but they will not spend a long time or make purchases there if they do not understand the information that is provided in your website.
Translation is the way to make your website more appealing to foreign language speakers. If you are willing to invest time and money to translate the content in your website into another language, you will be able to reach out to millions of new potential customers. For instance, there are presently close to 500 million Internet users in China, and you can dramatically expand the potential of your online business by translating your web content into Chinese. You can make your website even more globally appealing by translating the content into more languages, such as Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Japanese, or others. The best thing to do is to choose languages that are used in countries where your products or services can be highly sought after.
Another advantage of professional website translation is that it can improve search engine optimization. When you translate the content in your website into another language, you will be adding a lot more content to your website. If you translate it into ten different languages, your website will be ten times richer in content than before. One thing you have to know is that search engines favor websites that contain large amounts of useful content, and they will give your website a higher ranking in search results. You will see your website climb up in search engine rankings every time you translate your content into one more language. With increased visibility on search engines, you will get more local and foreign visitors.
The benefits of easy access and online retail availability that these E-commerce stores have to offer are just the tip of the iceberg.
The E-commerce store owners and businesses are quickly jumping on the bandwagon to expand their services to other regions and countries in a bid to capture more markets, convert potential customers and maximize their profits. This is where E-commerce translation comes in. The translation of E-commerce websites is more than just the conversion of one language to another.
It is the complete overhaul of all E-commerce elements and processes that are a vital part of the retail business.
A translation management system (TMS) can integrate with your product information management (PIM) system, marketing automation platform, content management system (CMS), and other tools to streamline your content management process. And having all of your content in one centralized location makes it easier to keep tabs on your translation projects.
Monitoring all of your translation projects, including existing jobs and multiple translators, can be quite overwhelming, especially if done manually. While using spreadsheets may be free, it’s far from efficient. A TMS leverages automation and artificial intelligence to get the work done faster. It also offers a bird’s eye view of every translation project, task, job, translator, and their progress.
A good translation takes time. However, the translation process is too often bogged down by inefficient processes like manually sending spreadsheets via email, internally reviewing content, and having developers tweak your web or app designs to accommodate the translated content.
On the surface, it makes a ton of sense to leverage the resources you already have.
However, in this case, it may be doing more harm than good. Just because someone is bilingual doesn’t make them a great translator and certainly not a knowledgeable resource for your localization efforts. Moreover, due to the time commitment involved with translation projects, the employee’s primary role will likely suffer, which can lead to a decrease in morale. A TMS enables full-time translators to leverage their experience to deliver the highest quality translations possible, connecting you with your target audiences faster and on a deeper level.
Keeping the lines of communication open with translators is the key to publishing content that perfectly captures your brand’s voice in a different language. It’s essential to treat your translators like an extension of your team. Have them work collaboratively with your content creators and make it easy to share revised content back and forth to create the best outcome possible.
A translation management system can make collaboration easy and effortless, keeping your translation projects on track.
Another downside to using spreadsheets and email to keep track of your translation projects is all the data you’re missing out on. How will you know if you’re achieving your goals?
Mobile app localization holds a very pivotal role. Numerous different mobile applications are already available globally and there is a cut-throat competition among them.
Many applications are known worldwide because of their user-friendly interface and few gain popularity among some particular age groups.
Breaking the language barrier can help to tap into different global markets. If you get your app localized into the language of foreign markets, you can easily make your identity as a global name. Please note that different global markets cannot be catered at once as planning and implementation require a lot of time. Furthermore, you need to select the most potential markets first.
After you decide which countries to target, you need to localize the app according to their language and culture. Simple translation will not be adequate. You need to take help from native experts to get localized and quality results that can help to attain success in multiple markets.
Thanks to globalization, world tastes are merging. With continued access to information, we’re more conscious than ever before about things like our health, comfort and time management. What used to be incredibly specific to one geographic region is now far more often accepted as a norm. Just think about Netflix, Uber, and Amazon. While you’ll need to do your research before entering a new market, it stands to reason that if you have a popular app on your hands at home, it’s just as likely to be a hit overseas.
Effective localization will help you stand out in the crowd. Some research studies indicate that a large number of smartphone users are inclined to delete the apps after a few minutes of downloading. Why?
Because either it is not user-friendly or they don’t understand the language. Thus, if you want users to enjoy using your app, you have to get it localized by the experts. Mobile app localization will provide you with a competitive edge and your audience would prefer you to enjoy a hassle-free experience.
In short, if you localize your application by paying great attention to the user-friendly interface, the users will admire your application.
Localize your application and get high visibility in the app store. If your app is famous in one country, it does not mean that it will be famous in another country too. To enhance the visibility of your app in the app store you need to take care of the app store optimization strategy from the beginning.
Localizing the app including title and descriptions will boost your app visibility in Google Play and AppStore and you will get downloads from a broad range of geographical regions.
Mobile app localization can seem costly at the start. Especially if you want to expand into several different markets. You’ll need a team of developers, translators, and local marketing experts to optimize your results. But, don’t let the cost of localizing your app put you off. Distomo found out that when apps are localized, they get more downloads. How many more downloads? A massive 128% more! Instead of rolling out one language version of your app for all markets and hoping for the best, you’ll be massively increasing your shot at success.
A subject matter expert in business (also known as SME) is an individual with a deep understanding of a particular process, function, technology, machine, material or type of equipment.
Individuals designated as subject matter experts are typically sought out by others interested in learning more about or leveraging their unique expertise to solve specific problems or help meet particular technical challenges. Subject matter experts in some fields often serve as expert witnesses in lawsuits and other legal actions.
Typically, subject matter experts have developed their expertise in their particular discipline over a long period of time and after a great deal of immersion in the topic.
Many subject matter experts have pursued advanced degrees in their area of specialization. Additionally, the experts maintain a rigorous program of continuous study in their field. Many are active as authors, publishing books or articles on their topic. Others serve as educators in college and universities.
This additional work and study help ensure the SME individual maintains current and complete knowledge of their specific area of expertise.
While it is common to find SMEs in technical disciplines, experts can exist in all disciplines and functions. It is common to find SMEs in information technology, software development, marketing, and customer support and all other areas in a business.
To become an expert, you must first be a novice.
Start by educating yourself on the subject of interest. You won’t be able to fake it until you make it on this one. You’ll be sharing information with other professionals in the field.
Therefore, you MUST know the topic if you want to be recognized as a subject matter expert.
It’s one thing to have majored in a particular area, but you need to know the latest happenings in the space to have a shot at becoming an SME.
Attend conferences, participate in Twitter chats and subscribe to industry publications.
You have to constantly stay updated with the latest information.
To make it as a SME, you should have the ability to come up with your own ideas in the space.
The only way to do this effectively (and not get busted as a fraud) is to completely immerse yourself in the subject.
Make sure you test out these ideas before you advise others to put them into practice.
You will be able to follow other authorities on social media and follow relevant hashtags to keep a pulse on the subject.
Also, leverage social media to market your expertise. Get involved in Twitter Chats or tweet along with live webcasts.
Start by sharing reputable information on the subject before interjecting your opinions.
Beyond social media, you can start a blog or a podcast to share your knowledge and ideas regularly.
Take advantage of technology to get your message out. A YouTube channel is another option. If you’re not ready to commit to regular content, try hosting or co-hosting a one-off webcast.
Be open to questions so others can start to trust your information.
You’ll have to work your way up to this one, but real-life practice will be the best continuing education you can get.
If you have the authority in your job to affect the outcomes of major decisions, you’re on your way to SME stardom.
Being an influencer will strengthen your value as a subject matter expert – and others will notice.
Your company may recognize your knowledge is valuable to gain recognition in the market or even garner more sales interest.
But, to remain a go-to on your topic of choice, you need to remain neutral.
You want to be looked at as a true authority on the subject and not someone who is easily persuaded by the goods or services your current company is selling.
Your reputation is of utmost importance.
If you can believe it, digital marketing is nothing new. Digital marketing came on to the scene as electronic devices entered our lives. People often assume that digital marketing is all about content marketing and social media. While these exist as types of digital marketing, they are not all encompassing.
Digital marketing happens online and offline.
SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
PPC (Pay-per-click)
SMM (Social Media Marketing)
Content Marketing
Email Marketing
Influencer / Affiliate Marketing
Viral Marketing
Mobile Advertising
SEM or Search Engine Marketing is generally considered to cover both PPC and SEO work.
Bringing in traffic to your website via search engines is no easy task, that’s why SEO and PPC work to look into bringing said traffic in through both paid and unpaid means.
PPC paid advertising, and SEO, which works on bringing in organic traffic.
We’ll start with SEO, which stands for search engine optimisation.
SEO works to make your business optimised for search engines, like Google and Bing.
It’s all about moving you up the search engine results page rankings to have better visibility for users searching for your website. Many people don’t bother scrolling to page 2 of search engines, so SEO is essential to work if you want to generate more business from online searches.
PPC, or Pay-per-click, is a form of advertising on search engines, like Google and Bing.
It’s a way of moving to the top of search engine results pages by paid means.
It’s called PPC because your ad account is charged every time one of your adverts is clicked.
The cost of each ad, or CPC (cost per click), depends on the quality score of your website and the selected keyword’s competition.
PPC campaigns can be a short-term solution, and many use it to shift products or seasonal deals, as a way to boost revenue. There are around 4 spots for Ads on Google, so getting your website in the for a selected keyword can be challenging.
Social media marketing is the process of working on marketing through, you guessed it, social media.
With social platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (to name a few) ever growing, businesses online need to invest in social media marketing in order to grow their following
and reach a whole new pool of potential customers. Dependent on your business type, there’s a social network out there for you. All businesses would do well to be on Facebook, but if you specialise in B2B, LinkedIn is the one for you.
This style of marketing is a little different than the previous ones we’ve mentioned. It’s not so much about directly marketing products and services to customers, but rather creating enriching and valuable content that enhances customer experience. Some of the biggest brands in the world will actively post blogs, images and videos relating to their business that are entertaining and informative too. It’s what establishes your business as a brand and essentially what makes your customers like you more.
It’s like promoting your brand without the aim to an incentive to sell anything behind your posts – simply providing information that is both enriching and engaging.
Another form of marketing is email marketing, and you’ve guessed it, it involves email.
It’s a form of direct marketing which sends information, offers, blogs etc. directly to your mailing list’s inboxes. Through a sea of emails, your marketing email will appear, but the trick is getting it read. Yes, it may emerge alongside 100s emails, and if you can’t create an email that’s eye-catching, then it will be lost. Luckily there are email marketing tools and agencies (like us), that can assist you. Email marketing is a great way of reaching your customers, interacting with them after purchases or even sending them a newsletter. Be warned, sending unsolicited emails will land you a place in the spam box. So, make sure you’ve gathered your mailing list by your own means and not from a third-party company. They need to be your customers or have opted into receiving your mail.
Affiliate marketing refers to the process of paying for conversions.
Think of it like hiring a sales person for your product or service.
That affiliate earns a commission. You determine the rate for affiliate marketing. You only pay for conversions. This means there is no upfront cost to affiliate marketing. Many bloggers or e-commerce websites use affiliate marketing.
Influencer marketing is popular on social media channels like Instagram and Snapchat.
Companies hire Instagrammers with large followings to promote their brand by posting one or more photos with the product.
Companies now engage in Instagram or Snapchat “takeovers” where the hired influence controls the company’s social media platform for a given amount of time, most often a day.
These social media takeovers drive the influencer’s following to your social media channels increasing your new followers and unique views.
Viral marketing refers to a post of some sort that is trendy, funny, or strange enough to garner a massive amount of shares online.
Viral marketing causes an enormous spike in website traffic over a short period of time.
This is hard to do but the benefits alone make the effort worth your time.
Each of the types of digital advertising can happen on a mobile device.
Some types of marketing using a mobile phone do not fit the above types of digital marketing.
These include SMS advertising which could prove an asset to local marketing efforts.
You can prompt your consumers to use SMS to receive special offers, coupons, and updates from your company.
SEO is the process of making a website easier to understand by search engines and friendlier for users. The overall goal of SEO is to increase organic traffic from search engines by improving the positions the website appears in the SERPS for various search terms.
There are four main types of SEO or search engine optimization, all aimed at helping you earn greater visibility in search results.
The main differences have to do with how closely SEO tactics align with Google guidelines and how that ultimately impacts your SEO efforts:
1. Black hat SEO will get you where you want to go faster.
It usually costs less because you are taking shortcuts to the top by going against Google Guidelines.
In fact, many black hat SEO tactics are specifically called out in the guidelines as things you should NOT do.
As such, they carry the risk that your website and/or content will rank lower, be banned from search results, or demoted the next time Google updates its ranking algorithm. (More on that below.)
2. White hat SEO techniques adhere to Google Webmaster Guidelines but usually take longer and cost more to implement.
White hat SEO carries far less risk and tends to deliver lasting and compounding value over time.
Most reputable SEO and content marketing companies use white hat SEO tools and techniques.
3. Grey hat SEO falls somewhere in the middle as these tactics are not specifically called out in Google’s Guidelines.
Be cautious taking this path as it is not safe to assume that just because a specific technique isn’t labeled or mentioned as being deceptive and one that will
get you into trouble, that it will shield you from demotion or penalty.
4. Negative SEO is the practice of implementing black or grey hat SEO techniques on someone else’s website with the intent of causing harm. Harming your competitors makes room for you to move up in search results.
There are two primary modes of interpretation — simultaneous and consecutive.
Both are used to bridge language barriers and help people understand each other, but it's important to understand their differences so you can identify which one is best for your particular use case.
Simultaneous interpreters listen to what the speaker is saying while concurrently saying it in another language. It typically takes 2+ years for a professional linguist to be trained to be a simultaneous interpreter.
During this time, interpreters learn to listen to a speaker and interpret with only a few seconds delay.
Ideally, simultaneous interpreters review speeches or other materials available before the event to prepare.
Simultaneous interpreters typically interpret in one direction only.
They generally work into their native language, meaning they listen in their second language and render into their native language.
Simultaneous interpreting works for large, live events because interpreting happens in real time.
The crowd isn't kept waiting. Listening intently and interpreting is draining.
Working in teams of two or more allows simultaneous interpreters some time to recover and prepare for their next turn.
Simultaneous interpreters listen to what the speaker is saying while concurrently saying it in another language. It typically takes 2+ years for a professional linguist to be trained to be a simultaneous interpreter. During this time, interpreters learn to listen to a speaker and interpret with only a few seconds delay. Ideally, simultaneous interpreters review speeches or other materials available before the event to prepare. Simultaneous interpreters typically interpret in one direction only. They generally work into their native language, meaning they listen in their second language and render into their native language.
Consecutive interpreting works for small gatherings or one-on-one meetings where the conversation allows for pauses to interpret.
Consecutive interpreters are typically the only interpreter present. This means they must be vigilant to interpret accurately and consistently for the entirety of a session.
Educational videos are excellent examples of teaching and learning concepts.
As video uses the primary senses of sight and sound, using video in education allows concepts to be taught more easily and be retained better than reading off a page!
This is thanks to the models of ‘multi-modal learning’ and ‘dual-coding theory’, which have shown that communicating with visuals and sound simultaneously will greatly increase comprehension and retention of new ideas.
Examples of Educational Videos
Remote Online Classroom Instruction
Online Courses with Video Lessons (MooC)
How-To Training Videos
Student ‘Show and Tell’ Videos
Webinar Informational Videos
Video Lesson Series
Animated Explainer Videos
Promotional videos differ from instructional and educational videos in that they’re targeting a very specific viewer and speaking to their needs, then presenting a solution and concluding with a ‘call to action’, asking the viewer to take action. With the art of persuasion and rapport, similar to an experienced salesperson, a viewer will ideally feel that the video offered value – and it’s their choice if they respond to the call to action. Taking action: a social like or share, or a purchase, are all common goals for promotional video marketers.
Examples of Promotional Videos:
Talking-head Videos
Corporate Videos
Testimonial Videos
Presentation Videos
Explainer Videos
Human Resources Videos
Unboxing Videos
Product Demonstration Videos
Real Estate Tour Videos
Event Videos
Presentation Videos
Keynote Slideshow Presentation Videos
Advertising Videos
Comparison Videos
Giveaway Videos
Product Review Videos
Announcement Videos
Destination Videos
Journalism is a good example of purely informational video. News and information videos give you the sounds and sights of the news events as if you were right there on location. No need to imagine what might be going on… You can see it and hear it for yourself.
With all smartphones having a HD or 4K camera with video capabilities, news gathering is now in the hands of common people.
Instead of a Television station with a producer and camera operator and interviewer, a single person can record and upload or stream live-video from most anywhere, anytime.
Examples of Informational Videos:
Television Newscasts
Interview Question & Answer Videos
Streaming Video Online News Websites
Socially-Shared News Snippets (Facebook, Twitter, etc)
Public Service Announcments (PSAs)
Documentaries are typically a mix of entertainment and information dispensing, and very popular. There are three main types of documentaries; observational mainly without any narration moving the process forward, participatory, such as famous director ‘Michael Moore’ as a character taking part in the events as we watch, and expository, with the narrator chiefly explaining and the events as we watch.
Examples of Documentary Genres:
Poetic documentaries
Observational documentaries
Reflexive documentaries
Performative documentaries
Expository documentaries
Participatory documentaries
Entertaining videos simply for entertainment’s sake. The sky is the limit here, and many of the prior examples of video can fall under entertainment as well, so it’s not a hard and fast category.
Entertaining videos can vary in scope, genre and purpose.
Videos on Netflix, online movies, YouTube video stars, video clips, and more all fall under the scope of entertainment.
Examples of Entertainment Videos:
Music Videos
Travel Videos
Automotive Enthusiast Videos
Wedding Videos
Comedy Shows
YouTube Channel Stars
Reality Shows
Movies (Hollywood, etc)
Episodic-Drama Shows
Streaming Services (Netflix, Amazon Prime, HULU, etc)
Solid Media (DVD and Blu-Ray)
Interpreters and translators provide services in a number of business areas, and they specialize in specific fields.
Some of the business areas in which translators and interpreters play a key role are:
Medical interpreters help promote communication between hospital management and patients.
Medical translators also help translate patients' journals and hospital information brochures into patients' languages.
Medical interpreters and translators will have strong knowledge of medical and conversational terms in both languages, as well as the cultural aspect relating to how the patient receives the information.
Localisation involves the complete adaptation of a product for use in a different language and culture.
A translator possesses a high degree of knowledge regarding the local users of the product.
The main goal of localisation translators is to adapt the product as if it had been originally manufactured in the country where it will be sold and supported.
Specialized business translation involves specialist translation in various fields such as, finance, economics, marketing etc.
An interpreter or translator will have sound knowledge of the respective businesses and markets and current events.
An example of this type of service is specialized business translation in financial markets.
This involves the translation of documents such as financial statements, mutual funds reports, regulatory statements and reports etc.
into the target language.
Conference interpreters work in international fora such as WTO, the World Bank etc.
where the participants come from around the world.
Some times, these interpreters are also used as mediators among international businesses that operate in foreign countries.
Conference interpreters often have the ability to interpret from at least two passive languages to one active language, for example, from Spanish and French into English.
Translators and interpreters assist cross-cultural communication among businesses by converting written or verbal language into the target language.
Thus, interpreters and translators play a vital role in global business.
Language is already imprecise, and the tendency of the average person to omit, alter, or embellish the words of another is well known. It doesn't take much contemplation to reach the conclusion that the ability to communicate clearly is not as common as is often assumed, especially when it comes to conveying complex concepts or technical or specialized language. Friends, acquaintances, and especially employees often tend to overstate their abilities and understate their shortcomings -- people don't like to disappoint someone they know. It can be unsettling to think that the more unrealistic a person's sense of their own abilities the more likely they are to feel the need to make a
display of them, perhaps seen as a momentous opportunity to do something different, exciting, or important.
The question is: can risking your critical business or legal communications on a non-professional be worth the incidental savings?
Probably not. Hiring a professional interpreter is the only way these problems can be avoided with any reasonable degree of confidence. Competent professional interpreters meet industry standards in their methods of interpreting: The wording and meaning of what is said is to be followed as closely as linguistically possible. Nothing is to be unnecessarily added or omitted. Mastery of, or at least familiarization with, vocabulary appropriate to the task is completed in advance. The ability to interpret consecutively or simultaneously is required. Professionally appropriate timeliness, manners, and dress standards are followed.
