The importance of translation in the real-estate sector arises from the increasing demand by individuals and companies to manage and invest in properties across the globe. Translation facilitates access to the right information, to the potential customers in their local language along with a good SEO score of the property advertisement.

The real estate industry is highly competitive and ever-changing. A consultant’s role is important right from the initiation to the conclusion of a transaction. Various tasks such as property listings, attracting clients, negotiating the terms and conditions of sale, and drawing up contracts are an integral part of the transaction process consultants have to carry out. Communicating with the clients in a language they are most comfortable with, can work in their favor. In this sector, where a large variety of legal content and monetary amounts are involved, a professional translation service is highly recommended.

In Spain, for example, the most used language in the real estate sector is, as expected, English, followed by German and French. Other languages such as Russian, Chinese or Arabic are also important in the Spanish property market.

In the United States, roughly 60 million people don’t speak English at home. That’s roughly one in five Americans who are more comfortable conversing, reading, and writing in another language. If you work in real estate, that’s one in five sales you might be missing out on. 

Here are few examples of content which should be translated to reach the target market:

• Property Description – The right description in the local language is important to communicate clearly. We strictly advise a professional translation agency, for the translation of property walkthrough videos, and e-brochures, to communicate correctly and concisely. The use of machine translated language in this situation can cause fatal mistakes and confusion. 

• Legal documentation – All legal documents of the property or the transaction as always need to be translated by professionals. The right and seamless execution of the document develops trust and ensures that each party’s interest is covered and secured.

• Press releases – Press releases are an important way to communicate corporate events and property launches. It is a key part of the multilingual public relation strategy as it helps to reach a wider audience and leads to an increase in potential customers.

• Marketing content and promotional videos - The correct terminology and the right message to the target market is very important while preparing marketing content and promotional videos. 

• Website content – Converting visitors to loyal customers becomes easy with a multilingual website. It is one of the greatest marketing tools with a large section of global internet users who research properties online. 

• Building codes – The building codes for commercial and residential properties vary from city to city in the same country and hence the right explanation is important, as any miscommunication might result in a shift of buyer’s decision.

Maintaining the confidentiality of the document is an important aspect to be considered while choosing a translation agency. Motaword offers more features to ensure your security and confidentiality than most other translation services. At Motaword, we use an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate, closed servers, and our beloved vetted translator base sign non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements before they start their first project.

To add on, we do not use Dropbox, FTP tools, or any other channels for the exchange of documents and information. Everything is done through our protected platform to ensure complete privacy and safety of the documents. 

When adapting the content to each market, a translator must take great care with the terminology and should always keep in mind the target user, as it could be a client with a high purchasing power. 

Keep in mind, however, that in the case of clients with high purchasing power the translator should have a good knowledge of the peculiarities of the market regarding the sale of various asset classes and also know the best way to address this type of client.

Would you like to know how Motaword can assist you in your real estate transactions?

In our last piece on the topic of Certified Translation for Request for Evidence (RFE) we went over a number of vital topics.

What is a USCIS Request for Evidence (RFE)

Why might a USCIS officer send an RFE? 

• Missing documents for a marriage-based green card.

• Insufficient Income

• No proof that the applicant entered the country legally

• Uncertified translations of documents from non-English language sources

Now you find yourself in the position of having to respond to an RFE.

What to do if you receive a Request for Evidence

First thing, read the complete RFE from start to finish. You are likely to receive this only one time, so it is crucial to quickly understand what’s required. Be sure that any additional proof being request was not included in your original application. People make mistakes. If that’s the case you’ll need to send duplicates in your response. Note which documents are duplicates of documents originally submitted.

Carefully note the deadline for the receipt of the requested documentation.

In your reply to the RFE, you need to include the original RFE notice (make a copy for your records) and be sure to include ALL requested documents in your packet of documents. They probably won’t accept subsequent documents if you attempt to send them piecemeal. 

If you are asked for a translation of a bilingual document, and one of the languages is English, you should point out that fact.

Should you be unable to provide requested documentation, explain why that would be the case, submit evidence from the relevant records office for why the document cannot be obtained and submit an affidavit (sworn statement). An example: a relative who confirms the birth date or your spouse or your self.

When you have confirmed you have gathered all the requested documentation be sure to make copies of everything. Now you’ll want to send this package of documents using either registered mail, return receipt requested or another form of trackable services such as FedEx or UPS. Confirm your package arrived prior to the deadline and keep a printout of that proof with your copy of the documents provided.

Here’s a video with the background information you’ll find useful

And to help set your expectations for how long this process might take read the following from the USCIS website USCIS Estimated Processing Time:

Request for Evidence (RFE) – Our processing time goals and associated processing timelines guide our production management efforts. On an application or set of applications where a customer could receive interim benefits, our objective is to pre-screen the application within 30 days of filing to identify whether there is any missing initial evidence. That’s because we do not want to issue an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) or advance parole based on an incomplete application simply because we haven’t conducted this initial review.

You’ll also be interested in review this information: Tips for Filing | USCIS

And remember, MotaWord is here, 24/7 to provide you with fast, certified translations at a fair price.

Summary: What is a USCIS Request for Evidence (RFE) and why are certified translations of documents required?

This is the first in a 2 part article. Find the second one here: Certified Translations for Request for Evidence, More Support

Getting a visa in the U.S. is a stressful activity. And that stress level usually rises more when the USCIS requests missing or additional information in the form of a Request for Evidence (RFE).

What is a USCIS Request For Evidence (RFE)?

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website

USCIS issues are written notices in the form of a Request For Evidence (RFE) to request missing initial or additional evidence from applicants or petitioners who filed for immigration benefits.

- USCIS Policy Manual

How to avoid RFEs

This simple answer for how to avoid getting a Request for Evidence (RFE) is to take the time to thoroughly document your application in the first place.  But sometimes it cannot be avoided.

Why might a USCIS officer send an RFE? 

Missing documents for a marriage-based green card - Of course, you need to prove that your marriage is real and not entered into for the purposes of staying in the U.S. What might provide that proof? 

• A copy of your marriage certificate (with a certified translation, if the certificate is not in English)

• Documents showing your relationship, over time, are what provide evidence that your marriage is real. 

• Pictures of you and your spouse together over the years. 

• Documented evidence that you are living together. Examples are documents that show you and your spouse have the same address: driver's license; utility bill that has both names on it; or phone bills.

• Proof that your finances are combined. Examples would be joint bank accounts, credit card statements, joint insurance policies, titles to property held jointly or loans where both spouses are liable for repayments.

Insufficient income from the sponsoring spouse - it might be the income is sufficient but that the documentation was seen as inadequate to support that claim.

No proof that the applicant entered the country legally - generally this means a copy of your stamped passport or a copy of your I-94 travel history. This is the form for tracking arrivals and departures, used by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) You’ll either have a paper copy of this, if you arrived before April of 2013 or if you arrived after that, you can download the I-94 here. If neither of those options works, you can request a replacement I-94 using Form I-102. (so many forms!)

Uncertified translations of documents from non-English language sources - It’s important to know that any translated documents you provide have to be certified translations. A certified translation is one where the translator certifies in writing that the translation is has been accurately translated. A certified translation has to include the translator’s name, address, date and must be signed by that translator. 

Staying perfectly on topic, be sure to read how MotaWord will certify any translations we do for you at no additional cost. And don't miss, Certified Translations for USCIS - Top 5 Things You Need to Know

In our next installment, we’ll review what to do if you should receive a Request for Evidence (RFE). Here is the link to that article

And remember, MotaWord is here, 24/7 to provide you with fast, certified translations at a fair price.

Summary: My English language blog post is performing well. Should I translate my blog into other languages? 

Congratulations! You’ve been creating content that fills the needs of your audience and generates meaningful traffic for your site. Now you think it’s worth exploring whether you can build on this by translating your blog posts into other languages. What do you need to consider?

SEO Value
Expanding your audience by reusing your content in multiple languages creates more pages on your site and offers you more pages from which to have internal links. All this builds greater SEO value. And the cost is only what you might pay in translation labor or fees.

But you should know that even a well-performing blog will not necessarily perform comparably in the short term in the translated version. SEO and organic search can be long tail and your expectations should be adjusted accordingly. It could take anywhere between 18 months to 3 years before you see significant SEO results, so bear that in mind when deciding how best to allocate your time, effort, and money.

Establishing Trust For Your Brand

If your blog content is useful to English speakers it will likely be useful to speakers of different languages. Helping people by providing valuable content is a great way to build brand authority and trust. If you create useful content, your audience will be more likely to pay for your product or service. But do your research to verify if the potential market in that other language is worth the effort and expense of translating your blog

What languages should I pick?

• Are there non-English inbound search terms on your site that indicate interest from readers in that language? That’s one sign that you’ll be providing value to the readers of that language.

• Is there a target market you are trying to engage with this content? You need the translation to be localized for that market. What does that mean? Read one of our blog posts on localization and the importance of getting this right.

Website Localization - More Than Translation

How should I have the translation done?

• Google Translate - While year by year this service is improving, it still has a long way to go before it is worth trusting your brand’s reputation with it. I’ve read blog posts that suggest that translating blog posts that have a light or whimsical tone is a safe use case for Google Translate. Not true. Humor and tone are the first casualties of machine translation by Google or any other automated translation system.

• Machine Translation - Rember that rule for “Good, Cheap, Fast”. Most of the time you only get to pick two. MotaWord comes the closest to providing all three with our collaborative translation platform. Read our assessment on the current state of Machine Translation technology. Machine Translation Ready to Take Over the World? Not Yet, Pinky!
  

• Professional Translation Agency While this is more reliable than the above two options it takes more time and is significantly more expensive than the other options. Often there will be a minimum charge that makes short blog posts prohibitively expensive to translate.

• MotaWord has no minimum charges, is performed by vetted translators, a proofreader, all on a platformed optimized to produce the highest quality human translation work possible. And your job will be back in your hands faster than any single translator could ever do.

So, if you decide that translating your blog makes good business sense, make another smart move and choose MotaWord for your translation needs.

Summary: What is a Translation API and how can MotaWord’s human translation API save you time and money.

Let’s talk about APIs, what they do and why, in the first place, and why should anyone bother with using one. For MotaWord, we’ll make the case that our human translation API makes using our services faster and easier. And since time is money, you’ll save on both by using our API. Here’s a terrific article that takes you through this topic: What Is an API and Why Should I Use One? 

With MotaWord’s Human Translation API, getting your translation related information into and out of our system is fast and seamless. But maybe you're new to APIs, so we'll take a minute to describe just what they do.

What is an API? 

API is the abbreviation for Application Programming Interface. An API is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other. It’s the software ‘messenger’ that facilitates making a request of a provider application that can then deliver a response back to your application.

What are examples of APIs?

Travel booking aggregators such as Kayak, Hipmunk, Expedia are examples that many people are familiar with. Without APIs, these sites would not be able to request information from individual airlines, hotels, and car rental agencies. And, of course, you wouldn’t be able to do the actual booking of any reservation. The API is what allows your individual reservation information to be sent to a specific travel provider.

When APIs return data, it is usually in JSON or XML format. Your application will then display that data with formatting that is consistent with the look of the rest of your website.

And if you’re a more visual learner, you’ll appreciate this video:

MotaWord’s Human Translation API lets you access the best quality translations in over 90 languages, quickly and at great prices. Whether it’s a website, program or application our API can:

• Provide immediate quotes for translations of your content in more than 90 languages, submitted and then returned in a variety of file formats
• Accept a new translation job
• Upload your style guides, glossaries, or documents to give context to your job and assist in a consistent product
• Monitor the progress of the project in each language
• Grab activity feeds as they happen, and
• Deliver the completed, high-quality translations to where they are needed - with no human interaction

If you are a regular MotaWord customer or think you might become one, then it makes sense to consider using the MotaWord Human Translation API for all your translation work.

Learn more and get started using the MotaWord human translation API using the links below
Getting Started With MotaWord takes you through the particulars of getting set up with your MotaWord Translation API.
Translation API / Developer Portal Explains the basics of the MotaWord API and provides essential tools and documentation you’ll need to work seamlessly with MotaWord.

Summary: Will an English translation continue to be the standard used in software development? Not if the REACT community has its way.

Once again, we bravely wade into the murky waters of the dominance of English translations in software development.

In our prior examination in this blog post, English Translation: Required for Learning to Code? there was a general consensus, that having one language, English, as the common language for developers is the most effective way to learn and share knowledge about a coding language. When code, that is originally written in English, is translated to another language it ends up isolating the non-English developer from the larger community’s knowledge base. But that means we’re asking the vast majority of the world to learn English in order to reap the benefits of the community’s knowledge and support.

‘If you don’t speak English you can’t access the community knowledge’ according to MotaWord Senior Software Engineer, Kaan Demirel. Unless developers can access the knowledge of a larger community of software developers, they’ll be at a disadvantage by not being able to learn from those who are more skilled and experienced than they are.

Is there a way to translate the English repository of knowledge into the world’s languages?

What prompted a re-examination of this topic? A team member here at MotaWord brought this article to our attention:

Is React Translated Yet? (go ahead and read it so you can follow the rest of this discussion)

You can see there’s a strong movement to translate both React (the Javascript library) and its documentation into over 30 languages. So far work has been completed on Spanish, Japanese, and Brazilian Portuguese. What’s React?

According to Wikipedia:
“React (also known as React.js or ReactJS) is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces. It is maintained by Facebook and a community of individual developers and companies. React can be used as a base in the development of single-page or mobile applications, as it is optimal for fetching rapidly changing data that needs to be recorded.”

In a presentation, Translating Code to Other (Human) Languages and Back Again, software developer, Aditya Mukerjee, showed an example of how the same javascript looks in two different languages, an English translation, and a Bengali translation.

English Translation

If you’d like to learn React, here’s a well-reviewed video to get you started, Learn React - React Crash Course 2019

The pioneering software developer, Grace Hopper, envisioned a world where software could be multilingual:

“I would have thought it would be useful to NATO because they had the common verbs for the things they were going to do. And the nouns, they’d just have to have a dictionary for things they were referring to for inventory control...They’d have common nouns throughout NATO, and they could make a dictionary of common verbs and translate the program. You could write one in English and you could translate it and it could go to [the other language]. No problem, you’d have communication. It would be a limited vocabulary.”

So as of now, English is the lingua franca of the software language and business world. But that could change to Chinese in the next 15 - 20 years if they can maintain their growth. So perhaps we should all work for a knowledge sharing solution that spans all languages?

On topic - read our blog post, The Most Popular Online Language

If we can reach a place where a software language can be used in any language then we’ll be a step closer to greater mutual understanding. Not quite world peace yet but it’s movement in the right direction. 

For more on this topic see: Non-English-based programming languages (Wikipedia)

According to macrotrends.com, with an almost 50% year-over-year increase, Alibaba made $12.398B in the third quarter of 2018. We may never be able to see the Silk Road in its prime despite China’s efforts, but thanks to the internet Alibaba could definitely take its place if it hasn’t already.

Yet a success like that does not come without hard work. If you have used their service, you know that your order might arrive late -  for one, experienced this first hand - but their prices are great. And that’s not the only reason for their success. Alibaba has 17 localizations, including English and their website speaks to more than half of the world’s population in their native language. This is a pretty simple trick - but we know it works every time.

By the way - shout out to their localization partner for their good work. We don’t know who they are but we do know this industry. So we have to add, we are pretty sure that we can provide higher quality translation - not only faster but also cheaper.

But we are not only living in a post-Silk Road era as I mentioned earlier. There’s still is no trace either of the Tower of Babel nor the secret to omnilingualism. Thus MotaWord is the best partner for anyone who wants to reach a broader audience.

Let me walk you through why…

Our intention behind the design of our API was to allow people faster access to high-quality translation 24/7, in over 90 languages. Our global translator base removes the limits of circadian rhythm - basically, the business day never ends at MotaWord. We could receive your website translation project during the Australian business day, get it translated during the European business hours, get it proofread in the American business day and deliver it to you by the coming Australian business day.

That’s only one example. We are here to support every aspect of your marketing plan. Website localization? Send us your HTML files, and we will return it as such. You don’t need to explain to a developer which word goes where. Your online shop could be up and running in mere days, instead of it being a weeks-long localization project.

Press release for a new product? We could translate it for you faster than anybody else does.

Do you have an upcoming trade fair? We can work on your InDesign files and translate your banners, posters, and booklets. Your graphic designer won’t be drowned in an endless copy-paste process. The same goes for your product packages.

High quality translation has never been more achievable nor this affordable. MotaWord doesn’t have any minimum charge. If you have a three-word long text to translate, then you will only pay for those three words. Please keep in mind that, unlike our competitors, our translation/localization approach includes a mandatory proofreading step - a service provided by native speakers - and we don’t charge anything extra for that. You just need to determine your target markets and let us know which languages they speak.

The rest is on us. If you would like to start working with us as your marketing partner (we can even translate your market research), you could get your instant quote simply by clicking here.


 

About MotaWord
MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock and over 15 thousand professional translators MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.

Summary: How and when should startups think about translation and localization? Answer: As early as possible and as a structural part of there company.

What is a startup?

One widely accepted definition of a startup is a company that has both the ambition and ability to build a high growth company by using technology. And here's what it is not - a new artisanal pizza shop. Although I love pizza, a pizzeria cannot scale.

What does a successful startup look like? It is one where the company thinks about scaling from the outset, where the structural elements of that company optimize for fast growth from the beginning. That requires planning and building to be global, knowing your content will be translated into multiple languages. It means understanding that localization means more than translating the words on your website and in your marketing materials. Localization transforms your content based on an understanding of the culture, practices, and the people in that local market

The better founders and startup teams think and build for global growth early on in their development. They think beyond their local market. In an interview for Starta Ventures last year I spoke with Eveline Buchatskiy, Managing Partner of One One Ventures in Boston. She paints a vivid picture of what startups will look like in the coming years. (she may be conservative in her time estimate)

Entrepreneurs in 5 to 10 years will think globally and may choose to be based in London because there you can easily find capital, have the R&D in Ukraine, which is just 3 hours away on a plane, and have the marketing and sales team in New York. That’s the kind of entrepreneur we’re going see in the future and that’s what I think is very exciting. - Eveline Buchatskiy

Get the full book, The Very Hungry VC: Trends and Opportunities

Video: Eveline Buchatskiy (EMBA'08D) on Investing in Immigrants

Now that we have defined a startup, let's think about how we should think about our presence across multiple markets. This is the localization part and naturally, that includes the translation part.

For every market where you do business, you need to look, sound, and behave as if you were native to that locale. You’ll see from the suggestions below that localizing - i.e. looking, sounding and being native to a market takes much more than a bilingual dictionary.

Build Your Online Reputation

• Establish trust. This is about showing the user that you are aware of and responsive to their needs and that you can meet those needs on their terms.

• Establish authority. Be the go-to source of information and advice on your company’s area of expertise. On social media, share good, relevant content and create useful content that helps others in your sphere. Give until it hurts. Then do it again next week. Consistency matters.

Share content for a wider audience

• Related to the prior suggestion, you can enlarge your audience by pulling in others who have related issues. Everyone who has a business cares about marketing, sales, product development, hiring and retaining the best talent and more. Add tags for topics that pull in people from beyond your core audience. Tag people (with larger followings than yours) if your content or resharing would interest that person.

Build Local Relationships

• Create locally relevant content (Read up on this topic here)

• Collaborate with local influencers and local sales experts

• For companies with a ‘bricks & mortar’ component - think Warby Parker -  embed a google map so users can find you. Have a ‘Call now’ button in Google My Business

• Wherever you have a physical presence, be active in that community. Sponsor events, local schools, universities to increase your brand recognition and reputation.

• Monitor and be active on social media to associate your brand with a geographic region and to be a positive contributor in that region.

• Look for, and ask for Customer Generated Content (CGC). Nothing is as powerful as an authentic testimonial from a customer. (see How to Attract Customers With Localized Content Marketing )

Adopt individualized marketing approaches - If your marketing strategy started in your home market, don't assume that the same strategy will work in a different country. A localization expert can guide you so you use the right channels, set the right tone and use language that is effective in producing the desired outcome. What works in one locale will not necessarily work in the specific locality you are entering. Optimize for the desired outcome and not to reproduce a previously effective strategy.

Keep your message updated - By working with a trusted translation company, you can economically maintain your site’s ever-changing content to keep your users engaged, improve your rankings with search engines, and continue to stay relevant in your field. Use MotaWord’s API to translate only those portions of your site that have changed. We’ll never charge you more than is absolutely necessary. When you have fresh, relevant content, that translates into (see what I did there?) improved SEO rankings. We talked about that in greater detail in another post in Website Localization - More Than Translation.

And for more on localization, you should read, Why You Should Run Your Website Localization Project on MotaWord

The best startups thinking globally. But even if you aren't a startup, you can think like one.

MotaWord is a global translation platform with over 16 thousand professionals and vetted translators working to deliver high-quality translations in 80+ languages. MotaWord serves clients in their native language and gives them instant quotes thanks to its localized website and translations are done 20x faster and 60% cheaper than agencies.

When people use the term, “literary canon”, they mean those books, plays, poems or other written works that are considered important or influential at a time and place in history. But the term, “is considered” is problematic. It hides behind anonymity. Who does the considering? Is this invisible group accountable for who and what is considered important or influential?

This is at the heart of any explicit or implicit selection process that creates the canon of any field.

Translating the female voice, a piece recently published on Varsity.co.uk cites the limited number of English translations of the works of popular female French writers from the late 1600s and early 1700s. These writers were part of a group that wrote about fairy tales. The writers were  Marie Catherine d'Aulnoy, Charlotte-Rose de Caumont La Force, Marie-Jeanne Lhéritier, and Charles Perrault. This last name on the list is the only man among this group. In fact, it was Marie Catherine d’Aulnoy who coined the term “contes de fées” (fairy tales) that came to define a literary genre. Yet the name most associated with fairy tales is Charles Perrault. 

Who were these women and, 300 years later, why is it so difficult to find an English translation of their work? Let me focus on one of these women.

Marie Catherine d'Aulnoy, born in either 1850 or 1851 and a member of the nobility, was given away in marriage at the age of 15. Her husband was accused of treasonous speech against the king, spent 3 years in the Bastille after which he convinced the court that it was his accusers who were treasonous. They were executed instead. It deserves mentioning that these accusers were said to be the lovers of his wife, Marie Catherine d’Aulnoy and her mother. Her mother fled to England and Mme d’Aulnoy escaped arrest by hiding in a church. Other intrigues ensued that make for salacious reading for those who love 300-year-old soap operas. But when the dust settled Mme d’Aulnoy retired from Paris social life and for the next twenty years pursued a life as a writer. She was widely published and so well regarded that she was elected to membership of the Paduan Accademia dei Ricovatri in Italy. Among these writings were two collections of fairy tales. The account in Wikipedia describes her fairy tales in this way, “... Much of her writing created a world of animal brides and grooms, where love and happiness came to heroines after surmounting great obstacles.”

If you search Amazon.com for Charles Perrault you’ll find 675 results. Marie Catherine d'Aulnoy yields 140 results. Charlotte-Rose de Caumont La Force returns 32 results. Marie-Jeanne Lhéritier 15 results. 

What’s the point here? Equal opportunity does not mean equal outcomes. Should there be an equal number of English translations for all works of French literature? Of course not. But in the case described here, there was a 3 to 1 ratio of women to men. Each of them was a successful writer. Yet the man has had significantly more English translations - and into other languages as well - than his female contemporaries. The net result amplifies itself over time. If there is an English translation of a literary work then it must have been worth translating. That, in turn, begets other English translations.

Again, why should we care if there are English translations of writers who wrote over 300 years ago? Because we perpetuate a false version of history if we don’t fairly represent their contributions to the literary activities of that time. That’s an injustice both to the women of that time and to everyone today. We all deserve the right to see an accurate representation of history. 

Publishers, translators, academicians should make a dedicated effort to more accurately represent the work that was done by everyone of that era. They should do this not to diminish the work of Charles Perrault or even to claim the superiority of his female contemporaries. But once again, there should be an honest account of historical events.  

You might also like:

The Professional Translation of Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales

A Little History of the World

This is a tale of an author, whose work was so popular that his book was translated into 25 languages. But, believing that only he could do the English language version justice, reserved for himself, the right to translate it into English. That was not fated to be, as he died before completing the work. His granddaughter and another translator completed that work.

Summary: Website localization requires multiple elements for your company to effectively function in a different country. Understand the basics when your company enters new markets.

This post puts the role of language translation into a larger context of website localization. But first, we’ll review some of the language translation aspects of website localization.

Localization Style Guide This is the set of rules for translators that will determine how your company will look, sound and behave in a new market. These guidelines will enable the company’s content to conform with and natively reflect this new market.

What are some of the components of a localization style guide:

• A clearly defined writing style

• A defined set of personas being addressed. Besides language spoken, what is the range of education levels, beliefs (religious or other), value systems, cultural habits and traditions of the audience you are speaking to and with? (don’t forget customer service!)

• You’ll need to determine whether the goal is to faithfully recreate the content or creatively recreate the desired outcome of the source content

• Grammatical forms preferred (passive vs. active voice, imperative or infinitive)

• How to use acronyms and initializations (what’s the difference?)

• A complete translation glossary of products and services from source to the target language

• How will the target language content treat slogans? 

Goya Foods had a simple enough slogan, “Si es Goya, tiene que ser bueno”. A direct translation, "If it's Goya, it has to be good" was not a problem. However… when Perdue Chicken entered the Spanish market they made this epically bad translation: "It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken". This became, "It takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate”. That's food for thought, isn't it?

Read these relevant posts on Style Guides and on how to localize the content on your website:

What is a Style Guide

Why Should You Run Your Website Localization Project On Motaword?

What else should you consider when planning website localization? You should also look into the functionality of your website. We’ll touch on a few things to get you thinking and when ready, you should hire qualified people to implement this part of the website localization project. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in the target language. How do users in this language search for your products or services? Have a local SEO expert in your corner to be sure your content can rank well in search engine results and be found by your potential customers.

Use Hreflnag tags, e.g. hreflang="en"(for English) and hreflang="es" (for Espaňol) so Google knows which page to list in a given country. Different versions of the same language, such as US, Australia or the UK should have tags that identify each of them as well. 

Page Load Speed Sites that load quickly rank higher in search results. A maximum of three seconds is what Google recommends. What affects load time? The size of image files, bloated CSS or HTML files, and too many ads are among the guilty parties. And if the internet is generally slow in the country, you should consider building a simplified version of your website. Google provides a useful tool with its PageSpeed Insights that offers concrete suggestions on how to improve the speed of your site.

Identify Local Sites for Backlinks The most effective website localization strategies will plan on building relationships with local websites for links back to your local site. The search engine algorithms are too sophisticated to do this quickly so don’t fall for claims that know how to ‘hack’ this. It won’t work. Produce high-quality content to build natural backlinks from relevant sites. Over time your Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) rankings will increase.

What URL Structure Will You Use There are three options possible. 

Option One: Create a completely new localized website such as mybusiness.de (Germany). Since this is a stand-alone site it won’t be able to take advantage of the value of the original site’s page rankings. (remember pages are ranked and not entire websites)

Option Two: Create a subdomain as part of your original website. The URL of our example would be de.mybusiness.com. This lets the search engines know the country that the page is intended for.

Option three: Create subfolders on your existing English language website for the localized pages. Example, mybusiness.com/de/home/. An advantage for this option would be you can build on any existing SEO work you’ve done and Google will evaluate your local pages using the ranking of the original site and associated backlinks.

Bear in mind that there is debate on which is the optimal SEO strategy and SEO is an ever-changing landscape. Consult with a trusted localization expert with a reputation for being up-to-date on the field.

More than one-third of the world’s sites are built on WordPress so you and your developer team might find this video useful in planning your website localization work.

WordPress Multilingual Class, #2: Website Localization and Internationalization

Summary: With 90% of people in the Netherlands speaking English, do you need a Dutch translation of your website? Yes And we’ll tell you why.

Congratulations! Your company is doing well in the US market and you are now looking at other markets to enter to expand your customer base and grow your revenue. Most global companies, on average, translate their content into 32 different languages. As you begin to globalize you’ll absolutely want to do a Dutch translation of your content. English to Dutch translations are among the most frequently ordered languages on the MotaWord platform. As I cite chapter, verse, and stats on the Netherlands, you’ll see why.

The Netherlands is not a large country in terms of landmass. For those in the US, think twice the size of New Jersy or one-sixteenth the size of Texas. But in spite of being a relatively small country, their GDP is $933 billion USD (est. 2019) and by 2023 is estimated to grow to $1.1 trillion dollars (Statistics Times). And with a population of 17 million people,  two million fewer than New York State, the Netherlands still manages to achieve a ranking as the 17th largest economy in the world and the 6th largest economy in Europe.

As they used to say in the Gold Rush, “There’s gold in them thar hills!” You most certainly need to have a Dutch translation of your online content if you hope to win a share of this market.
The Largest Companies In The Netherlands

What are the major companies in The Netherlands? Among them are names that many will recognize as being international companies and might surprise you for being Dutch in origin. They are:

• Royal Dutch Shell, the oil and gas energy company operating in 70 countries
• ING, the banking and finance company who have clients in over 40 countries and over 75,000 employees around the world
• Unilever the consumer goods company that has evolved into a company focused on higher-end personal care products. Their products are available in nearly 190 countries. (almost every country worldwide)
• Ahold Delhaize is a supermarket group that also has interests in health and beauty products and has approximately 6,500 stores in 11 countries
• Aegon is a multinational insurance, asset management, and pension company that employs over 31,000 people as is known in the US as Transamerica. They serve over 16 countries.
• Rabobank is unusual for being a cooperative of 129 separate entities doing sustainable banking and financial services with specialties in food and agricultural financing.
• Philips, originally a lighting company, in 2014 turned to focus on healthcare.
• GasTerra, as the name might imply, is a natural gas sector and is owned by Royal Dutch Shell (25%), ExxonMobil (25%), and the Dutch government (50%).
• SHV is a privately held holding company with diverse holdings in transport, retail, oil, food, and financial services
• Heineken, founded over 150 years ago, owns more than 165 breweries in over 70 countries. It is still majority-owned by the Heineken family

You’ve probably noticed in the above company descriptions that I included the number of countries each of them operates in. This is to stress that translating your company’s content into the language of a new market is the minimum requirement for entering that market. So it is with a Dutch translation.

What languages are spoken in The Netherlands? 

(Source: WorldAtlas.com)

When US citizens travel to The Netherlands they’ll discover there is very little need for a Dutch translation More than 90% of the population speak English. The next most widely spoken second languages are German (71%), French (29%) and Spanish (5%). If you are American and plan to travel there, you’ll have to work a bit to practice your Dutch.

So then, why do the Dutch prefer to read online content in Dutch? For the same reason you or I prefer to read content in our native language. Comfort. Especially if we are doing something as emotionally charged as making a purchase decision. It’s up to businesses to have a Dutch translation to ‘meet their customers where they live’. We discussed this in an earlier blog post you’ll appreciate:

Speak To Global Customers In Their Own Language

Online and Mobile Usage

(as of 2017 statistica.com)

As of 2017, an astonishing 98% of Dutch households had broadband internet access (2017 cbs.nl) In the graphic below you’ll see that this is a greater percentage of connectivity than any other nation in Europe.

Add to that the fact that 87% of all Dutch people (tied with Sweden) have mobile internet access and you’ll agree that the Netherlands is a prize market to be a part of. By comparison, 64% of people in the European Union have mobile internet access.

E-commerce

(Source: Eshopworld.com)

According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development 76% of the Dutch population between 15 and older shop online. The combined home-based and mobile internet penetration represent a special opportunity to target a rich, dense market of consumers. What could a Dutch translation of your content open for you? Consider this: In 2018, the Netherlands was number one in the rankings of Business-to-consumer e-commerce markets. (UN Conference on Trade and Development)

You won’t be quizzed on any of the data cited here but by now you can see that having a Dutch translation of your content provides you a passport to a prosperous market and will be money well spent. 

After watching this video you’ll understand, on a visceral level, why you should do a Dutch translation of your content, even though more Dutch speak English.

Now try this - copy all the text from the home page of your website into a Word or Google document and check the word count. Now go to our pricing page and put that word count into the relevant field. Now you’ll see how simple and affordable this translating your content will be.

Summary: Machine translation quality is not near the equal of trained human translators. Here are areas where technology fails.

Recently I read an interesting article on Neural Machine Translation, Has AI surpassed humans at translation? Not even close!, that strongly argues that machine translation, or more strictly, Neural Machine Translation (NMT) is not nearly advanced enough to replace competent human translators. 

What’s the problem? 

On a daily basis, we read about the triumphs of IBM’s Watson, that Google Translate is heavily used for casual reading of foreign publications and auto-translation of websites, and Facebook offers instant translations of content and comment provided in other languages. We seem to be in a Golden Age of quality translation on demand. Is that the case?

The short answer: no.

When reviewing translation with a rigorous standard of what constitutes quality, we find there are consistent issues of gender bias, a lack of understanding context, nonsensical output and the larger issue of how to judge when a translation is accurate. So far, judging the quality of a translation remains very expensive because only a fully bilingual person is able to make this determination. 

There is a metric for machine translation. It’s called the BLEU score. That stands for bilingual evaluation understudy. 

The BLEU score

This is a scoring system that compares the machine translation against a set of known human translations of good quality. Quality is defined as “the closer a machine translation is to a professional human translation, the better it is”. Each sentence is graded individually for quality and then the average of all scores over the entire corpus, i.e. work being translated, is calculated. That average score is the score then used as the score for the work. 

Interestingly, there is no measurement of intelligibility or grammatically correctness. Neither is there any comparison among the sentences to determine if they are contextually correct. You can see how this measure of machine translation quality has severe limits.

Read a more detailed explanation here. 

Why Context Matters

In the article that prompted this blog, the author uses this example: An article about a music concert quotes someone saying, “I’m a huge metal fan”. When translated into French by machine translation it becomes, “Je suis un énorme ventilateur en métal” (“I’m a large ventilator made of metal.”) The difficult task of understanding context causes a failing grade. At some point, the technology will be able to detect indicators of context such as, ‘concert’, ‘event’, ‘music’, ‘festival’, ‘arena’, ‘theater’ or other words/phrases humans easily use to shape our sense of context. But today this ambiguity can elude the capabilities of Neural Machine Translation to determine the correct meaning of both ‘metal’ and ‘fan’

For more background on understanding the concepts of translation, machine translation, and neural machine translation you might watch this lecture from the Standford University School of Engineering.

Neural Machine Translation and Models with Attention

For more on the importance of understanding context, the difference between a globalized translation versus a localized translation you can read any of the following:

German Translation? Which German?

Spanish Translation For Your Website: Which Spanish?

French Translation? Which French?

Given the nascent state of translation technology, what should businesses do to get the most accurate, faithful translations quickly and at a fair price? MotaWord has an answer. Our AI-supported platform allows translators to work on a project simultaneously, without using human project managers.  Customers can upload style guides and glossaries to customize their translation. These resources are shared among all the translators working on the project to produce accurate translations in less time. And customers can watch, in real-time, as translators work on their projects.

Contact us to see we can meet all of your translation needs.

Summary: Korean translations can be tricky, with both meaning and style challenges. MotaWords translators give us an inside view of the challenges and rewards of Korean translations.

After studying English in universities, both Jasmine Kim and Yoon Seo brought their Korean translation skills to a professional level by reading English works extensively. For Jasmine, this led to work as a project manager at a translation agency, a job she held for five years.  Stanley Nam’s path was slightly less conventional. Let’s hear how each of them describes their journey.

Stanley Nam: I was lucky to serve as an Army Interpreter for my mandatory military service. As the Korean army frequently runs joint war games with the US, there is a high demand for middlemen who understand both two languages and the military settings in Korea. My primary job description included translating manuals to be used in the field, and promoting communication between the US and Korean personnel. Brevity and accuracy were vital in the two-year training, so after I finished the service I was confident in going into professional translation. From then on, I have worked for numerous clients both in Korea and Canada, where I am currently located. MotaWord is one of a kind as it let me freely work whenever I can and wherever I am. 

Jasmine Kim: As a person who enjoys challenging new things that are especially related to English, I love reading interesting content, particularly when it involves languages. I have studied English interpretation and translation at university and worked as a project manager at a translating agency for five years. These experiences brought me to this wonderful position of a freelance translator working new and interesting tasks every day!

Yoon Seo: I continue to study English and I read articles and columns to acquire the vocabulary and information on corresponding professions. This lets me translate works smoothly into Korean.

Most often, what languages pairs do you work in and in which direction?

Jasmine Kim: Generally I work in English to Korean translation or proofreading jobs, which I am familiar with, and this language pair and direction occupy most of my projects. I also handle Korean to English translation jobs when my schedule allows me. 

Stanley Nam: I mostly translate from English to Korean. Besides, there is also high demand among the Korean researchers who need their scholarly works to be translated into English, so I often translate articles in business (my major in college) to be made acceptable to international journals.

Yoon Seo: I work in English to Korean translations.

Describe a typical day working on a MotaWord translation job?

Yoon Seo: I'm holding onto my laptop because I have to compete with other translators to get a real-time translation.  When I don't have a laptop, I might miss a project.

OK, Yoon, we’re going to have to get more work for the Korean translators so you don’t have to worry about this.

Stanley Nam: MotaWord notifies me through e-mail when there is a project I can work on. When I am not on other projects, I can devote my whole working time to that project. Even while I am working on other projects, I can spare some time contributing to the MotaWord project as a side job. What I love about MotaWord projects is that I can be a part of many other competitive translators and do not need to work on my own. I can always learn from what others have translated, especially if there is already a Mandarin translation of the English phrase that I try to translate into Korean. This is very helpful as I speak Mandarin as well.

Jasmine Kim: I try to wake up early because I find the morning hours to be the most productive. I am usually tied up with housework until I get a new job. When I get a notification mail regarding “New translation project” from MotaWord, I dash to my computer and enjoy translating.  

Any advice for beginning translators?

Stanley Nam: Try to learn from language pairs done by other translators. There are also bilingual newspapers that provide pairs of Korean and English sentences of the same meaning. See how the journalists wrote the same situation in the two languages. By learning, I do not mean blindly following previous examples. Be critical about them and think about how you can do better.

This is a good place to jump in to suggest you watch this thoughtful video on the Korean language.  This Korean language teacher thinks deeply about language learning in general. You'll enjoy this. 

Why is it so difficult to translate between English and Korean?

Jasmine Kim: One of my favorite maxims is "He who has dreamed for long resembles his dream" said by a French novelist, Andre Malraux. I am sure that it is definitely true since I have become the person I dreamed of a few years ago. I strongly believe whoever dreams will see the dream turn out to be real.

Yoon Seo: Get a good understanding of the style of the document and the subject area required.

The three of you have my respect and the respect of the MotaWord team. The more I learn about Korean translations and the richness of the Korean language the more impressed I become. In my research, I found  examples of that richness:

10 Fascinating Korean Words That Have No English Translation

And here’s a web page where you’ll read and hear, Korean Core 100 Word List

For more information on Korean translations you might also like:

Korean Translation is Hard. Ask Koreans.

Korean Translation, why?

Summary: Variants in a language can be big or small. Understanding the difference is crucial when considering an English translation of your content. Go local or global?

George Bernard Shaw, the English writer never said the following: “The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language.” In his published works there’s no record that he ever said this but still, people give him credit for this quote.
Oscar Wilde, another Brit with a gift for a clever line, is attributed with, “We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language.”

The larger point -  there can be confusion and misunderstanding within what is called one language. For some Americans traveling in England, an English translation might be necessary to understand what the locals are saying. 

Or when someone in Australia says the word, “barbie”, an American might think of the doll that can be dressed in an endless array of clothing styles. They’d be wrong. For Australians ‘barbie’ means barbequed meat. 

Here’s a fun post found on 20 Australian Words That Mean Something Totally Different in the U.S.
And an American or Australian might need an English translation of these 20 British Words That Mean Something Totally Different in the U.S. Among, “shag”, “rubber”, “hooker” and “pants” there are plenty of ways to have embarrassing misunderstandings with words we think we understand. 

What do all of these amusing examples mean for a business person looking to market internationally? That’s where things get serious. But the idea of needing an English translation for content in English is not far fetched. You cannot assume that common language in one country will be understood or have the same connotations in a different country.

To illustrate: You’ll enjoy this video that underscores how we often don’t understand each other, even when we speak a common language.
The beautiful ways different cultures sign emails, from the BBC’s website. (the British take on international affairs and culture is always a fun read) This piece highlights how our cultural differences in writing emails can have real repercussions in the business world. 

You could easily alienate a client or be misunderstood by a coworker. Being in the U.S. - New York City in specific - you wouldn't give a second thought to signing a letter, “Regards,”. But after reading this article you might realize that what some consider to be a pleasant tip-of-the-hat can be read as aloof and impolite in other English speaking locales. Since that would never be the intention, it is safer to sign off with “Best regards” or “Kind regards” or maybe even a “Warm regards”. 

In taking a company to market in other countries, understanding nuance in a language is critical. No one cares what you meant to say if your language is understood as saying something else. And that’s the risk one encounters when dealing with other cultures. Something said innocently can be taken badly.

MotaWord’s co-founder, Evren Ay, when writing about localizing your content put it best: Speak to Global Customers in Their Own Language. 

Imagine going to Amazon.com and trying to shop in a different language. Talk about a poor user experience! No sensible company does that in 2019. A company that’s serious about globalizing will, on average, translate their content into 32 different languages. That’s not merely considerate. It’s good business.

So here’s some advice on entering new markets. One, localize your content. Use an expert with knowledge of the local market, language, and customs for business communications. And second, go that next step by learning how to communicate one-on-one with your customers in that market. This is a must-have and not a nice-to-have. You’ll need to know how people communicate in writing to be effective with customer service and any in-country partners.

Have a nice day,
Regards,
Ciao for now,
Ta ta,

Where are we? Ah yes! In the U.S.A. No English translation is necessary.
Best regards,
Marcos

PS - At MotaWord we truly understand how to localize your content and would love to take that task off of your hands. See how affordable we can be.

Summary: Choosing a translation agency is an important decision. Learn best practices from a modern, cloud-based collaborative translation platform - MotaWord

How does a modern translation company use the latest software tools to augment trained translators? And what advantages does that give them over a traditional translation agency?

To start - when a traditional translation company puts up a website that does not make them modern, and certainly not digital. The actual quoting, translation, delivery and housekeeping functions are still typically done by a project manager and a single translator with no technology assisting that work.

MotaWord is natively digital. The MotaWord platform facilitates and improves the work of translators. Our translators work on a document simultaneously via a unique collaboration platform. Unlike a traditional translation agency, MotaWord’s translators can see each other’s work in real-time. They learn from and improve each other’s work while adding a layer of accountability to the process that does not exist with a single translator working on a document. And the MotaWord platform employs translation memory technology and our Translator Quality Score Algorithm for ever-improving work. Read more on how we constantly monitor the translation quality: Ensuring Accurate Translations With MotaWord

The demand for translations, both in personal and business life, is ever increasing as the economy continues to globalize. This massive growth in demand makes it impractical to do translations as we’ve done them for hundreds of years. But humans are still needed to produce accurate, reliable translations. In order to understand why the 46 billion dollar a year translation industry is still dominated by humans, it makes sense to look at the current state of "Machine Translations". Here is some background on computer translations.
Terms to understand

"Word-based” and "Phrase-based” translations were used in early translation software. The results were very rough translations, good only for getting a basic understanding of what the text was trying to convey. This type of machine translation is almost nearly abandoned as it does not yield reliable results. The next stage of machine translation was:

Machine or Neural Machine Translation (NMT) - this software enhanced translation performance by using neural networks to learn to translate entire sentences without breaking them down into smaller parts. This system then uses the prior text to create a context where further translations can be performed. While NMT is much better than the early machine translations, they are still not ready for prime time and might not be for some while yet.

Read more about Neural Machine Translation

And watch this video: Neural Machine Translation Tutorial - An introduction to Neural Machine Translation



Translation memory technology is a linguistic database that captures and saves repetitive phrases for future use. It enables translators to work faster and lower the cost of your translation projects by eliminating the need to translate repetitive phrases. It is important to note that this technology does not replace human translators; rather, it augments translators' skills to provide faster and more accurate translations. This is what MotaWord does. MotaWord’s platform equips translators with this transformative technology.

Read more on translation memory technology

Pricing Differences
Traditional Translation Agencies: Minimum prices are common for them. This makes small jobs too expensive to be practical. Prices begin at $29 and up. Many translation agencies charge different rates for translating different languages.

MotaWord: No minimum - Just $0.14 per word. No contracts. No commitment. Whatever the language pair.

File Types Are Accepted
Traditional translation agencies accept a limited range of file types and return the translation in a limited range of file types. 
MotaWord can ingest the major office suite files, rich text, plain text, as well as 25 machine-readable formats. Learn more here

Speed of Delivery
Traditional translation agencies: Minimum delivery time is 6 - 24 hours for the ‘top-rated companies’ based on our internal research. And that only after you pay a "rush fee" for the speedy service.

MotaWord’s platform is available 24/7. The moment your job comes in translators can begin to work on it. And you can see their work and offer guidance in real time. So whether it’s a single page or one hundred pages your job will be finished significantly faster than a traditional translation service. About 20 times faster.

When looking at translation services be sure your choice has the right people and the breadth of languages to handle both your current needs and long term needs. Then be sure your choice of a translation service uses the best technology to provide accurate, fast translations at a fair price. Your choice should be MotaWord.

Any questions about translations? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We stand ready to work with you.

Summary: Certified translations for USCIS are required for foreign language documents supporting citizenship or naturalization applications. What documents are required? What should you pay attention to?

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is that part of the federal government that has jurisdiction over citizenship and immigration issues.  

1. What is a certificate of translation?
A formal statement in which a translator shows that they have accurately translated a foreign-language document into English. Any foreign language document must be accompanied by a full English translation that the translator has certified as complete and correct, and by the translator's certification that they are competent to translate the foreign language into English.

2. Who needs this?
Anyone who is immigrating to the United States of America (USA) or applying for naturalization.

3. What documents need to be certified?
Any and all documents submitted to support an application or petition are required to also have an English translation. This translation must be accompanied by a certification from the translator that attests the translation is both complete, accurate and that the translator is competent. Examples include birth certificates, marriage certificates, college transcripts, and police records.

And it’s important to know what information the USCIS  requires in a document. In some cases where the original document is lengthy countries will issue an ‘extract’ version of the document. These ‘extract’ documents will be accepted only if they contain the required information and if they were produced by an authorized official. (the “keeper of record”)

4. Do all translators offer this service?
No, not all translation services provide this service. Be sure that this service is offered before you engage with any translation service. MotaWord will usually return your certified translation within hours of being submitted. Read more about MotaWord’s USCIS certified translations here. or watch our Video: MotaWord Certified Translation

5. When am I required to have certified translations?
There are several scenarios in which you’ll need your non-English documents to have certified translations. Those include:

• Legal proceedings such as trials or hearings
• Immigration applications
• College applications
• Corporate and Business documentation
  • Documents might include, financial reports, contracts, patent filings. Additionally, businesses hiring a new employee may require: medical records, bank statements, passports, and visas

Here is one of the main reasons why you should choose MotaWord to handle your certified translations for USCIS. The largest immigration platform in the United States does and we are proud of our work with them. You can read more about how MotaWord provides USCIS ready translation service to Envoy Global every day, saving time, money and hassle to their clients here: https://www.motaword.com/cases/certified-translations-envoy

Useful Resources

How do I apply for U.S. citizenship? (PDF)
USCIS Resources in Other Languages

Summary: For non-English speaking computer programming students, do the benefits of learning to code in an “English translation” outweigh learning in a foreign language?

Reading this article on Wired.com CODING IS FOR EVERYONE—AS LONG AS YOU SPEAK ENGLISH got me thinking about language learning and learning to be a software developer.

In software programming, there are keywords that are part of the vocabulary used to write a given software program. Most software languages originated in an English language speaking country. So to write code in that programming language, developers have had to learn the English-based vocabulary. Does this disadvantage non-English speakers learn to write code? And what advantages might there be in learning a programming language in what might be called, an English translation or version?

The challenge could be daunting. But many people believe that the benefits of a large community who share the same code and support resources far outweigh the negatives of learning to code in English-based or an English translation version.

And working with MotaWord's software developers, all of whom are not native English speakers, I have the perfect group to talk to about English translations, reading code, and writing code in English. I grabbed MotaWord's co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Oytun Tez for his perspective. Below is an interview, edited for length and clarity.

MD: Ok, thanks for agreeing to this interview. This is a series of questions about learning English and your journey as a programmer. How old were you when you learned to speak English?

OT: I probably started learning English and coding at the same time, which is around like 10 or 12 years old.

MD: Did you encounter English language keywords in those programming languages, separately from your conversational English?

OT: Definitely. I had two vocabularies. One is coding English vocabulary. And one is the social vocabulary. So for instance, I learned many keywords such as Declare, and Constant. Those things are coming from my coding vocabulary. Whereas I wasn't really exposed to those words in my social English. There's a big alignment there, they support each other.

MD: Would it have been easier to learn coding had it been in Turkish, your native language?

OT: I don't think so. I don't think it would have a huge contribution to that, really.
It may even be better to learn it in English as a second language because coding is a different mindset. You don't see that kind of mindset in real life. So it's okay to learn this vocabulary so that you have a more coherent understanding of that paradigm.

MD: ...because natural language, our conversational language is so nuanced. It has connotations. It doesn't have the strictness and formality of mathematical language. 

OT: Yeah, because you're learning that alien language in a very structured, very strict way as you said. I guess it lets you concentrate on just the content of the word instead of its relations with social life. Like when I see “Class”, which is a coding term. I don't immediately remember a classroom. Because I don't have that native connection. But now I have a very good understanding of “Class” in programming, unrelated to the social word “Class”.

MD: Would you guess that say, a Chinese or Korean person would find viewing an English translation or version to be a barrier when learning to code?

OT: I think the formal differences such as the shape of the expression -  you only see them in the first few experiences of learning how to code. So after a month, let's say, you're not really seeing those things. Because they're just shapes for you. And you have other meanings about those shapes in your mind. As long as you know how to type then it doesn't matter what they look like. They could just consider it the coding language. It doesn't really have to be in the Latin alphabet. It can be any language as long as I know which character is which meaning. 

MD: Right. So you have a visual association between those characters and the concepts that they represent. 

OT: Yeah. Now that you ask, I'm imagining a programming language with Chinese characters. Let's say they don't look as complicated as they do now to me. I guess I could have a similar experience. It will be alien until I learned the syntax and how to memorize those symbols. And then it's just using them.

MD: Right. Well, thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts on learning to code, English translations, and learning to
code as a non-native English speaker.

Supporting Oytun Tez’s view is a video: 



Speaking with another team member here at MotaWord, Priya Ajit, Director of Business Development, she had some additional thoughts:

In my opinion, I think it will be difficult to have a multilingual software language, as there will be very limited online resources & communities of developers. All the current software languages have existing vast online resources to help and guide programmers in case of any issue or to further enhance their knowledge. This might not be a possibility in case of a multilingual software language.

However, if this can be solved, then it would definitely increase the possibility for any person to become a programmer even if his/her knowledge of the English language is limited or none.

There are, in fact, are examples of programming languages that were both created and exits in non-English languages. These typically have their English translation versions too. You can read more here:
Non-English-based programming languages (Wikipedia)

And if you’re a foreign-born programmer considering working in the U.S. you’ll need certified translations of your important documents. Not to worry. Read an example here:
Get A Certified Translation From Spanish To English For USCIS

Summary: Should the German translation of your content be localized or globalized? With three forms of standard German, you will still need to know your audience.

German is the official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol (Italy), the German-speaking Community of Belgium, and Liechtenstein. It is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg and a co-official language in the Opole Voivodeship in Poland.

German is spoken by 95 million native speakers around the world (Wikipedia)
Countries by percentage of German speakers:

  0-1% German-Speaking

  1-5% German-Speaking

  50%+ German-Speaking

(Source: Wikipedia)

Standard Forms of German (Source: Wikipedia) 

  

German Standard German - as the name would imply, this is the dialect spoken and written in Germany. This is the variety of German that is most frequently taught in schools internationally. There are regional differences to this variety of German language. 

Swiss Standard German is also called Swiss High German. This version is one of four official languages in Switzerland and is mostly used as a written, not speak the language. What is spoken in Switzerland is Swiss German. Swiss German is also referred to as Alemannic German. 

Are you confused enough yet? A German translation could be any one of the previously mentioned dialects. How then does one do a German translation of a video or audio recording? Amateurs should not try this at home. It can only end in tears for your company’s marketing department.  But wait! There’s one more type of standard German to be accountable for.

Austrian  Standard German, spoken in Austria, is considered the most prestigious form and is used in formal settings and in the media. For casual situations, Austrians will use Bavarian and Alemannic dialects. 

For a taste of the variety of dialects in Germany alone you’ll enjoy this:

Me speaking in 12 GERMAN DIALECTS!

Wrestling with this topic might seem daunting but it’s worth remembering that Germany alone is a prized market to be in. Read our blog on this topic. The Case For German Translation - you’ll see that the reward could be well worth the effort.

Let’s focus more on localizing and how a business should approach this task through the lens of Spanish translations. The principles are exactly the same regardless of the specific language.   

Read: Spanish Translation For Your Website: Which Spanish?

Now that I’ve scared you sufficiently with many of the larger linguistic landmines you should be aware of, it’s time to provide a guide for how to think about a German translation of your content.    

To globalize or to localize? 

   

That is the question!
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous mistranslations

I think you get where we’re going with this. For your business, your choice of a German translation can have significant consequences.   

What does it mean to globalize a German translation? The quick answer is Standard German but if you go to this Wikipedia link you’ll see it lists German Standard German, Austrian Standard German, and Swiss Standard German. So once again, it is better to do careful diligence and/or hire an expert to understand your target audience and what the best match will be for globalizing

If you have a clearly defined audience that speaks the same dialect then the choice is easy (easy is a relative term here). Localize for that audience’s variety of German. Again, it’s best to hire an expert company. We know that MotaWord has both the skilled translators and the experience needed to localize your content. That guarantees you’ll be completely satisfied with the result. And our platform generates a constantly updating glossary so that each successive localization takes advantage of our prior experience. 

Let us know if you have further questions and we’ll gladly address them. After all, you can reach us 24/7 just by visiting www.motaword.com.

As a companion piece to my earlier look at the German startup landscape, German Translation and Startup Ecosystem, I connected with Duc Tam Dam of the German Accelerator here in New York City. He was kind enough to field my questions on German startups. (needless to say, no German translation was required for this.) 

Thanks, Duc. Let’s get to it!

Marcos: Is the federal government actively supportive of German startups?
Duc: Yes it is, there are several programs as well as institutions to help and fund the startups.
Here are a few examples of them: 

• Berliner Startup Stipendium (scholarship for founders)
• Exist (more advanced scholarship)
• KMU-innovative (Initiated by the federal government for education for technological research)
• German Accelerator (supporting German startups to expand globally)

Marcos: Let me jump in here to note that the companies in your accelerator all have great websites in English. They know the value of a good English translation of their German content. (As I am sure they value a good German translation of services they receive from international companies). For your next batch of German startups, please pass along our info, such as this post, “The Best Translation Companies in New York City” 

Marcos: Are individual cities supportive?
Duc: Yes, nearly every big city supports founders and startups.

Marcos: If a given city is supportive, what programs or funding are provided to startups?

Duc: They provide help with investments, consulting, knowledge or seminars.
Go here to find examples of different services provided in Berlin.

Marcos: How does the startup environment in Germany compare with that in the US?

Duc: In general, there is less funding here in Germany compared to the US. Also in order to get funding the traction and the validation of the idea is crucial since investors are less risk-taking. Whereas in the US investors are also willing to invest in the vision of the startup.

Marcos: My understanding is that these are the main cities where there is startup activity: Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, and Karlsruhe. Which of these cities has the most activity.

Watch this video for a quick overview of Germany’s startup hubs: Meet the Startups in Germany: The Digital Hub Initiative

Marcos: Anything else noteworthy to know about German startups?

Duc: Berlin is among the top ten places in the world to found a startup when it comes to the ecosystem and has the second biggest ecosystem in Europe behind London. 

In case you want to know more about the German startups' scene, I highly recommend to have a look at the EY startup barometer (in German). It is an annual report of the startup scene with all recent trends and transfers in detail. (If you want that or any other document translated from German you now know to call on MotaWord)

For a better understanding of what’s going on with all German businesses read this article on our blog: The Case for German Translation

Summary: How must your company think about localizing your content in French? A French translation for Quebec differs from a French translation in Switzerland or France.

Where is French spoken? 

Source: Wikipedia

What are the challenges your company will face when trying to reach French-speaking audiences worldwide? What’s at stake here? It could go a couple of ways. You can effectively engage and sell to your new market or instead you could confuse and alienate this new market with an inappropriate French translation. You need to understand if there is a ‘Standard French’ that will be universally understood or if the market you are trying to reach requires a specific dialect. Put another way, you need to know how to navigate the linguistic and cultural waters and avoid the hidden reefs and shoals that can wreck your ship.

A brief humorous interlude on linguistic ambiguity from the classic, The Princess Bride.

 

To craft an effective French translation of your content you need to wrap your head around the concept of a ‘Standard French’ versus a French translation that has been localized for a specific country or region. For perspective on a standard or global French start with “Standard French”  on Wikipedia.

We make a case for targeting a specific language market here: Speak to Global Customers in Their Own Language. Now would be a good time to check that article out to see why we press this issue.

The French Language: By the Numbers

Source: diplomatie.gouv

• 300 million people worldwide speak French
• 5th most spoken language in the world after, Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish, and Arabic
• 29 countries have French as the official language
• 2nd most used language, after English, in diplomacy
• 3rd most used language in business

How many dialects of French are there in the world? There are 29, including Belgian, Quebec, Swiss, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Haitian French to name a few.

Select E-commerce Markets in French Speaking Countries

Source: statistica.com

France

• Annual Revenue $50 billion (2019 est.)
• The e-commerce penetration rate of 77.4% (2019 est.)

Quebec

• Annual Revenue $9.1 billion (2018)
• E-commerce penetration rate 58% (2018)

While not specifically a French translation recommendation, generally there are a few things that will help you succeed when entering into a new market.

• Do your research and consult with experts to learn the buying habits of the new target market. 
• Make the new website appear to be native to that country. Did you know that 62% of Canadian e-commerce buyers prefer to buy from a ‘.ca’ address? Of course, that makes sense but as you plan your go to market strategy you might not remember it.

To continue with the Canadian example here’s a quick read on 3 website improvements that will help you sell to Canadians

Finally, you can read about Irena, one of MotaWord’s many professional translators doing French translation work. She does French translations into English and German with particular care. German Translator in Switzerland: A Translator Shares Their Life

And… for a free quote on your French translation or any of your translation needs, 24/7, click this link.

Summary: For French translations, how much influence should the Académie Française have in how foreign words are rendered in French?

A few weeks ago, March 3, 2019, there was an article in the New York Times, The guardians of the French Language Are Deadlocked, Just Like Their Country. It piqued my interest since discussions of language usage are so often proxies for larger societal issues such as class and race. We won’t go down that road but it does make things… interesting, to say the least.

Rules, Rules, Rules: Descriptive vs. prescriptive
Does anyone else remember being taught in school that “like” should not be used as a comparative? We were told the correct word to use is “as”. That was prescriptive and few people were willing to abide by that rule. The cigarette brand, Winston, famously played on this rule with their long-running ad, 'Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should'. By contrast, the descriptive view is that if a majority of people use a word or phrase and it conveys meaning then it becomes an acceptable part of the language. 

The example that may irritate purists:
Less (sic) people avoid using ‘like’ than in bygone years. 
Would anyone like to go to the mat and wrestle me over using “fewer’ instead of ‘less’?
Read the fewer/less rules and pick a side.

For a more extended explanation of prescriptive versus descriptive grammar read, Linguistic prescription. In most countries, these kinds of discussions take place in academia, bookstores, and college coffee shops. But France has a tradition of being particular about how the French language is used. English incorporates vocabulary and grammar from multiple sources. 

Speaking of prescriptive, you’ll enjoy watching this classic scene from the movie, My Fair Lady, that deals with ‘proper’ English language usage.



History of the Académie française
In 1635 Cardinal Richelieu, a cleric and chief minister to King Louis XIII, founded the Académie française to protect and preserve the French language. The academy existed for 60 years before they published their first dictionary, the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française. Across three centuries and the publication of nine editions the academy is considered to be the definitive word on what is correct and pure French. They are famous for rejecting new terms from other languages, especially Anglicisms (English derived words). The Academy prefers a French translation over one originated in another language.

Examples of these French translations are:

• buzz – ramdam
• tuning – bolidage
• chat – éblabla

So who are these, ‘so-called’ immortals? They are the forty members of the academy who collectively make these judgments as to what is acceptable in the French language. They are typically esteemed members of academia, respected authors, retired government officials among other society notables. Each applies to be a member and if elected serves for life. It doesn’t mean they live forever so perhaps the name is a misnomer.

Can the Académie française stop the rise of Anglicisms in French?

How do French translators approach a French translation with regard to a descriptive or prescriptive orientation for proper usage? This often depends on who is the intended audience of a text. And that then determines whether to localize the French translation for a particular geographic region or attempt a more universally understood, globalized version of your French translation. 

We’ve written about the question of whether to localize or globalize and on different dialects in a given language. Here are two that are immediately relevant:

French Translation? Which French?

Spanish Translation For Your Website: Which Spanish?

Any questions translations? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We specialize in making you comfortable with our translation services.

Summary: This snapshot of the Japanese economy gives insights into the value of a Japanese translation and localizing your website and marketing content for this market.

Japan is a powerhouse economy and must be a part of your plan when you take your company global. Companies globalizing, on average, will have their marketing in thirty-two languages. You can be sure that a Japanese translation is foremost among those. But knowing the market, culture, and business practices are all part of entering any market, not in one’s home country. So a Japanese translation of your content must be more than an exercise in word matching. Let’s learn more about Japan.

Population
(Source: CIA Factbook)
126 million

Economic Overview 
(Source: CIA Factbook)
The 4th largest economy in the world
GDP Per Capita PPP: $42,900 (2017 est.)

Japan’s Main Industries 
(Source: worldatlas.com)

Agriculture
Farming in Japan is highly regulated with stringent protections for small farmers. The small amount of arable land has forced efficiencies and yields the highest level of crop output per unit in the world. While rice imports are subject to tariffs of up to 777%, Japan imports large quantities of both soybeans and wheat. A trend to watch? How agricultural technology will be affected by the aging farm owners.

Manufacturing
Manufacturing in Japan is a well-known success story and makes up 24% of its GDP. They are a world leader in electronics, semiconductors, fiber optics, and office electronics. Other strong industries include biochemistry and food fermentation. Perhaps Japan’s best-known industry is the automotive industry which produces tires, parts, and components (e.g. engines) for vehicles.

Fishing
Japan’s fishing industry is the 4th largest in the world. This is a mix of small boats, (⅓) medium-sized boats, (½) with the balance going to large vessels. Also included in this industry are fish farms and hatcheries that makeup 30% of Japan’s fishing industry.

Tourism
In 2012 there were 8.3 million visitors to Japan, making it the most visited country in the Asia / Pacific region. By 2013 the number of visitors had grown to 11.25 million. With the 2020 Olympics coming to Japan the government predicts there will be 20 million visitors per year by then. Popular destinations are the cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto (for the beautiful temples there) and Hokkaido.

Other 
Other industries make up a majority of the economic output of Japan. Among these are mining, oil exploration, and the service industry. Services include real estate, insurance, banking, retail, telecom, and transport.

Internet and Mobile Phone Penetration
Internet Penetration 91% (2018)
Number Internet Users 117 million
Number of mobile internet users 66.6 million 
*Largest share of internet users - 55 yrs. old and male*

If you plan to enter the Japanese market then knowing the above demographic information is essential to how you position your product or service. And localizing your content, not just translating it, is something you should keep in mind when you do your Japanese translation. Read our blog on this topic: The Case for Localization

E-commerce 
Source: statistica.com

Internet Penetration in Japan 
(Source: statistica.com)

At present, there are an estimated 103 million online shoppers in Japan. By 2023 that number is predicted to grow to 108 million. Per person, e-commerce shoppers are estimated to spend $836 (USD) annually with the 2023 projection being $961 (USD).  As a total online spend that means going from $86 billion (USD) to $104 billion (USD).

What should you do with all this information? Whether it’s $86 billion or $104 billion, you need a Japanese translation of your content for your internationalization efforts.

Market Outlook
A big driver of Japan’s economy will continue to be those businesses connected to caring for Japan’s aging population. Healthcare, AI (Artificial Intelligence), Robotics, and Big Data will all come into play. Will your company be part of this trend?

Learn more: Why Japan’s Aging Population Is An Investment Opportunity

Watch this video on Japan: Economic Health Check, from the International Monetary Fund





For more on how Japan’s aging population will affect its economy read: Why Japan’s Aging Population Is An Investment Opportunity

Read our blog, Why Should You Run Your Website Localization Project On MotaWord

And… for a free quote on your Japanese translation or any of your translation needs, 24/7, click this link.

Korean Translation is hard?

The English playwright, George Bernard Shaw is credited with saying, “ England and America are two countries separated by the same language.” North and South Korea have a similar linguistic divide.

We talked about the importance of Korean translation in our article, aptly titled “Korean Translation, Why?” Giving that a quick read would be a good idea now if you have not already done so. This article is about a bit more than that.

Defectors from North Korea, having surmounted one barrier, face another when trying to navigate a disorienting form of the Korean language. There are terms in the language in South Korean relating to technology, laws, and culture that North Koreans have never encountered and might as well be Greek. (Yes, MotaWord can do Greek translations. More on that later...)

Much like the variants in species that are found on the Galapagos Islands off of Ecuador, the Korean language spoken in North and South Korea has diverged after seventy years of separation following World War II.

The article, Why Are North and South Korea Divided? gives a thorough and ultimately sad account of the Soviet Union and the US of A’s agreement to divide Korea. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that the language from North Korea has integrated some Russian terms while the language from South Korea has adopted American terms.

How does South Korea try to integrate North Koreans into society?

• 3 months required training for defectors
• Seoul's Ministry of Unification routinely publishes lists of common words that confuse defectors - a Korean translation of new terms if you will...
• Private groups teach English to help with those words that have seeped into South Korea
• There’s even an app, UniVoca that translates South Korean terms into those that can be understood by North Koreans, lets you build a vocabulary list and translate terms by scanning them with the phone’s camera

And there’s a joint initiative underway between the two countries to create a comprehensive Korean dictionary Gyeoremal Keunsajeon, that lists all the words common to both North and South as well as the terms that are different in each country. Funny as it sounds, that will make a South Korean translation to North Korean translation more possible.

For those who enjoy fun videos rather than reading this is a good one explaining the difference between the 2 Korean dialects:



According to the Foreign Service Institute, Korean is one of the five most difficult languages for English speakers to learn. Read about their rankings of language difficulty. And given how different Korean is from English, Korean translations must be done by competent translators. The complexity of the syntax, nuance involved and need to understand context all make translating between English and Korean more challenging than between a European language and English.

For businesses looking to have a presence in the South Korean market here are a few facts to note:

• The economy is the 4th largest in Asia and 11th in the world
• They have a high standard of living
• The unemployment rate has averaged 3% over the past 10 years (the US unemployment rate is nearly double that)
• Their education systems are ranked #1 on many global lists of educational systems by country

This would make a strong argument for having your business enter this market. And once you decide that entering this market is the best course of action, the next step is to have a Korean translation of your content. Let MotaWord handle this important job and you can be sure to enter this market in a way that best represents your company. After all, we do this for many of the world’s top brands (see our Client Showcase)

These previous blog posts can also aid you in selecting MotaWord as your trusted partner for your English to Korean translations:

• Why Should You Run Your Website Localization Project On MotaWord?
• Ensuring Accurate Translations With MotaWord
• Translate your business card into Korean

Summary: The Spanish language translations of the leading Democratic candidates for President range from sloppy to poor to missing. They need to do better.

Sometimes the universe drops a gift in your lap. The messengers bearing this gift to MotaWord were some of the leading Democratic candidates for President. What is that gift? They proved that quality language translations are best done by professionals. That would be us and our over 16,000 translators at MotaWord.

In a recent article in Politico, the candidates were faulted for having Spanish language translations of their campaign websites that were sloppy, error-riddled, awful or non-existent. Proving once more that a credible Spanish language translation of a website must be done by language experts - either a qualified person in-house or by an experienced professional.

Campaign 2020 Special Offer
MotaWord is eager to help your presidential campaign. Contact us and we’ll support you.

On the topic of the Spanish language, translations read our prior blog: Spanish Language Translation For Your Website: Which Spanish?

Politico.com reviewed the Spanish language translations of each candidate’s website and rated them on the quality of the translation. In many cases, the results did not instill confidence in their competence or their commitment to engaging with Spanish speaking voters. They ranged from bad to merely sloppy or in some cases, a candidate had no Spanish translation of their website. (Really? In 2019?)

So what happened?
That depends on whose site you were looking at. The primary suspect, a “web tool of interest” is Google Translate. For those who are monolingual, this has been a great way to get the gist of an article with a Spanish translation. We can see that much is wrong but it gives us enough to know the general meaning. Google Translate is not yet remotely good enough to produce a finished product, especially if your goal is to win the hearts and minds of a crucial voting bloc.

The Gory Details. Who did what? 
This won’t be a comprehensive survey. Politico.com did a terrific job and we link to that below. But here are some of the faux pas (or in Spanish, ‘metida de pata’) that were found.

• Grade: A-       
  Cory Booker, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, and Jay Inslee each received this grade and were faulted on minor typos on their websites. Jay Inslee was given credit for good use of technical language relating to climate change.
  
  
• Grade: B+
  The websites of Julián Castro and Kirsten Gilibrand needed more attention to detail, such as input forms, better headlines and translating videos. (with either captioning or voice-overs) Like myself, Julián Castro’s mother is Chicana but he does not speak Spanish fluently. And like mine, many families, when faced with discrimination, made their children speak English only, to avoid the potential stigma. (I’ve been playing catchup ever since)
  
  
• Grade: C
  Elizabeth Warren’s site was graded C+ and Amy Klobuchar was graded C. They each contained errors and Klobuchar’s content matched the output of Google Translate and were thus error-filled.
  
  
• I (Incomplete) or F
  These candidates, who we won’t shame any more than they have already been shamed, either had their landing page in a Spanish Language translation (poorly done) or had no Spanish Language website at all. Dios mío! Come on people. 

• Machinery, Automotive, and Aviation
• Chemical and Medical
• Consumer and Services
• Energy and Environmental Technology 
• Electronics and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) 

Security and confidentiality are built into MotaWord’s DNA. We offer more features to ensure your security and confidentiality than most other translation services. At MotaWord, we use an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate, closed servers, and our beloved vetted translator base who sign non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements before they start their first project.

As working professionals, it becomes increasingly dangerous to trust machine translation with sensitive material that you use for your business. You don’t want to copy and paste sensitive content into Google Translate, where any hacker can dig a little and gain all the secrets you didn’t want to share while trying to grow your company globally. This is counter-productive. Instead, it is imperative to find a translation service that is committed to your confidentiality and security, and for this, is your ultimate translation services provider. 

When it comes to security and confidentiality, MotaWord goes above and beyond the norms of the translation industry. With our unique workflow, we create default to creating safeguards that adjust to our customer’s needs by treating each word as sacred. We never email your document to a crowd, we always encrypt, and we treat every client document as we would an ATM pin. Every linguist working under the MotaWord name is consistently and meticulously monitored and recorded.

The translation services industry norm has vulnerability built into its core. Every day, Fortune 500 companies need their private documents translated in a secure and confidential manner. MotaWord does everything within its power to make sure that your document is reviewed only by the necessary individuals to deliver your high-quality translation 20 times faster than the competition.

When you receive a quote from one of our competitors, for example, your document is first emailed to a crowd of potential translators, and the service will create your quote based on the rates those translators require. This makes your document not only vulnerable en route via email, it allows people who may not even work on your document to receive it, and do what they wish with your information. MotaWord is different. Thanks to our evolving infrastructure, talented internal team and unique workflow, we implement translator vetting and high barrier workflows to ensure the safety of your content.

Translator Vetting
MotaWord offers its translators and expert linguists background checks, confidentiality and NDA agreements, and security-specific orientation training at the outset, then ongoing as their career with MotaWord progresses.

While most translation service companies stop there, we believe this is not enough. Our linguists are then actively monitored on each project. Upon customer request, assigned translators will be asked to re-sign confidentiality statements before joining a project. Every entry on our platform is recorded and reviewed. In the event that a violation occurs, we immediately suspend the offender from the project, and if there is a repeat in this behavior, they are removed from MotaWord permanently.

High Barrier Workflow

We never email customer data. When our translators receive project invitations, they only receive the word count and the price rate. It is only when they accept to work on the project that they enter into our secure dashboard, which provides only the text of your document to be translated, through our secure translator dashboard. 

We do not use DropBox, FTP downloads, or any other channels - everything is done through our protected platform. 

Our translation platform works by segmenting your document into hundreds or thousands of text “strings”, depending on the length of the document. These strings are then only editable to the single translator who chooses to translate that single string. While each individual string can technically be translated by a different linguist, our single proofreader model ensures the cohesion of the entire document.

By removing the original format of your document during the MotaWord translation process, we limit the visibility of your document within a secure environment. Your document is then re-formatted into the original form by our internal team and delivered to you.

Let’s say a translator accepts your project and takes a string to translate, but for whatever reason takes longer than 5 minutes to begin. This translator will be promptly and quickly kicked-off the string, and will not be able to re-assign themselves to that string. A translator cannot view more than 20 string in a document at one time, which limits the possibility of screen capture. 

Once your project is delivered, all the data involved with your project is completely removed from any active workspace within our platform. Archives are only accessible to the MotaWord internal team.

As a client, your translation memory (TM) is your property, not the property of MotaWord. TM for a project is only accessible to translators when your project is active.

All companies have content secrets varying in value; all of them can be protected with MotaWord. Do not unknowingly put your company at risk - invest in your confidentiality and order your translation with MotaWord.

For more information, please read our privacy policy.

About MotaWord

MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock, and over 15 thousand professional translators, MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.

Citations: WIPO

Fernando Pessoa
13 June 1888 – 30 November 1935

“I’m beginning to know myself. I don’t exist. I’m the gap between what I’d like to be and what others have made of me. . .  That’s me. Period.”
-Fernando Pessoa

An increasingly eccentric Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher, and philosopher is found in Fernando Pessoa. Described as one of the most influential literary artists of the 20th century, Pessoa is one of the greatest poets in the Portuguese language. Focused on Portuguese translation, this Famous Translators article is about Pessoa.

• Fernando Pessoa is regarded as the center of Portuguese modernism, writing much more than poems. He had a legendary trunk that he obsessively filled with loose pages of writings on philosophy, sociology, history, literary criticism, short stories, plays, the treatise on astrology and several autobiographical reflections.
  
  
• Pessoa often wrote and published under different names. While this publishing strategy is most widely known as writing under a pseudonym, Pessoa insisted on coining his own term for the practice - he preferred to call them heteronyms. This is just one example of the many ways Pessoa chose to distinguish himself as an eccentric. These heteronyms were not just names - he created individuals with their own history, biography, personal characteristics, and literary style.
  
  
• Portuguese translation was also an occupation for Pessoa. In addition to translating from Portuguese, he also worked in translation with English and French.
  
  
• Among the titles he is responsible for translating into Portuguese is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the short stories "The Theory and the Hound", "The Roads We Take" and "Georgia's Ruling" by O. Henry, the poetry "Godiva" by Alfred Tennyson, "Lucy" by William Wordsworth, "Barbara Frietchie" by John Greenleaf Whittier, "Catarina to Camoens" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and "The Raven", "Annabel Lee" and "Ulalume" by Edgar Allan Poe.
  
  
• After his death, a large trunk was found amongst his possessions. This trunk contained twenty-five thousand manuscript pages, written by Pessoa himself. A testament to his graphomaniacal productivity, any and every kind of paper was found in the trunk, covered in Pessoa’s handwriting. Loose sheets, notebooks, stationery, on the backs of letters, envelopes; it seems any scrap of paper within his reach was a contender to house one of Pessoa’s ideas.
  
  
• Fernando Pessoa’s trunk now rests in Portugal’s National Library, containing the masterpieces that acclaim him as the greatest Portuguese Poet of his century.

Pessoa’s graphomaniacal nature proved successful both during and after his lifetime. Not much is known about his personal life, but one can’t help but assume that someone with such a fervor for writing any time, anywhere, on anything - and hoarding it all in a trunk no less - he must not have had much time for any other voices other than his professional passions and their Portuguese translations.

Fernando Pessoa in numbers:

Number of heteronyms Fernando Pessoa created and wrote under. These figures were known to hold unpopular or extremist views.

Pessoa’s age when his father died. Two years later, his mother remarried a Portugues Consul and they moved to Durban, South Africa, where Pessoa would spend his formative years.

Pessoa’s age when he became completely fluent in English. This would be the year he would win the Queen Victoria prize for an English essay he wrote, chosen out of 890 entrants.

For The Guardian’s review of Fernando Pessoa’s most famous work, The Book of Disquiet, click here.
For interviews with Margaret Jull Costa, one of the more recent translators of The Book of Disquiet, click here and here.
For more figures in Portuguese translation, click here.



About MotaWord
MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock, and over 15 thousand professional translators, MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.
 
About This Article
Famous Translators is a MotaWord segment showcasing notable professional translated works and famous linguists from history to the present. We will be researching, compiling and sharing stories that matter to every translator on our blog.
 
You, too can be published right here on the MotaWord blog site. To help us make this segment more tailored to our community, contribute any comments, ideas for articles, or share your story. Please contact kali@motaword.com.

Check out our previous "Famous Translators" articles:

• Oh! The Places You'll Go...with Translation: The Professional Translator's Experience with Dr. Seuss
• Translating the Horror Fiction by Stephen King
• The Professional Translation of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales

Citations: PoetryInTranslation, NewYorker, OxfordHandbooks, SCReview, TheBritishLibrary

Samuel Beckett
13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
- Samuel Beckett

Samuel Beckett is regarded famously as the self-translated author of the 21st century. He is famous for a number of popular literary works, including Waiting for Godot and Watt. If he was unable to translate his work himself, he was known to supervise the translation of his work as a consultant. Ever the friend of the translation community, Samuel Beckett allowed his love for translation to play a pivotal role in his training as a writer, author, critic, and playwright. A Nobel Prize winner for literature, he wrote in both French and English.

• Beckett began translating in 1930 but officially began publishing duplicate bilingual versions of each text in 1955. Most of his work was written in French first, then translated into English by his own hand.
  
  
• With a literary career starting in the late 1920s, Samuel Beckett did not reach international acclaim until the publishing of Waiting for Godot in 1952. Written originally in French, of course, Beckett quickly translated this work into English to increase its already growing popularity - a pattern that he would continue until his death.
  
  
• Waiting for Godot was first performed in Paris in 1953. 1955 would mark the opening of the English version in London. The English rendition was reviewed to be puzzling to some, under Peter Hall’s direction - a vision that emphasized silence and repetition. Some believe the play was unremarkable, some gushed that the play had changed the rules of theater entirely.
  
  
• Beckett was no stranger to controversy. At the core of his work was a courageous pessimism, dissecting humanity’s relationship with God. In Beckett’s work, the desperate could find new life in despair. As he wrote in his novel, The Unnamable, 'You must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on.''
  
  
• Almost in spite of the seemingly bleak nature of his writing, Beckett himself was a man of great humor and compassion. The installation of wit amongst the stagnation of his subject matters allows the reader to find hope among fragile banality. Many scholars and critics searched for metaphorical analysis within his work, but he consistently refused to explain any ulterior meaning that may be found in his work.
  

Samuel Beckett, at the height of his career, was closely aligned to existentialism by literary critics. His innovative style also grouped his work into the modernist avant-garde movement and although his bilingual talents were largely ignored by the general populace in comparison to his literary achievements, fans of Beckett were much wiser. Beckett Translating/ Translating Beckett, edited by Allan Warren Friedman in 1987 was published, exposing Samuel Beckett as the self-translating linguistic genius that he is. The ability to self-translate not only allowed Beckett to utilize a whole new medium of creativity for the same work but allowed him a level of autonomy over his art that few other authors can enjoy.

Samuel Beckett in numbers:

1969	The year Beckett’s accomplishments in drama and fiction landed him the Nobel Prize for Literature.

83	The birthday year that marked his last known printed work, “Stirrings Still”. The piece was published as a limited edition. In this work a character who resembles Beckett sits in a cell-like room seeing his double appear then disappear.

4	Number of full-length stage plays Beckett wrote: En attendant Godot (Waiting for Godot), Fin de partie (Endgame), Krapp's Last Tape, and Happy Days.

For more on Samuel Beckett, click here.



About MotaWord
MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock, and over 15 thousand professional translators, MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.
 
About This Article
Famous Translators is a MotaWord segment showcasing notable professional translated works and famous linguists from history to the present. We will be researching, compiling and sharing stories that matter to every translator on our blog.
 
You, too can be published right here on the MotaWord blog site. To help us make this segment more tailored to our community, contribute any comments, ideas for articles, or share your story. Please contact info@motaword.com.

Check out our previous "Famous Translators" articles:

• High-Quality Translation Philosophy with Jorge Luis Borges
• Oh! The Places You'll Go...with Translation: The Professional Translator's Experience with Dr. Seuss
• Translating the Horror Fiction by Stephen King
  
  Citations: SamuelBeckettSociety, Britannica, BritishLibrary, NYTimes, Scielo

Did you already give a try to that podcast app on your smartphone? It’s time. Podcasts are having a cultural moment, with literally thousands and thousands of podcasts available and new ones launching every day all over the world. So if you’re looking for translation-peer advice, insight, and some stories, we have the definitive list of best translation podcasts you can listen to from the comfort of your smartphone.

Speaking of Translation is an occasional podcast about the language industry. The hosts are Eve Lindemuth Bodeux and Corinne McKay. Check out their latest episode — International payment methods for translators.

The World in Words is a podcast about languages and the people who speak them. What happens to the brain on bilingualism? Does it matter that so many languages are dying out? Why are Chinese tech words so inventive? Why does Icelandic have so many cool swearwords? The hosts are Patrick Cox and Nina Porzucki. Check out their latest episode — The sci-fi of another language and follow them on Twitter: @lingopod.

Globally Speaking is a podcast for and from language professionals about building awareness of how important translation and localization services are in helping global brands succeed in foreign markets — no matter where their business takes them. The hosts are Renato Beninatto and Michael W. Stevens. Check out their latest episode #76 — How Following the Herd Impacts Localization and follow them on Twitter: @GloballySpeak.

Translators On Air (formerly known as Blabbing Translators) is a weekly live talk show for translators and interpreters where viewers are invited to join the discussion on a variety of topics from video game localization to working with self-published authors. The hosts are Dmitry Kornykhov and Elena Tereshchenkova. Check out their latest episode — How far can your voice take you.

A Way with Words is a weekly public radio show and podcast about language examined through history, culture, and family: slang, old sayings, new words, grammar, word origins, regional dialects, family expressions, speaking and writing well, word quizzes, language news and controversies. The hosts are Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett. Check out their latest episode #1521 — Spill the Tea and follow them on Twitter: @wayword.

Troublesome Terps is a roundtable-style podcast covering topics from interpreting space and the wider world of languages to help you explore the hidden linguistics gems around the world as they interview real people with real experiences. The hosts are Jonathan Downie, Alexander Gansmeier, are Alexander Drechsel. Check out their latest episode # 34 — The Crystal Ball of Interpreting and follow them on Twitter: @troubleterps.

In Other Words: Language Neutral is a weekly podcast for interpreters, translators, and linguists, where they discuss everything from languages, culture, diversity, current events and interpreter education with some high-profile guests from the industry. The host is Berthine Crevecoeur West. Check out their latest episode — New Era Introduction.

Do you listen to any other language-related podcasts? Let us know on social media. Don’t forget to mention @MotaWord, and we'll be sure to check them out.

About MotaWord

MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock and over 15 thousand professional translators MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.

Summary: Essential information for doing business in South Korea, including why you should translate your business card into Korean and proper Korean business etiquette. 

If you hope to be successful doing business in South Korea you’ll need to understand and abide by the cultural norms in that country. There are right and wrong ways to interact with people. You’ll maximize your chances of having a successful trip if you do your homework ahead of time.

When first meeting someone, how do you behave? What role does social status play in an interaction? The answer to these questions can make or break a meeting. Let’s look at what you need to know before we take a closer look at business cards.

Age and Status
Social interactions in Korea are determined by status. Understanding where someone is in the hierarchy is important. Status is defined by your role in an organization, what organization you work for, the university attended and your marital status. (Hey! We didn’t make these rules.)

Name
Family names, usually one syllable, are listed first and given names, usually, two syllables, are listed second. Example: Kim (family or surname), Jong-un (given name)

As you’ll see below, there are many areas that require westerners to set aside their existing ways of doing business and operate under a different set of rules. Other topics on you need to well versed in are:

• Gift Giving
• Greetings and Bowing
• Relationship Building
• How to Dress
• Gender Equality (or not)
• Negotiation Style
• Geopolitical Topics
• Preserving Face
• The Role of Dining

You can read about this in greater detail in Conducting Business In Korea

Korean Language Business Cards
And now to the topic that we are most concerned with today: the role that business cards play in Korean business culture. When traveling in Korea you must have a bilingual business card - English on one side and Korean on the other. How do you use them? When meeting someone:

• Remove your card from the case
• With the Korean language side up, and oriented to be easily read
• Pass the card with two hands
  • If your status is junior you will pass the card under the other card
  • If you status is senior you will pass the card over the other card
  • If your status is equal you will pass your card at the same height as the other card
• Once you have their card in your two hands you look at it thoughtfully to show respect
• If you are sitting down together place it on the table where you’ll be sitting
• If you aren’t going to sit together then place it in your card case. This shows respect.

Some Don’ts

• Do not stuff it into a pocket in your pants or jacket.
• Do not write on a Korean business card. You don’t (or at least you shouldn’t) write on someone’s fact

Here’s an excellent explainer video: 


MotaWord makes it simple and convenient for you to create your Korean language business card or one in any other language for that matter. Order your business card by:

Typing the information from your card into MotaWord. Typically this will be your

• Company Name
• First Name
• Last Name
• Title
• Street Address
• Telephone Number/s
• Email
• Company URL
• Company Tagline

We also accept documents in a variety of file formats. For a complete list of the file formats MotaWord accepts go here.
Do you have your trip to Korea planned? Get your Korean language business card taken care of today. Click this link to get an instant quote.

And in case you need to be convinced of the value of translating your content into Korean, read this article.

We will return a translation for your Korean language business card to you, often in minutes.

Summary: A case for the German translation of content and a look at the German startup ecosystems in various German cities. How are they different from US startup hubs? Why is a German translation of your content desirable?

German translation of English content is one of the most requested language pairs on MotaWord. Recently I attended an accelerator demo day for New York City’s German Accelerator. My hope was to see a representative range of German startups. A tall order when you think that accelerators’ cohorts don’t conveniently organize their startups as representatives of a country or industry. So real research into the German startup ecosystem was in order in an effort to understand whether German startups would also need German into English translation of their content (or any other language for that matter). I can safely report the pitches from the German companies I saw had been translated into flawless English.

German Startup Stats at a Glance
6,000 - 7,000 Startups in Germany (Startup Guide)
Nearly 30% of startup employees are non-German

The Three Main Legal Structures of Companies in Germany:

1. Sole proprietorship (Einzelunternehmen) 
2. Limited Liability Company (GmbH)
3. Civil law partnership (GbR)

Germany has many programs to support startups, including the IBB, Berlin’s business development bank. Make sure some of that support goes to localizing your content with German translations of your marketing materials!

More on setting up a business in Berlin here: What to know about setting up a company in Berlin

City Profiles  (Global Startup Ecosystem 2018 Report, Startup Guide, Valuer.ai)

• Berlin leads Germany with FinTech companies including consumer banking and B2B platforms as well as companies working on IoT (Internet of Things). Over the next ten years, this sector is expected to add 40,000 jobs. The German startup ecosystem gets support from corporate and government organizations, including industrial giant Bosch. With three major universities and the support of Bayer and Pfizer, Life Science German startups in Berlin also have a rich environment in which to grow.
  
  
• Munich, Germany’s 3rd largest city, is also third in funding startups. In 2017 17,000 new businesses were registered in Munich. FinTech, healthcare, and mobility lead the startup sectors in this city. Budding entrepreneurs are supported by the local universities, including The Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich University of Applied Sciences (MUAS) and the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship (SCE).
  
  
• Hamburg is home to roughly 400 startups, coworking spaces, and programs and has headquarters for Google, Facebook, Hootsuite, and Yelp. The range of Hamburg’s startup industries includes logistics, media life sciences, aviation, the blockchain, fintech, and e-commerce.

Other important German startup cities are Cologne, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, and Karlsruhe.

What cultural differences exist between the US and Germany? The video below asserts that Germany is more risk-averse than the US. In particular German venture capital is averse to risk. Video: German versus American startup culture | Made in Germany

Maybe so, but generalizing has its dangers. The startup culture of Silicon Valley and New York City are very different so we have to be careful about the conclusions we draw. This reminds me of a favorite cautionary quote on this topic: “All models are wrong. Some are useful”

You might ask, “How does this help my company looking to enter the German market?” The answer: Remember that different markets have different requirements to succeed. That means, if you are serious about selling in Germany, you’ll need to localize your web content with a German translation for this market. MotaWord has years of experience delivering high-quality localized translations in over 90 languages. Read how we can help your company successfully enter new markets.

Why Should You Run Your Website Localization Project On MotaWord

To see just how easy and affordable it is to get a quality German translation for your website go MotaWord for a free quote 24/7.

MotaWord is your business partner for delivering high-quality translation at the lowest cost possible on the market. How can we prove it? Our company’s performance speaks for itself, with countless documents successfully translated to date, we consistently provide the best in quality translation on-time, and at an affordable price-point.

Our cloud-based API-enabled translation platform allows buyers to access the services of thousands of tested, qualified, expert linguists committed to providing accurate translation in record time. There is no other company on the market that does exactly what we do, at the price-point we offer. 

Our pricing includes a full translation and proofreading of the document you provide, completed at the deadline you require. We complete translations 20 times faster than our closest competitor and we have a very simple pricing structure 14 US cents per word for any language.

Of course, projects are the heart of MotaWord. Every time you log on to our site to upload your document and receive your quote, you will be able to add all of your documents, style guides, glossaries, as well as any combination of language pairs you require for your translation. Some modifications may be required depending on the file format and overall needs of the project, but our MotaWord internal team is always standing by, working 24 hours, 7 days a week around the globe to assist in any additions your project needs. 
When you upload your documents, glossaries, style guides, and anything else your project needs to ensure accurate translation, you will receive a single project detail with its total word count, price, language pairs, status, and related dates. Then, watch us work! As a client, you can access your project at any time through your dashboard, make comments to working translators, and view the progress of your project. Your account will be charged as soon as your project is launched for translation, and the price will also be shown on the project model in your dashboard.

In addition to our simple pricing basics, MotaWord has a few other tricks up our sleeves, should you want more out of your experience. It is likely that, as a client attached to a reputable company, you are eligible for our corporate account benefits. 

A corporate account with MotaWord will allow you to receive your translations actively, regularly, and of course, accurately, whenever you need them. As your company expands, your translations should be one step ahead. A corporate account will allow your organization to order services at any time and have your company be billed monthly.

After setup, you and your authorized team members will be able to order translation services at any time without the need for any payment information.

Within the account, hand picked, authorized linguists will be designated to translate your projects consistently, within your desired time-frame. Your corporate account will help you avoid minimum charges and allow you to order even a single sentence for translation and editing.

A corporate account is ideal for companies who have an ongoing need for translation services, at a specific volume, and at a discounted price. At MotaWord, we believe every company with global dreams deserves the excellent services we provide.

MotaWord is exceptional because we dramatically increase the productivity and skill of our translators by allowing them to share resources, work together, and learn from each other. It is at the core of this collaboration that allows us to offer you lightning fast translation at the highest quality in the shortest time.

Don’t believe us? Try us for yourself and order your translation today.

About MotaWord

MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock, and over 15 thousand professional translators, MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies. 

Citations: PRWeb

Stan Lee
December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018

"Stan Lee was as extraordinary as the characters he created [...] A superhero in his own right to Marvel fans around the world, Stan had the power to inspire, to entertain and to connect. The scale of his imagination was only exceeded by the size of his heart."

    - Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger

The marvelous Stan Lee was a comic book writer, artist, and publisher. As editor-in-chief and chairman emeritus of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee was the face behind the booming superhero industry for decades until his death on November 12, 2018, in Los Angeles, California. Marvel Comics is widely considered as being one of two giants in the superhero franchise. Its parent company, Marvel Entertainment, is an owned subsidiary by the Disney Company. Marvel Comics and Marvel Entertainment have revolutionized the entertainment industry, but have also affected global cultural sensibilities. With the idea that any ordinary person can be a superhero, Lee gave hope to new generations for a better life. Lee’s creations allowed the comic book industry to move from a fringe sub-culture to a widely consumed global phenomenon. Headquartered in New York City, Marvel is no stranger to global fame, and with that comes lots and lots of need for translation.

• Created in 1961, the Marvel universe was launched with The Fantastic Four and began to grow across the globe, demanding comic books by commissioned artists Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. With its first release, readers were introduced for the first time to a world of superheroes interacting with current global affairs. Characters with incredible supernatural abilities were able to interact with each other in a realistic, true to life fashion, allowing fans to connect to powerful stories like never before.
  
  
• Comic book culture has been profoundly influenced by translation around the world. The two defining moments solidifying this cultural shift in written entertainment being the “golden age” of North American comics in the 1930s, and the height of the Japanese manga craze in the 1990s.
  
  
• Storyline organized into brief moments shown in panels across a page may have started with the major influence from the United States, but the expansion of this cultural form worldwide has had an undeniable effect.
  
  
• Lee had a hand in the evolution of comic book language as well. Reinventing bland declarations of plot into sensational, jazzy dialogue allowed readers to read directly and fluidly; Lee’s re-invention of the way the books were written allowed the story to happen to the reader, just like it was happening to the characters in the story itself.
  
  
• The books instilled powerful feelings of belonging in fans, and shortly the trend continued with a boom of fresh new characters flooding the early 1960s - Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, and The X-Men. The Majority of these books were written by Lee during that time, illustrated by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.
  
  
• “The Marvel Method” was Stan Lee’s way of brainstorming a new story with an artist; the artist would draw up some story panels, and Lee would fill-in word balloons with captions. A style that became well known as quintessentially comic.

Stan Lee is considered by many of his fans to be the single most significant author of the super-hero pop-craze that has inflicted the 21st Century and is considered to be the sole creator of the said universe. Giving birth to dozens of Marvel titles between 1961 and 1972 is not only his crowning achievement, but the cultural implications of his stories allow everyone to feel like their own superhero.

Stan Lee in numbers:

100+	Number of character Stan Lee created, including Iron Man and Black Panther.

4+	Marvel Comics will team up with Italian publisher Panini Comics to translate its most popular material into French, German, and Italian. Titles include Deadpool, Civil War, Avengers, and Ms. Marvel, with new titles released each month.

11+	With translations now available in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, Russian, Hindi, German, Italian, Portuguese and Hebrew, Marvel’s creations will now be even more widely accessible to fans around the globe.

For more comic and graphic novel translation, click here.
Create your own Marvel Comics here.

About This Article

Famous Translators is a MotaWord segment showcasing notable professional translated works and famous linguists from history to the present. We will be researching, compiling and sharing stories that matter to every translator on our blog.

You, too can be published right here on the MotaWord blog site. To help us make this segment more tailored to our community, contribute any comments, ideas for articles, or share your story. Please contact kali@motaword.com.

Check out our previous "Famous Translators" articles:

• Deadly Translation: The Politics of Hitoshi Igarashi's Japanese Version of The Satanic Verses
• One Man's Soul Mountain: Translating Gao Xingjian
• The Mistranslation of the Mystical Nostradamus
  

Citations: ComicBook, ResearchGate, Britannica, IMDb, HollywoodReporter, TED, LanguageMagazine, MultiversityComics, Vulture

If you are looking to order Korean Translation service you are in the right place (just the wrong page). You can order Korean translation service anytime, day or night by clicking this link: Order Korean Translation

Summary: Learn about the South Korean economy to understand how a Korean translation of your website and marketing materials gives you access to this valuable market.

With many South Korean companies doing business globally and with an ever more affluent consumer base willing to buy online, it is imperative that your company have Korean translations of your offerings. Why leave this rich market untapped? Let’s consider a few of the main drivers of this thriving economy and how MotaWord can help you unlock your company’s share through a Korean translation of your content.

South Korea’s main industries are: Electronics, Telecommunications, Automobile, Chemicals, Shipbuilding, and Steel. The South Korean economy is strongly influenced by conglomerates called chaebols. These business entities are large conglomerates run and controlled by an owner or family and is commonly made up of a large number of diversified affiliates. On top of these large conglomerates, South Korea is also home to a flourishing startup scene mainly in the capital city of Seoul. (read more about the startup scene in Seoul)

Out of a population of 51 Million (CIA Factbook) for the whole country, Seoul is really the dominating city with close to 10 million people. 

Economic Overview  (2017 est.CIA Factbook)

4th largest in Asia

11th largest in the world

GDP Per Capita PPP: $39,500 USD

According to a noted research company, Global By Design, leading global brands support an average of 32 languages. Uber supports 46 languages. That’s a lot of talking cars! But Wikipedia is the winner with a staggering 280 languages supported. As your company grows, having a Korean translation for your content will be only one part of your globalization efforts.

1. Samsung Electronics - The world’s largest producer of smartphones, semiconductor chips, and televisions. Founded in 1969, Samsung Electronics originally made refrigerators, televisions and washing machines. Now 50 years later it is valued at nearly $209 billion with profits of $59 billion on $215 billion in revenue. (Samsung.com)
   
   
2. SK Holdings - Founded in 1953, this conglomerate is made up of 95 companies. The core companies are in energy and telecommunications and include shipping and chemical production. Sk Holdings has revenue of $26.77 billion and net profits of $2.7 billion. (Reuters)
   
   
3. Hyundai Motors - South Korea’s largest auto company and the world’s 3rd largest. Founded in 1967 the company has annual revenues of $85 billion with net profits of $1.6 billion. (Hyundai.com)
   
   
4. POSCO - Is a multinational steel manufacturing company is the world’s largest steel producer with an annual output of 21 million tons of steel. Annual revenues are $59 billion with net profits of $7.25 billion. (World Atlas)
   
   
5. LG Electronics - Was founded in 1958 and Is also a South Korea based multinational company. With annual revenues in 2017 of $55.4 billion and profits of $2.23 billion, the company is second only to Samsung Electronics in the production of televisions. (LG Newsroom) 

More on the major companies of South Korea: The Most Profitable Companies of South Korea

Education System (worldtop20.org)

As of 2017, South Korea’s educational system ranked first in the world for the fourth year in a row. And the country is expected to maintain this ranking for the foreseeable future. Their excellent school system tracks with the rise in the average income of workers ($35,191 in 2017 Source: Wikipedia). With internet use also rising smart companies are creating Korean translations of their online content.

Internet and Mobile Phone Penetration

(as of 2017 statistica.com) 

Internet Penetration (2017) 95.1%

Number Internet Users 43.94 Mil.

Number of mobile internet users 40.18 Mil.

Average internet speed 28.6 Mbps

(Global average 7 Mbps)

E-commerce

 

Source: eshopworld.com

Currently, there are 30.5 million online shoppers and that is expected to grow to ~32 million by 2021. Online shoppers on average are expected to spend $1,023 annually. The current online purchasing power of Korean speaking online shoppers is over 31 billion dollars annually. (eshopworld.com) 

In 2017, online purchases from the foreign business were $2.0 billion, with US online retailers taking 55% of that business. But before we rest on our laurels, we need to consider that this is a decline from 2016 where US online retailers had 65% of those purchases from foreign purchases. The E.U. and China are increasing their share of the South Korean market. (Source: export.gov) There is, of course, the proximity card there but also the fact that both E.U. and China are more adept at localizing their offerings through Korean translations and speaking to Korean consumers in their language. E.U. especially has translation on automatic pilot as the block of countries deal with 27 languages on an ongoing basis. 

Market Outlook
South Korea’s economy shows signs of continued growth. The government is investing in education and the technology sector to entice tech companies to establish a presence in the country.

Given the clear strength of South Korea’s e-commerce economy and competition from the E.U. and China, US businesses must have a Korean translation of their websites and other content in order to enter and thrive in the South Korean market. The size of the pie may be increasing but so are the number of people at the table.

 

Read our blog, Why Should You Run Your Website Localization Project On MotaWord

And visiting South Korean businesses to explore partnership opportunities also means you’ll need Korean translations of your business cards. 

Read, Translate a Business Card Into Korean, Korean Translation is hard. Ask Koreans...

And… for a free quote on any of your translation needs, 24/7, click this link.

Although New York and Paris based, MotaWord’s translators represent over 80 languages in 154 countries. How each grew to become a professional translator reflects the cultures that make the world so rich. In this blog, Irena Rullo, a German translator in Switzerland recounts her path to becoming a French to German translator.

A French to German Translator Acquires Her Skills

Growing up, what languages were spoken at home?

I grew up in the German-speaking part of Switzerland in a family from southern Italy. At home, we spoke Italian and our Italian dialect. At school, I spoke Swiss German with the other children and in class, the lessons were held in standard German. So I think of myself as being native in four languages.

 

Though Swiss, Irena Rullo does not speak the 4th Swiss language, Romansh. Watch a few people speak this rare languag

Failing to give feedback has consequences. Feedback is necessary to address unacceptable behavior, and while MotaWord seeks to set our translators up for success, sometimes information can slip through the cracks, leaving room for constructive criticism from MotaWord peers, or our Internal Team.
    
We have created an action plan to help you in the moments where you would like to give feedback and do not know how to, or, you find yourself on the receiving end of some feedback from MotaWord, and are not sure what next steps you need to take to respond and implement the feedback. 

Instead of saving up all of your feedback until it feels like a volcano ready to explode, MotaWord has set up numerous features to empower you to give feedback anytime, anywhere. 

Feedback does not have to be fear-provoking or unnerving, especially when handled immediately. Giving feedback is the key to improving quality - and the promise of quality is a page we should all be on when working on a MotaWord translation.

1. Double check ambiguous feedback
Let’s say you receive a comment on your translator dashboard from a fellow translator, a proofreader, or a client stating, “sorry, that is wrong, you always make this mistake.” What do you do? This comment has no clear action plan and does not specifically let you know what the feedback is - just that it is undesirable. 

When engaging in a feedback discussion, it is important to make your intentions clear, which this comment does very well. The writer is unhappy with the performance. But this comment is unhelpful because not only is the feedback ambiguous, it exaggerates frequency.

We need to know what the mistake was, where to find the mistake, and how to go about fixing the mistake. Be specific in your language and, if you’re on the receiving end of such feedback, ask clarifying questions. We are always available to mediate any feedback conversations.

2.  Actionable feedback with a negative or aggressive tone.

There is no need to be personal or nasty with any feedback you give. Be clear, concise, and neutral in your tone.

3. A peer asks you to make changes violating the client-provided style guide or glossary.

The immediate first step here should be obvious to you - do not deviate from the client provided glossaries and style-guides. If someone should give you such feedback, politely inform them of this policy and refer them to the appropriate client-provided documents, then let the internal team know.

4. Limit your comments
Being clear and concise in every aspect of your life will wildly improve your ability to accept and retain any feedback thrown your way. When giving feedback, make sure you clearly outline the issue, what the correction should be, and how to solve it. Any given feedback session should not discuss more than 2 issues. 

5. Errors vs. mistakes

An error is a flaw in thinking, and a mistake is a flaw in mechanics. For example, an error is something done often due to lack of knowledge, teachability, or ignorance. A mistake is a one-off spelling error, an accidentally missed word, or an untranslated string. Both are in need of correction, but the feedback process and educational needs are very different. 

Being an active translator that is committed to MotaWord’s high-quality promise will not only raise your value as an employee with MotaWord, but it will give you more work, and ultimately lead you to proofreader status and more. As a translator, we need to know your name, and we need to trust you. We chose you, vetted your credentials, and are committed to your professional growth as a translator. Help us, help you.

These are just a fraction of the policies and standards we expect from our translators.
If you receive any feedback violating these guidelines, please let the MotaWord internal team know. 

For more information regarding:

Giving Feedback on a MotaWord Translation, click here.

For Giving Feedback on a MotaWord Translation - For Clients, click here.
For Giving Feedback on a MotaWord Translation - For Proofreaders, click here

About MotaWord

MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock, and over 15 thousand professional translators, MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.

Citations: TED, FastCompany

Our proofreader community is an integral part of MotaWord’s high-quality promise. Our most experienced linguists, our proofreaders, are what set us apart from other translation services. Giving feedback on a MotaWord translation is one of the most important jobs a proofreader has, and this small guide serves to aid in any questions you may have during that process.
 

1. Be prepared
   Let’s say you are proofreading a completed translation on a project, and you come across some unsatisfactory strings. You see this string has some clear complications, there are comments from the client, and the translator is unresponsive. Check the style guide, the glossaries, and check with the MotaWord internal team. Rely on your own expertise as well as the expertise of those around you to correct the mistake. Reach out to the translator is a question, and if they are unresponsive, let us know. Use any combination of the many tools we have to offer.
   

2. Avoid confusing language
   It is no secret that everyone has their own perspective. As a proofreader, it is your responsibility to accommodate your tone when giving feedback to ensure your points are getting across clearly. Abstract words and concepts without solid, actionable examples will not yield any result. Confusing language will lead to more confusion. Keep it simple; keep it clear; keep it high-quality.
   
   
3. Refer to the client provided style-guide and glossaries
   Our clients have a very specific vision and image in their mind of what they want from our translation services, and we trust our proofreaders to be aligned with that vision. This is where the style-guide and glossaries come in. It is up to you and the team of translators on the project to use the information in the style-guide exactly as the client asks. No embellishments, no additions. In the event that something in the style-guide or glossary is confusing to you, please reach out to us via email or the intercom widget on our site.
   
   4. Be communicative with the MotaWord internal team
   We are here to help you! Do not keep anything secret. We all work remotely, all over the world. When you need us, we will be there. Letting us know what is happening with a project, how you are working, and any comments your colleagues are making on a project will always do one thing: make our translation services better. Providing any feedback to us regarding your proofreading experience will give us more insight into how our colleagues’ performance is progressing and will allow us to make any necessary changes to solve any problems that may come. Just because a situation may initially be unhappy does not mean it needs to end that way, and a productive feedback session is one that ends on a positive note.
   
   5. Help to improve the quality of our community
   How can we improve in silence? How can a person improve their performance if they only receive positive or negative feedback? A happy relationship between positive and constructive feedback is crucial to achieving the desired change in behavior. We have automated features to help make quality assurance easier. The best tool we have found is for our translators and proofreaders to work together with our translation editor. Automatic suggestions will prompt you from a translation memory associated with that client.
   

Our single-proofreader model and philosophy were not conceived overnight. When done right, it works to deliver the MotaWord high-quality translation promise. Following these simple feedback guidelines as a proofreader will enhance the communicative relationship with your colleagues, and will result in increased motivation, respect, and productivity. We are all involved in MotaWord under the common desire to deliver the best to our clients. We should all be committed to respecting each others’ feedback just the same.

About MotaWord

MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock, and over 15 thousand professional translators, MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.

Citations: TED

If you’ve ever worked on a localization project, you know that having the right service at your fingertips can save you a lot of time (and stress). Taking on projects that require translation to multiple languages is by no means a simple job, but we’re here to take the hassle out of this somewhat tedious process. We’ve put together a list of 10 time-saving features of MotaWord to make your life easier. Check them out to find out how MotaWord will help you speed up your translation workflow by making it more efficient.

1. Collaborative translation. MotaWord combines the efforts of talented human translators from around the world. This ability to simultaneously utilize multiple translators makes MotaWord exceptionally fast.
   
   
2. MotaWord offers translation to 80+ languages which means you could do your whole localization process in one place. No more search for an individual translator of that rare language, we’ve got them all.
   
   
3. Each translator is super efficient. They’re not only native in their languages but also have expert knowledge of their specialized field which gives them a real unfair advantage of being extremely fast while delivering high-quality translations.
   
   
4. Instant quote on MotaWord will help you get immediate insights into our pricing. Because waiting for a quote via email is so 1990.
   
   
5. MotaWord removed the never-ending back and forth before translators can start working on your project. As soon as you submit a project, they’re automatically invited via email. We eliminated waiting and delays, that’s it.
   
   
6. MotaWord API allows you to easily automate and integrate the ordering and delivery of translated documents into your own system to make your translation fast and easy to manage.
   
   
7. MotaWord offers a few very powerful plugins including WordPress plugin, Grabber Chrome Extension and Google Drive Chrome App that eliminate the hassle of manually copying and pasting content from one medium to another.
   
   
8. MotaWord supports a variety of file formats (and the list grows every day). No need to convert your original files into something else just to use our translation service. You may upload whatever you’re used to working with and we’ll handle the rest.
   
   
9. Our translators use lots of professional resources like glossary, translation engine and memory which makes them very fast while maintaining high-quality work.
   
   
10. Great customer support matters. At MotaWord, client’s problem is never somebody else’s business! Every person on our team—no matter the job title—spends some time talking directly to our customers and helping them if they get stuck.

Are there any other features of MotaWord that saved you time? Let us know on social media (don’t forget to mention us @MotaWord), and we'll be sure to check them out.

About MotaWord

MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock and over 15 thousand professional translators MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.


Citations: Collaborative Translation, MotaWord Languages, MotaWord Developer Portal, MotaWord File Formats

When applying for a Green Card, Naturalization or to replace your Naturalization or Citizenship documents you will often need to translate documents from Spanish to English.

Often times birth certificates, marriage certificates, diplomas, transcripts, inoculation documents, divorce decrees and death certificates that are in a foreign language need to be translated into English in order to be admissible in your immigration file.

We are focused on the most widely translated language in the United States for this article and that is of course Spanish. The Spanish into English translation of your documents needs to adhere to the rules set forth by the USCIS. The translation needs to be a certified translation from Spanish to English for USCIS. (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) It is always more prudent to get a 3rd party, who knows what they are doing, such as MotaWord, to handle these translations.

A certified translation needs to be done by a person who attests to being competent to translate the foreign language (in this case Spanish) into English. When the translator performs the certified Translation from Spanish to English for USCIS they then certify that work as being complete and accurate with their signature (sometimes it also needs a notarization but more on that for a later article - we are only covering certified translation of Spanish into English documents for USCIS in this one).

For all the rules on the certified translation, you may click this link and go to the source at the Certificate of Translation page on the USCIS website:

On MotaWord, it’s simple to get your documents translated from Spanish into English. Whether it is a birth certificate, marriage certificate, diploma or any other document we’ll do it for you quickly and correctly. With legal documents and immigration issues, you must use a service that knows what they are doing or you could end up regretting it.

How do you get this done? All you need to do is take a photo of the document on your phone, upload it to MotaWord, get a price quote and make your payment. (You can get a quote 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) Your quote will include an estimate of how soon you can expect to receive your translated document.

Here’s a video on Ordering a Translation on MotaWord

Usually, within a few hours, we will send you an email with your certified translation in a PDF format with all the signatures, ready to be used by the USCIS.

Wondering how we can translate a picture of words? MotaWord uses a technology called OCR (Optical Character Recognition) that can read the words in a picture. And this can be done for Spanish or any language.

You may get more information about our certified translation service via this link: Certified Translation 

You may also see a brief video of how to order your translation using your smartphone in this video.

Now that you know how easy it is, don’t delay. Get a quote today so you know your certified translation from Spanish to English for USCIS is ready to be submitted.

• Does the Spanish translation service I will use provide around the clock service?

• Do they have access to the latest technology and tools necessary to ease the burden of Spanish translation?

• Do they have access to professional Spanish translators?

• Will they be able to save me from archaic translation industry practices such as “minimum charges” and “additional charges for proofreading”? and

• Will they be responsive to my needs 24/7 through always accessible account managers?
  

• What countries or regions am I trying to reach?

• Will a broadly understandable globalized website meet my goals?

• If I choose website localization to translate my website into Spanish will it have sufficient impact to justify the time, effort and money to address more specific markets?
  

• Neutral Spanish

• Standard Spanish

• Global Spanish

• Universal Spanish
  

At MotaWord, our clients are our focus. Giving feedback is a delicate process, and we want to make this process as seamless as possible for you, our treasured clients.

As a client, we hope you never have to utilize the following information. At MotaWord it is our goal and passion to provide you with excellent, high-quality translations, every time - exactly as you request them. We love to hear both positive and constructive feedback on how we can make our services better for our clients. We hope to hear you shout from the mountaintops how perfectly satisfied you are with our performance, but in the event, this is not the case, constructive feedback is encouraged and embraced. We are here to deliver exactly what you need for your translation.

Client and customer feedback is extremely valuable to us, and without it, MotaWord cannot grow. How you feel about us should not be a secret. 

1. “I like it, but we wanted something different”
   This kind of feedback indicates that there was a key misunderstanding at the time of ordering your translation. Somewhere along our journey together, we stopped being on the same page. We have a few options to prevent this kind of feedback and deliver you our high-quality promise.
   
   a. Make sure you make use of “Style Guides” and “Glossaries” when ordering your translation
   To prevent your project from getting started on a shaky foundation, and to make your goals as a client clear to our cloud-based, collaborative team of linguists, make sure to provide a style guide and glossary to your project. This will ensure that every individual working on your translation will be virtually sitting next to you, getting all of their stylistic, grammatical, and localization questions answered by your ready-made style guide and glossary. You may also make use of our “client comments” section of your dashboard, where you are able to make comments to any linguist working on your translation project in real time. If any glaring issues should arise, we will also be there watching, and you can reach out to us anytime via the intercom widget on your main page.
   

2. “That is the wrong translation and I want a different one.”
   An unfortunate mistake, indeed. Whether it is your fault or ours, when you order a translation with MotaWord, you agree to promptly review the delivered translations and notify us within 7 days of any errors such as outright mistranslations, typos, omissions or nonadherence to any approved glossary and/or style guide. We will correct such errors at no cost to you. You may cancel the services you have ordered at any time - in writing. You will have to pay for the amount of translation work already completed in draft condition at the time of the cancellation. In the event that you send us a document in error, and the translation has already been completed correctly and successfully, you will need to order a new translation with the correct document and pay again as if it were the original.
   

3. *Complete Silence*
   Silence is indicative of a big communication problem that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. We encourage you to communicate with us as much as possible and let us know anything and everything you think about our translations, performance, and your satisfaction as a whole. Ideally, we should be in clear communication with you before you order, during the translation process, and after your translation is complete, proofread, and delivered back to you. The worst feedback we can receive is no feedback at all. If we see you going silent, we will reach out to you.
   

As a client, your feedback is necessary throughout the process of translation. You are free and encouraged to be as involved as you wish during the translation and proofreading process. Clients can make comments utilizing their dashboard in real time, and the individuals working on your translation will be able to see the comments and act accordingly. 

As linguistic professionals, we understand that giving feedback can be a delicate process. There is no doubt that identifying issues and solving them is invaluable, but feedback should be managed positively and with integrity so we can complete your translation in a timely manner and help improve and grow your business.

For MotaWord’s general principles for giving feedback on a MotaWord translation, click here.

If you are not a client or would like further reading on how we handle feedback at MotaWord, try Giving Feedback on a MotaWord Translation - For Translators or Giving Feedback on a MotaWord Translation - For Proofreaders.



About MotaWord
MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock, and over 15 thousand professional translators, MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.

Citations: HubSpot

MotaWord is looking for talented entrepreneurs and/or business developers to support its ambitious growth objectives in new countries and regions. Join our diverse and dynamic team in 3 continents and a network of fellow BD professionals all over the world.

Interested in joining a dynamic and diverse technology startup disrupting the translation industry by creating an innovative platform? MotaWord might have a position for you…

MotaWord is the World’s Fastest Business Translation Platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock and over 15 thousand professional translators MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language, up to 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.

MotaWord’s hybrid translation solution combines the speed of a smart algorithm powered project management system and of collaborative translations, with the quality of human translations done by professional native speakers.
 
What you’ll be doing:

• Understand and have full command of MotaWord's translation service offerings, capabilities, benefits, and competitive advantages
  
• Research prospective clients through internet research, trade show lists, referrals, professional directories and personal investigation
• Source and close new clients through referrals, cold calling, networking, trade shows, regional organizations, and any other means
• Cultivate and maintain long term relationships with clients by delivering elite client service and engaging them by using knowledge of each industry and organization
• Formulate sales plan to achieve monthly, quarterly, and annual sales targets
• Generate daily outreach efforts to prospective clients
• Build a productive pipeline and manage each phase of the sales process
• Develop project budgets and create proposals
• Track all customer sales related activities in MotaWord proprietary systems. Set and execute follow up tasks
• Ensure that the www.motaword.com website is correctly setup for your region and is SEO competitive
• Grow and manage our client database in your country/region
• Maintain and develop relations with existing clients
• Assist online marketing efforts in your country
• Participate in events and shows to promote MotaWord’s unique translation solution
• Work with our industry partners such as WeWork (https://www.motaword.com/blog/brand-ambassadors)

About you:

• You have 1-2 years of sales experience, preferably in the Translation industry
• You are interested in tech and innovative solutions
• Comfortable working in a distributed time-zone, global team
• You have a very good level of English (it will be your internal working language) and at least one other language
• Proven sales life cycle experience - lead generation through business closing
• Proven track record in achieving sales target
• Excellent problem solving and analytical skills
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Effective time management
  

This is full time position with MotaWord that offers you the possibility to work within a truly global and growing technology platform. Your ability to join in on the ground floor will enable you to have even more pronounced sales targets and help disrupt a sleepy industry. 

You will be compensated a base salary + a very high sales commission which we hope will entice you to onboard as many clients as possible for our platform.

Just click the button below to apply. We look forward to talking to you.

Understanding the best practices and limitations of translation and keeping current with what technology allows can be very important for global product managers. As a translation platform, we often see that both of these are not readily understood. Some think that machine translation is a viable alternative to product localization. Others think the traditional translation agency model is the only option they have. None of these statements are true and there are better options global product managers can use.

This article is a good place to start to learn some things to consider.

In an earlier role I had at an education company, we were building a digital platform for document management in the academic world. This platform allowed students, faculty, and researchers to share documents and collaborate on writing research papers. At first, the product team did not fully appreciate how universities in different countries view enforcing copyrights and their own agreements with content providers. This resulted in sales being hampered until we gave the customers’ admins the ability to restrict or turn off document sharing. Clearly, localization was not in for forefront of our planning and that cost us time and money.

Managing a product involves a lot of important steps. Understanding the user and market, determining the business strategy for that market, designing the user experience, ensuring product build and delivery and handling the product growth and customer support; these are all daunting tasks even on a single product and market. As a global product manager, you have to navigate multiple locales, multiple languages, and cultures. That’s when things become even more difficult.

The W3C’s page on internationalization gives an excellent example of the requirements of correctly localizing content for a specific market.

“Cultural problems also need to be considered. Symbolism can be culture-specific. The check mark means correct or OK in many countries. In some countries, however, such as Japan, it can be used to mean that something is incorrect. Japanese localizers may need to convert check marks to circles (their symbol for 'correct') as part of the localization process.”

The lesson here is that localization must take cultural differences into account. Merely translating text is not the end of the job when it comes to localization of content.

A translation service needs to support the task of a global product manager by being technologically current, low-cost, agile, truly on-demand, fast and allowing instant access to tens of thousands of skilled translators. The only contender for being able to do that is through an AI managed platform model. (Read here our article titled “Very fast translation thanks to a different approach”.

How early should a global product manager think about localization when developing a new product? That depends on a number of factors including, budget, available staffing, and your company’s resolve to be global.

In an ideal world global product managers should consider a localization component during  these phases:

• UX Design

• Surveys

• Interviews

Ever since their beginning, humans have evolved to use their hands to make tools and communicate with each other. These human-made tools have evolved to a point where we constantly use the greatest communication tool created to date: the computer. But how did that happen? How does our interaction with machines affect our life?

How can we transition from the very philosophical idea of human evolution to computational user experience and programming?

From my professional, technical perspective, I am amazed by the human mind’s ability to govern its environment. I decided to become an engineer to research that very topic. My job today at MotaWord is to translate routine problems into the language of the machines: into computer code.

The first computer ever was created for translation. This journey begins in England. Alan Turing was trying to crack encrypted Nazi military messages during World War II. With his mathematical genius and curiosity for machines, he realized that any system can be implemented by machines; as easy as a wristwatch showing time.

Computers are able to perform actions when you can “explain” it in their language: in code. But what exactly is computer code when it performs as a language? At heart, it is mathematics. Although coding engineers do not work with pure math or binary code, the language of the machines is far from human language. The language of the machines is derived from mathematical expressions. 

Like natural, human languages, the programming language has grammatical rules. As you can guess when we talk about computers, there are many strict rules when it comes to explaining something to the computer to get it to perform the action we want. Do not worry, I am not going to bore you with language processing jargon. I just want to point out that we have to follow these programming rules of grammar with absolute certainty, so various services, like applications, can be enjoyed on your devices.

Another exciting element of machine language is communicating with an entity that is entirely digital. Have you ever thought that in the near future, we may be able to talk to a computer without knowing it is a machine? You may have heard about Artificial Intelligence and robots like Sophia from the news. Sophia can speak very fluently and give answers. What is the mechanism behind this phenomenon? A  very complicated network of processors inside Sophia is trying to dissect the words and applying rules constantly. This is how robots can understand us.

In conclusion, we understand how professional translation is a cornerstone to keep ourselves connected to the world. At Motaword, we work every day to deliver you the fastest, most accurate translation experience with this philosophy, and we are using and researching the latest technology. We combine the latest advancements with topnotch human quality control methods.

And in doing so, we are bringing machines and humans closer.

 
About MotaWord

MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock and over 15 thousand professional translators MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.

Citations: Stanford, Turing

At MotaWord, we want to be better and do better for our clients, translators, and proofreaders. No matter which community you belong to, giving and receiving both positive and constructive feedback allows our professional community to grow and flourish, no matter what perspective we are working with. When giving feedback, any two parties involved may view the same situation differently, whether they realize it or not. Feedback issues must be resolved for MotaWord to be able to achieve the high-quality, professional translations for which we are known and loved.

As an internal team, we at MotaWord thrive on feedback from our clients, translators, and proofreaders. Without this information, we are nothing. MotaWord believes managing the different perspectives involved in the feedback received on a translation is just as important as the quality and accuracy of the translation itself. We find that having an agreed-upon process for giving feedback on a translation will, more often than not, prevent unnecessary altercations and will help all individuals involved solve issues easily and uniformly. 

Life is already stressful, and we at MotaWord are in the business of relieving stress for our clients and employees - not creating a source for it.

Any issue that may require feedback is easy to solve if there is an agreed upon process. 

1. Be Clear and Concise
   Nothing is more gratifying than understanding another human being’s words and intentions. When we are specific, there is very little room for misunderstanding - only elaboration. The goal when providing any kind of feedback, whether it be positive or constructive, is to achieve a desired changed behavior. The receiver of your feedback will not understand what is problematic about a particular behavior if you do not spell it out for them in detail - we like to use the “explain it like I am 5 years old” rule. Part of the joy of working in a multilingual, cross-cultural environment is the misunderstanding, however, when addressing changed behaviors, it is important to be painfully clear in your words and intentions.
   
   
2. Be Action-Oriented: Create a Clear Path Forward
   At MotaWord, we believe in delivering feedback proactively. Address issues immediately. Feedback should not come as a surprise to anyone, and providing feedback as close to the event as possible is the best way to ensure full understanding and illicit changed behavior.

3. Breathe and Check Perspective
   We do not believe in being mean-spirited. Before you contact someone regarding their behavior, please take a moment to breathe and understand how your feedback may be received. Especially if the feedback is constructive, it is important to create safety and comradery before providing the feedback. If the person receiving the feedback does not feel comfortable, then the positive of constructive feedback you provide them will be ultimately unproductive. Check your bias. What is your motive for giving this feedback? Remind yourself why you are contacting this person and make sure the goal is to improve the situation and the person’s performance. Being harsh, critical, and offensive will accomplish nothing.
   
   
4. Have a Discussion
   Nothing is worse when it comes to feedback then the 1,2 punch approach. “You ruined this project, and I will not work with you again”. Do not have a negative, one-sided interaction. Even if all your feedback is constructive, and you can think of nothing nice to say, take a moment to start a conversation with the person about any assumptions both of you may have about the project needing feedback. Every person on this planet has external stressors in their life, and work should not be another source of stress. Engage in a two-sided discussion that leads to a game plan for improvement. Discuss no more than two issues per feedback session. 
   
   
5. Follow Through
   This is where the MotaWord internal team comes in. Thanks to our strategy of working remotely, We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via our intercom widget on our website. Message us anytime with any feedback you may have regarding anything MotaWord. We are here to make high-quality translation seamless and effortless, and your cooperation with the above tactics will ensure a seamless working relationship that will benefit all involved.

When feedback is provided to the MotaWord internal team, after an appropriate amount of time has passed, we will follow up with the associated parties utilizing the feedback given to us. Thank you to all of our clients, translators and proofreaders for making MotaWord the world’s fastest business translation platform. 

Are you reading this as a client, translator, or proofreader? Click below to review MotaWord feedback tactics tailored to your specific interests with us:

Giving Feedback On a MotaWord Translation: For Clients
Giving Feedback On a MotaWord Translation: For Translators  
Giving Feedback On a MotaWord Translation: For Proofreaders

About MotaWord

MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock and over 15 thousand professional translators MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.

Citations: BusinessNewsDaily, Entrepreneur, MindTools, Forbes

The most popular online language was the first thing that I started to research when I signed up to write articles for MotaWord. A global human translation platform with a twist. It is actually an AI coordinating their over 15 thousand strong translator base.

You might ask why. And to answer, one of my favorite quotes come to mind::
“Because that’s where the money is.”  - Willie Sutton, bank robber, when asked why he robs banks.

Understanding what language internet users speak and the economic potential each language represents will empower you to increase your bottom line. Localizing your website across multiple languages, across borders will help you maximize your profits. Or you could leave that money on the table. On that topic, I would highly recommend that you read a previous article written by a colleague of mine titled; “Why should you run your website localization project on MotaWord?”

Back to our search on the most popular online language… Can you guess how many countries have a population that speaks the German language? Probably no. Well, I couldn’t either and that is why you should read on and find the answer.  

Factoid: There are 22 countries and locales where the German language is either the main or one of the recognized official languages. But wait, there are a further 10 countries in which the German language is used by a significant subset of the population. This brings the number to 32 locales. Languages spread to other countries and regions for various reasons including colonization, trade, and conquest. For a full list of all those countries that speak German language you can see the link. 

It is higher than you thought it would be right? So in my quest to look for the most popular online language I came across quite a few of these little factoids. I will not shy away from dropping them as necessary.

But the answer to the “What is the most popular online language?” is not German. It is another Germanic language. You guessed it right. It is in English. The English language is the most popular online language and the lingua franca of the internet.

Look at these numbers:
Online language users in millions (Source: statistic.com, as of Mar. 2017) 

You can see the lead English language has over even Chinese. But, that being said, the savvy business people do not only see English as the clear winner when they look for the most popular online language.

They see the runner-ups and also see that a simple act of website translation into the 3 following popular online languages can add over 1 billion visitors to their potential reach.

Let me leave you with another of my favorite quotes:

“Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” - Wayne Gretzky, Hockey Hall of Fame member.

Keep the most popular online language in mind. But, get your site, content and market research material translated through global online providers like MotaWord that can support you all through the way.

This article is originally written in English, however, it will promptly be translated into Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, French, German, Hebrew, and Turkish.

I will leave you with this funny video of Hamilton translated back into English using Google Translate.

 

Number of individuals who have been extrajudicially executed outside of Iran since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. These murders are thought to have been carried out by agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Italian translator Ettore Caprioli and Norwegian translator William Nygaard were also two victims of the fatwa as a result of their respective translations. On July 3rd, 1991, Caprioli was attacked in Milan, surviving the assassination attempt. Nygaard’s assassination attempt resulted in Norway recalling its ambassador to Iran.

Number of copies of The Satanic Verses sold in Japan, making the novel wildly successful in the localized Japanese.

The number of years Salman Rushdie went into hiding after the issuance of the fatwa. Ayatollah Khomeini, who said the book was blasphemous and anti-Islamic, died in June 1989, but the assassination order has been reaffirmed by the Iranian authorities.

For the New York Times story on Igarashi’s murder in 1991, click here.

About MotaWord
MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock and over 15 thousand professional translators, MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.

About This Article
Famous Translators is a MotaWord segment showcasing notable professional translated works and famous linguists from history to the present. We are researching, compiling and sharing stories that matter to every translator on our blog. You, too can be published right here on the MotaWord blog site - just contact kali@motaword.com.

Check out our previous "Famous Translators" articles:

• One Man's Soul Mountain: Translating Gao Xingjian
• The Mistranslation of the Mystical Nostradamus
• High-Quality Translation Philosophy with Jorge Luis Borges
  
  

Citations: IranRights, NYTimes, JapanTimes, LATimes, UPI

Giovanni Pontiero
10 February 1932 – 10 February 1996

“There are things that you can do in a romance language, syntactically, that you simply cannot do in English. You would just wind up with gobbledygook. You have to impose certain syntactical rules for it to be a sentence in English, so it doesn’t match up with the original. In other words, you can leave every subject pronoun out of the sentence and move things around in Spanish or Portuguese in a way that you simply cannot do in English. But Pontiero translates it beautifully.”

    -Edith Grossman, on why Giovanni Pontiero became a famous translator.

Giovanni Pontiero was the leading professional translator of Portuguese literature in the 20th century. One of the most ardent advocates of Portuguese translation, Pontiero was a British scholar of Portuguese fiction, most famous for translating the work of Jose Saramago. Pontiero introduced many Portuguese authors to the English reading world, including Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Manuel Baneria and Clarice Lispector. In addition to Portuguese and English, Pontiero was also a translator of Spanish and Italian. His translation work received several international awards during his career.

• Giovanni Pontiero received several awards and nominations throughout his career as a translator. His English versions of Saramago gave him the Independent Foreign Fiction Award in 1993, the American Translators Award in 1994, and the Teixeira-Gomes Translation Award from the Portuguese government, as well as a nomination for the Aristeion Award.
• Mr. Pontiero was such a prolific, award-winning figure, that his very own award, the Giovanni Pontiero Prize for Translation, is given each year in his honor by Instituto Camões. Each year, the award is dedicated to an important translator; on years that fall on an even number, the Giovanni Pontiero Award is received by a Spanish translation originally in Portuguese, and on odd years the award goes to a Catalan translation originally written in Portuguese. 

Credited for introducing Portuguese literature to the English world, Giovanni Pontiero is the pioneer of Portuguese to English translation in the 21st century. He is known for his kindness, brilliance, hospitality, love for his subjects, and for creating the warm family atmosphere in his university department. Giovanni Pontiero certainly deserves posthumous international recognition for his vast contributions to the global translation community.

Giovanni Pontiero in numbers:

Number of Jose Saramago novels Mr. Pontiero translated into English.

Number of novels by Brazilian author Clarice Lispector that Giovanni Pontiero translated into English.

Mr. Pontiero’s age of death on 10 February.

Giovanni Pontiero is commended in Edith Grossman’s interview here.

About MotaWord

MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock and over 15 thousand professional translators MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies. 

 

About This Article
Famous Translators is a MotaWord segment showcasing notable professional translated works and famous linguists from history to the present. We are researching, compiling and sharing stories that matter to every translator on our blog. You, too can be published right here on the MotaWord blog site - just contact kali@motaword.com.

Check out our previous "Famous Translators" articles:

• Deadly Translation: The Politics of Hitoshi Igarashi's Japanese Version of The Satanic Verses
• One Man's Soul Mountain: Translating Gao Xingjian
• The Mistranslation of the Mystical Nostradamus
  
  

Citations: The Independent, ArchivesHub, Univ. of Barcelona, Fivebooks

MotaWord’s unique working model, known for generating high-quality translation way faster than its competitors, never fails to bring the ideal results demanded by our clients. Whether they are looking for a legal translation or localizing their marketing materials; you name it, MotaWord will do it! But for some project types, we offer even more features. Continuous translation projects, like website localizations, enjoy our smart approach the best!

And here’s why:
As someone who has the first-hand experience in every aspect involved in creating and localizing a website, I can tell you certain things that you would like your translation provider to offer you and the translators working on your project, and how MotaWord fits all of these requirements.

Without further ado…

On their MotaWord dashboard, our clients can see every detail regarding their projects.
Our 100% transparent, the cloud-based workflow is something we invite everyone to experience. Just by remaining on your dashboard after you have purchased your order, you can witness how fast - for most cases in just mere seconds - translators across the globe can start working on your project. You can monitor the progress of your project and check the strings (lines of translation) that are being translated in real time on our platform. Reach out to our MotaWord internal team via the Intercom widget on our main site, or to the translators working on the project by leaving comments.
You will be pleased to find very few mistakes from our vetted, professional translators.

When you work with skilled, professional linguists on MotaWord, and utilize our single-proofreader model, you produce high-quality translation; every time.           

The quality in question could only be achieved by maintaining perfect accuracy; accuracy that can only be achieved through MotaWord.

In order to maintain accuracy, the glossaries are being used by the translation agencies and translators. While it is easy to find glossaries for generic subjects, things might get trickier as we go for the niches. They are important for all types of translation, but when it comes to website localization, they have a much more crucial role.  Ex-The accuracy of a client’s translation depends on the glossary and style guide. At MotaWord, our website localization projects include glossaries either provided by the client or generated by our Translation Memory over time. Since this type of projects usually has continuous nature, i.e. they consist of multiple projects, we have to maintain accuracy not within a single project, but among multiple projects with various subjects, targets, and tones.

When incorporated into our platform, your glossary lists become mandatory checkboxes that need to be filled correctly, every time. Our Translation Memory and proofreaders are there to make sure nothing slips or gets out of the tune.

We understand that for our clients, their websites are their identity. They all have different corporate approaches and personalities that they show in their native language. Some of our clients use MotaWord to localize their blog contents with us like Brut, and others require certain field experience like Trading 212 - both of whom work with us daily.

If you would like us to localize your website with our approach you can get an instant, no-obligation quote, or see our languages. Don’t hesitate to share your mind with us on our social media accounts about the importance of 100% transparent workflow, why proofreading is not a luxury option but a must, or how glossaries are the backbone of any continuous localization project.      

  

About MotaWord

MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock and over 15 thousand professional translators MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.

Citations: MarketFinder, Forbes1,  Forbes2

Lately it seems as though there is a day for everything. Are you a Sign Language Interpreter? You can celebrate on Sign Language Interpreter Appreciation Day. Enjoy tongue twisters? There’s a day for that. Always keep track of what language related holidays you need to be celebrating with this comprehensive list for translators: 

4th of January — World Braille Day
World Braille Day is annually celebrated on January 4th, the birthday of Braille inventor, Louis Braille. The day recognizes his contributions in helping blind and visually impaired people to read and write.

21st of February — International Mother Language Day
International Mother Language Day is a worldwide annual observance held on 21st of February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and promote multilingualism. 

20th of March — French Language Day
The United Nations has established language days for all of their six official languages. The purpose of the language days is to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to increase awareness and respect for the history, culture and achievements of these languages. The dates for the Language Days were selected for their symbolic or historic significance in connection with each language: 20th of March is International Day of Francophonie.

20th of April — Chinese Language Day
This is the day that the United Nations established to celebrate the cultural and linguistic diversity created by the Chinese language.

23rd of April — English Language Day
This is the day that the United Nations established to celebrate the cultural and linguistic diversity created by the English language. It is also traditionally recognized as William Shakespeare’s birthday.

23rd of April — Spanish Language Day
This is the day that the United Nations established to celebrate the cultural and linguistic diversity created by the Spanish language. It is also characterized by the death of Miguel de Cervantes, a great Spanish writer.

1st of May — Sign Language Interpreter Appreciation Day
On Sign Language Interpreter Appreciation Day, we come together to celebrate the work of sign language interpreters who break down language and communication barriers, from medical appointments to large conferences.

6th of June — Russian Language Day
This is the day that the United Nations established to celebrate the cultural and linguistic diversity created by the Russian language. It is also the birthday of Aleksandr Pushkin, a great Russian poet.

23rd of September — International Day of Sign Languages
The UN General Assembly has proclaimed 23rd of September as the International Day of Sign Languages in order to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf.

26th of September — European Day of Languages
The European Day of Languages is 26th of September and has been jointly organized by the Council of Europe and the European Union. Its aim is to encourage lifelong language learning across Europe.

30th of September — International Translation Day
International Translation Day is celebrated every year on 30 September on the feast of St. Jerome, the Bible translator who is considered the patron saint of translators. You can see here our article under the Famous Translations series detailing St. Jerome and his accomplishment as a translator.

16th of October — National Dictionary Day
Dictionary Day is held in honor of American lexicographer, Noah Webster. In 1806, he published “A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language” that defined an impressive 37,000 words.

10th of November — International Tongue Twister Day
The history and the origin of International Tongue Twister Day are unknown. Celebrate it by practicing a few challenging tongue twisters or even organize a tongue twister competition with your family, friends or colleagues. You can come across interesting tongue twisters in English on MotaWord’s Instagram page, make sure to follow us there. Here is an example: “Imagine an imaginary menagerie…”

21st of November — World Hello Day
World Hello Day is observed annually on November 21st, to express that conflicts should be resolved through communication. To celebrate, participants verbally greet ten people or more on that day. Why not do it in your native language and have it translated so these strangers can learn something new?

18th of December — Arabic Language Day
This is the day that the United Nations established to celebrate the cultural and linguistic diversity created by the Arabic language. On this day, the United Nations General Assembly designated Arabic as the sixth official language of the United Nations in 1973.

Do you celebrate any other language related holidays? Let us know on social media. Don’t forget to mention @MotaWord, and we'll be sure to check them out.

About MotaWord
MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock and over 15 thousand professional translators MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.

Citations: United Nations, Council of Europe, Famous Translators

As all of you hopefully know by now, MotaWord is not yet another translation company. It’s primarily an innovation-driven technology company with a laser focus on delivering high-quality translation service to save our clients time and effort. While we have written a lot on localization and why you should have your website content translated into multiple languages, this is not the article for that. 

It's impossible for modern companies to thrive without technology and innovation. Identifying and evolving with industry trends and finding new ways to keep our clients 100% satisfied with what we have to offer is what separates successful businesses from the rest - and us from the rest of the myriad translation providers out there.

One of the best ways to expand our industry knowledge and sharpen our innovation practices is by attending technology events and discuss the latest trends with industry leaders and experts in person.

That being said, there are other reasons why we do it also.

The 5 reasons that make us devote our time after work to attend or speak at various industry events are:

Any conference we’re part of is always an unavoidable learning experience where we acquire knowledge and new skills in an engaging and very efficient way. All events we attend are also an excellent way for us to connect with people outside of our immediate social circle and hear their thoughts about technology, innovation, business (and also our translation business as they perceive it) and understand what problems they’re experiencing and how we can potentially help solve those problems.  The learning also expands to the preparation stage for our speeches and discussion pieces for certain events. There is no better motivator to learning that being face to face with sometimes hundreds of people showing up to listen to you talk about how you innovate translation industry or advance the future of work. Events are also a perfect way to get inspired by a cutting-edge technology (AI or blockchain anyone? ;)) or simply another brilliant business idea you never thought of.  Attending events also helps us to get feedback from our clients or potential clients so we can hear their thoughts and improve our service accordingly.  And last but not least, events are also there to have fun. Yep, you heard it right! We all are human beings and our brains need to get some rest. So it might be a good idea to spend an evening or two in the company of some amazing fellow industry professionals only to get back to work the morning after, well-rested and motivated to push ourselves ahead because we realize that what we do matters.

If you or your teammates didn’t yet have a chance to attend or speak at any events, the best time to start is now. A good industry event brings learning, networking, and fun into one seamless experience — and here is a list of just a few events we’ve attended or spoken at in 2018, all of them are highly recommended if you’re not sure where to start:

• Google I/O: Mountain View
• Wolves Summit: Warsaw, Poland
• Salon Des Entrepreneurs: Paris, France
• Droidcon: Dubai, London, Vienna
• GDG DevFest: Milan, Nantes, Prague, Jurmala, Dublin, Vienna, London
• Google Cloud Next: London
• AI Conference: London, New York
• TechFest: Bucharest
• MobileOptimized: Minsk
• Ada's List Conference: London
• Google Product Experts Summit: Sunnyvale
• Google Developer Experts Summit: Sunnyvale
• Android Dev Summit: Mountain View
• Codemotion: Milan and many more.

Each of these events was filled with tons of valuable content, new industry connections, and simply endless inspiration. If you ever see us, the MotaWord team, at one of the industry events, don’t be a stranger — come by and say hi. We absolutely love connecting with new people, discussing our translation business and getting to know people on a personal level. That is one of the most amazing outcomes of any event.

Is there any particular industry event that you're looking forward to seeing us at? Let us know on social media (don’t forget to mention us @MotaWord), and we'll be sure to check it out.

About MotaWord

MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock and over 15 thousand professional translators MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies.

Here at MotaWord, we strive to provide the best possible translation and proofreading experience for our translators and proofreaders. We believe in growing our product as a community and for this reason, we’re always listening to your needs. 

For collaborative projects, theTranslation Editor is an integral part of MotaWord’s translation process. Our translators and proofreaders spend most of their time in the editor to translate or to proofread various documents on hundreds of different subjects. Whether it is a legal translation or a personal letter, our aim is to provide high quality and professional translation.

If you’re new to the translation editor or just want to learn more about how you can get the most out of the translation editor, here are some tips:

• Use search bars:
  • There are two search bars in the editor. The first one is located on the header and lets you search for anything within the document and its translations. The second one is located on the suggestions panel and lets you search in previous projects, translation memories, and glossaries.
  • Translating highly technical terms can be a little bit tricky. If that’s the case, a quick search for the term can give you a lot of ideas on how to proceed with your translation.
    
    
• Use filters when necessary:
  
  • Filters can be really helpful, especially in longer documents. Have you ever found yourself navigating between pages to find untranslated segments? Well, if your answer is yes, filters should be your new best friend! To quickly filter out all translated or approved segments, you can click on the filter icon on the editor header and select the option “Untranslated”.
  • Before starting to translate, it is a good idea to check automatically translated segments to have an idea on the overall tone of the expected translation. To see segments that were translated automatically using a translation memory, click on the filter icon and select “Machine Translation”.
  • You can combine filters with search results as well. Let’s say you want to check other translations of a term for consistency reasons. After searching for the term using the search bar located in the header, you can select the “Translated” filter to see all translated versions of the queried term. 
    
    
• Real-time validation is here to help you:
  • Isn’t it nice to have a friend that always has your back and warn you before it’s too late? The real-time validation feature on the editor does exactly that. It constantly checks your translation as you type and warns you in real-time if a potential error is detected in your translation.
  • If a panel named “Warnings” appear on the right, you might have a mistake in your translation. As you type, you also might notice the “Save” button color change:
    • If your save button is in green, that means you’re good to go! Your translation passed all validations, congratulations!
    • If your save button is in orange and you see a “Warnings” panel on the right, there might be something wrong with your translation. Check it again. You can refer to the messages in the “Warnings” panel to correct your work if needed.
    • If your save button is in red, there is definitely an error in your translation. You won’t be allowed to save until you fix all the errors.
      
      
• Always check highlighted terms in the source:
  There are three types of highlighted texts in the source panel.
  • Tags:
    • i.e.: “Text between tags"
    • Consistent tags are mandatory for you to be able to save your translations. Tags should also appear in the same order as they are in the source.
    • You can click on highlighted tags to automatically copy them into your translation.
  • Variables:
    • i.e.: “%variable%”
    • You need to keep variables as-is in your translations. Like tags, click to copy function is available for variables as well.
  • Glossary matches:
    • Glossary matches are also highlighted in the source panel. It is recommended to use them in your translations. You can hover on the highlighted term to see its translation.
      
      
• Don’t forget to save and feel free to use shortcuts:
  • When you are done with your translation, don’t forget to save!
  • The editor will warn you if you happen to forget saving your work by popping up a red blinking error on the translation panel.
  • If you click back on the segment, the warning will go away and you can save your translation.
  • Little square icons on the left are there to show the current status of a segment. If you are a translator, grey means untranslated and green means translated. If you are a proofreader, grey means untranslated, blue means translated (waiting to be approved) and green refers to approved segments.
  • Remember: You can also use the shortcut “Ctrl+S” to save your translations.

We share these tips with videos on our YouTube page. Subscribing to that page will allow you to receive information on all the newly updated videos.

Good or bad, we love getting feedback from our community! If you have any ideas on improving the translation experience within the editor, feel free to contact us anytime with your suggestions.

About MotaWord

MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock, and over 15 thousand professional translators, MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies. 

Gao Xingjian
Born January 4, 1940

“The human need for language is not simply for the transmission of meaning, it is at the same time listening to and affirming a person's existence.” - Gao Xingjian

Gao Xingjian is a Chinese French national who won the Nobel Laureate in Literature in 2000, the first time the award had been given for work written almost entirely in Chinese. A novelist, playwright, critic, professional translator, screenwriter, stage director, and painter, Xingjian is a true renaissance man. Although his work is less celebrated in China, Xingjian is highly regarded in the Americas and Europe. Earning a degree in French literature in Beijing and settling in Paris in 1987, Gao Xingjian’s plays and translations have since set the trend for experimental drama in China and the West. Two of his translators, Gilbert C. F. Fong and Dr. Mabel Lee, are showcased as Xingjian’s close friends and esteemed colleagues.

• Receiving his basic education in schools of the People’s Republic of China, Xingjian grew up in the aftermath of the Japanese invasion. His mother was an aspiring actress who took great joy in stimulating Gao’s interest in theatre and writing. He wrote his whole life, creating countless manuscripts which he kept in a suitcase. During the cultural revolution (1966-76) Xingjian was sent to a re-education camp, where he is said to have burned that suitcase. He was able to travel to France and Italy in 1979, when he was finally able to publish his work.
  

• During the years of 1980-87, Xingjian published short stories, essays, and dramas in various literary magazines throughout China. He was able to publish four books in French: Premier essai sur les techniques du roman moderne/A Preliminary Discussion of the Art of Modern Fiction (1981), which incited violent written attacks on the author, A Pigeon Called Red Beak (1985), Collected Plays (1985), and In Search of a Modern Form of Dramatic Representation (1987).
  

• Xingjian wrote arguably one of his most famous novels, Soul Mountain (1990), based on a journey through the mountains and forests of southwest China. Pioneering Western interest in Chinese literature in translation, Soul Mountain gained the attention of The New York Times, who called the book “remarkable”, and is said to have been the catalyst that pushed him toward winning his Nobel Laureate 10 years later. On Xingjian, the Nobel Prize Committee said, “In the writing of Gao Xingjian, literature is born anew from the struggle of the individual to survive the history of the masses."
  

• Originally written in Chinese, Soul Mountain needed a translator into English. Born in New South Wales, Dr. Mabel Lee grew up bilingual in Cantonese and English, with a growing interest in Chinese cultural affairs. Her translation of Soul Mountain took her seven years, then an additional two years after that to find an adequate publisher. