Posts Tagged ‘translating’

Family business turnover soars 65%

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Despite worldwide economic gloom and doom Thatcham-based family business language services company Prestige Network is celebrating financial success with the announcement that its turnover has soared 65% in the last 12 months.

Shohreh Fleming, Chief Executive Officer, and Shawn Khorassani, Business Development Director

Shohreh Fleming, Chief Executive Officer, and Shawn Khorassani, Business Development Director

Prestige Network caters for language and communications needs in the private andpublic sector (including the NHS, local government departments, charities, the police and other public organisations).

The company – run by brother and sister Shohreh Fleming and Shawn Khorassani, along with Shohreh’s husband Anthony – has seen its turnover to the end of the last financial year soar to a phenomenal £3 million.

They now employ 25 staff and 5,000 specialist language freelancers based all over the UK, who speak and translate more than 400 languages.

The trio feel optimistic about their future and are confident that they can carry on growing, despite the recession. Shohreh said: “Our staff are invaluable to us, so we ensure it’s a happy place to work. It’s a great pleasure to ensure employment during difficult economic times.”

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What The Future Holds For Human Translators?

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

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The Future of Human Translators

With ever more sophisticated machine translation tools available, will human translators be rendered obsolete in the near future?

Issues for Translation Services

There are a number of issues that come to light with the increasing need for translation services in the modern commercial world. Or, put more specifically: the need for quality translation services in the modern commercial world. This issue has been highlighted, in part, by the advent, development and popularity of machine translation on the internet.

Machine Translator Advantages

A debate has sparked up around the question of whether we will actually need human translators in the near future. Online, automated and most often free, machine translation tools are seen as a marvel of modern technology; a time saving shortcut to translating text.

Why Machine Translation will never be as Effective as Human Translation

High levels of economic migration to the UK over the past few years drew attention to a real need for language services. Of course, it would be far simpler and more cost effective for a stretched public sector organisation to rely solely on machine translation, but there is a very good reason why this doesn’t happen. The fact remains that, in many cases, machine translation fails due to its inability to take into account contextual issues and cultural nuances. The issue then spreads globally as we begin to see the new challenges faced by the web as we head into a more diverse information age.

Increased Web Usage Around the World

For an example of this we can look towards Asia where, in recent years, we have seen massive increases in the number of web users across the continent. And, according to many sources, China has now overtaken the US in its number of internet users; with a reported 253 million people with web access. This fact is made more pertinent when you consider that there are significantly fewer sites available in Chinese than in English.

Expansion of the Internet

If we look towards the expansion of the web, we see the demand for information in languages other than English escalate. Particularly when economically emergent nations add new users and therefore new voices and perspectives to the medium, changing the texture and flavour of the web.

Why Human Translation Is Essential in the Current Times

All this points to the need for information to be made available to the portion of the world community that will benefit most by gaining access to it. Of course, to make this information available you will need good quality translation so that your audience will understand essence and the context of what is being said. In cases like these, machine translation would be practically useless. As need increases, so does the requirement to fulfil that need.

Why Translation Services Will Always Grow

It is not improbable to consider the prospect that translation services will continue to flourish as more and more organisations begin to realise just how valuable it is to offer multilingual content and/or media to their audiences.

Intergration Among Existing and Emerging Communities

Back in the UK, many government initiatives have been put into place to promote integration among existing and emerging communities. Literature, road signage and local government web content have all been revised and republished in languages other than English. And, like the world community, this requirement is constantly evolving in terms of scale and complexity.

Prestige Network

Translation Services

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Why Human Translation Is Important In the Modern Economy

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

Providing A Boon To The Global Economy

The presence of translation service providers is a boost to the global economy; giving voice to ideas, plans and proposals the world over providing a much needed platform for far-reaching and meaningful communications with the rest of the planet. Aiming to create a bridge upon which ideas and communications can cross without obstruction, to pave the way for free, open and creative communications without boundaries or obstacles.

The Pace Of Economic Migration In The Global Economy

The pace of economic migration in the global economy is quickening and the voice of the world is becoming more cosmopolitan. As businesses, corporations and government bodies expand, the requirement for them to communicate with their evolving populous in a meaningful way becomes all the more pertinent, not to mention challenging and exciting. If a country is to prosper it needs to engage with its population. Where a system for dialogue exists to serve a multi-cultural society, there will also exist a harmony of expression.

Internet Growth

The birth of the internet has made a seemingly endless stream of information available to anyone who has access to a computer with a web connection. The internet is also vital for business. It creates a new arena where companies are able to showcase their particular products and services in fresh and innovative ways to new and diverse audiences.

Using The Web To Widen The Appeal

From launching an ad campaign in Polish to translating an e-mail from a client in Moscow; the challenge of utilising the internet to widen the appeal of your company must be met, if growth and success are to form any part of an organisations agenda.

Aims

The aim of any company or corporation is to offer the same high quality product or service to its expanding customer base. If that base consists largely of individuals from many different countries, then a solution needs to be found. For example, a company sees a gap in a potential market for a new or existing product; the problem presented to them is simple; extending the message that their company wishes to express in a culturally sensitive and appropriate manner.

The Advantages

The advantages of language services on the broader global economy are perhaps not immediately apparent. But if a company, whether large or small, is to get involved with it’s public in a meaningful way it needs to approach them in a manner that is conducive to them, not to marginalise them and therein reduce their presence in the world economy.
Companies express their cultural sensitivity by providing their diversifying customer base with materials tailored to suit their own languages. Indeed, for a company not to offer this kind of information would be short-sighted and not make good business sense.

The Need For Translators

It would not simply be enough to translate an ad campaign into Albanian or Chechen without an understanding of the kind of world your message is going to be heard in. Enter the translation services provider. With the advent of the global economy the role of the translator is an almost indispensable one. The need for businesses to communicate with their client base means that there will always be a requirement for a translator. This means a lot of work for professional language services: a company setting up a South-East Asian headquarters would need to overhaul the bulk of its commercial as well as training materials without losing any of its corporate timbre. Such an undertaking is costly and important to execute correctly from beginning to end.

The Role Of A Translation Service Provider

So, the role of a translation services provider is not simply to transpose a set of texts or materials from one language to the next, but also to engage with the culture who speaks that language. In partnership with the business or government body, this creates an invaluable link to its population in order that it may speak openly and clearly to all.

Just Translating Is Not Sufficient

Simply translating material would not be sufficient; a translator would need to know what kind of message the company is anxious to convey to their new client base and set the tone for the promotion or corporate identity. Certain symbols or ideas that are seen as the norm to one country may be highly offensive to another. In this manner, cultural sensitivity is extremely important.

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