Transcription has been with us for a long time. Imagine the bard of long ago, Shakespeare or Byron, pacing and dictating new work to some humble scribe. This is the same concept as transcription and the reasons why we still do it are simple, transcripts:
Improve turnaround time
Boost the value of your content
Help employee focus
Increase accessibility
In fields where audio or video material plays a prominent role, transcripts can really speed up a video editor’s workflow. With a written document, editors can mark sections where revision must be completed all at once and then return to editing. Switching between tasks is a serious productivity killer. With the advantage of a transcript, editors won’t have to move between watching and editing constantly throughout the process.
Many businesses use transcription services to make video content easily searchable. Search engines can’t watch a video or listen to audio. If a video is transcribed or captioned, Google bots can read the transcriptions and know exactly what content is contained within the video. Depending on the length of the videos you produce, there may be valuable information on a number of different topics contained within a single video. Transcripts of these longer videos may reveal some natural breaking points between different topics, so each transcript could be broken up into several distinct pages or blog posts on your website.
In all industries, transcribing meetings and speaker events gives employees scannable records without forcing someone to take notes. This can help with everything from project management to repurposing a transcript into marketing content. Research has proven that visual memory is vastly stronger than auditory memory. If employees are given transcripts of all auditory or visual training content, they’ll retain that information much better.
In 2011, USA President expanded the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to include a stipulation for public audio and visual material to be accessible to all viewers. This means it’s illegal for audio and visual content creators or distributors who work in the public sector to not include captions or transcriptions in their material. But, you shouldn’t do something just because you know you’ll get in trouble if you don’t. Including transcripts for all of your audio and visual material is kind and respectful of any and every potential viewer.
The term “technical translation” can be understood in two ways:
In its broadest sense, it is about translating user manuals, instructions leaflets, internal notes, medical translation, financial reports, minutes of proceedings, administrative terms in general, and so forth. These documents share the distinction of being for a specific and limited target audience and usually have a limited shelf-life.
In its most limited sense, technical translation refers to “technical” documentation such as engineering, IT, electronics, mechanics, and industrial texts in general. Technical translation requires a knowledge of the specialized terminology used in the sector of the source text.
As a sub-group of technical translation, as its name indicates, scientific translation deals with documents in the domain of science: articles, theses, papers, congress booklets, conference presentations, study reports etc.
Financial or economic translation, of course, deals with documentation relating to the likes of finance, banking, and stock exchange activity. This includes company annual accounts, annual reports, financial statements, financial contracts, financing packages, and so forth.
Legal translation covers a wide range of different documents. These may include legal documents such as summons and warrants; administrative texts such as registration certificates, corporate statutes and remittance drafts; technical documents such as expert opinions and texts for judicial purposes; and a number of other texts in addition to reports and minutes of court proceedings.
Judicial translations, not to be confused with legal or certified translation, refers to the task of translation undertaken in a court setting. Judicial translators specialize in translating documents such as letters rogatory, minutes of proceedings, judgements, expert opinions, deposition, minutes of interrogation sessions etc.
Juridical translation refers to legally-binding documentation. For example, this could be the translation of documents such as laws; regulations and decrees; general sales and purchase conditions; legally binding contracts such as labor; license and commercial contracts; partnership agreements, accords; protocols and conventions; internal regulations; insurance policies; and bail assurance, among others. The juridical translator must have a solid legal background in addition to their linguistic training.
A certified translator or sworn translator may use their signature to authenticate official translations. These are usually documents which require legal validation and are thus referred to as “certified” or “sworn”. Certified translators often work in courtrooms as juridical translators, or act in the capacity of a legal expert, as well as providing translations of civil status documentation, marital agreements, divorce settlements, deceases, and wills, for example.
This is probably the hardest of all the different kinds of translation, as obviously, the translator must first try to render the semantic content of the original text (as should be the case for the translation of any kind of text), and then in addition deal with a number of other difficulties, such as: Polysemic word play specific to literary texts, as behind a word or a phrase, there lie a number of connotations which the writer has tried to transmit or hint at subtly and which the translator must attempt to render; The author’s own particular literary style; the translator must try to transmit the unique way in which the writer has couched their ideas; Rhythm, meter and the innate balance of the phrase; this is particularly important in poetry but equally present in prose, where the translator must work out the best way to resolve the delicate task of rendering the music inherent to the text –assonance, alliteration and asyndetons.
COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), previously known as the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), a strain of coronavirus.
The first cases were seen in Wuhan, China, in late December 2019 before spreading globally.
The current outbreak was officially recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020. Terminology The World Health Organization originally called this illness "novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia (NCIP)", and the virus itself had been provisionally named "2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)".
On 11 February 2020, the WHO officially renamed the clinical condition COVID-19 (a shortening of COronaVIrus Disease-19).
Coincidentally, on the same day, the Coronavirus Study Group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses renamed the virus "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus" (SARS-CoV-2).
The names of both the disease and the virus should be fully capitalized, except for the 'o' in the viral name, which is in lowercase.
As of 31 May 2020, the number of cases of confirmed COVID-19 globally is over 6 million affecting virtually every territory, other than isolated South Pacific island states and Antarctica, according to an online virus tracker created by the medical journal, The Lancet, and hosted by Johns Hopkins University. As of June 2020, the United States had more than 1.5 million cases, with more than ten other countries with >100,000 cases.
Children seem to be relatively unaffected by this virus, or indeed other closely-related coronaviruses with large cohort studies reporting that 1-2% of COVID-19 patients are children. However, there have been cases of critically-ill children with infants under 12 months likely to be more seriously affected. A very low number of pediatric deaths has been reported. In children, male gender does not seem to be a risk factor. The incubation period has been reported to be shorter than in adults, at about two days.
fever (85-90%)
cough (65-70%)
disturbed taste and smell (40-50%)
fatigue (35-40%)
sputum production (30-35%)
shortness of breath (15-20%)
myalgia/arthralgia (10-15%)
headaches (10-36%)
sore throat (10-15%)
chills (10-12%)
pleuritic pain
nausea, vomiting, nasal congestion (<10%), diarrhea (<5%)
palpitations, chest tightness
hemoptysis (<5%)
seizures, paraesthesia, altered consciousness.
According to Brandon Hall Group’s HCM Outlook 2017 Survey, eLearning can significantly reduce employee training time.
It typically requires 40-60% less employee time than learning in a traditional classroom setting.
It enables much faster delivery because employees can access eLearning material anytime they want, and anywhere they are, setting their own pace and training whenever they have spare time.
Cost reduction is often the main reason why companies switch from traditional classroom-based training to eLearning.
In-house training tends to be very expensive, primarily because of the need for a professional trainer who will deliver it and who will help employees improve their knowledge and skills.
On the other hand, eLearning requires only an online training software that is not just cost-effective, but also enables employees to train at home.
This translates to much lower costs related to travel, training venues, learning material, and trainers, not to mention that eLearning almost immediately leads to lower costs by speeding up
employee training.
Maximizing knowledge retention is one of the most rewarding benefits of eLearning.
eLearning can increase knowledge retention rate by 25-60%, simply because it is much more engaging than learning in a traditional classroom setting.
Since eLearning provides employees with various types of interactive content and multimedia, they can retain much more of what they learn and improve their skills and performance quickly.
You can include gamification and provide them with interactive quizzes and activities that enable real-time feedback, which will all create an effective learning environment where your employees can truly
grow and improve.
Self-paced online learning leads to much higher productivity since employees can train at home, and then focus on their core tasks while at work.
Learning in their free time will lead to better performance and higher efficiency, especially because online eLearning software will enable them to revisit any information they need, whenever they
need it.
Almost every online learning software provides useful communication and collaboration tools, which are essential for knowledge improvement and building a strong collaborative workforce.
This software will enable your employees to communicate with you and among one another in real-time, which will lead to increased engagement and a comfortable and empowering learning environment.
Real-time collaboration and feedback provided by eLearning will help you effectively address everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, and deal with skill gaps, so that you can truly help your learners improve
their skills and abilities, and ultimately enable them to improve and grow.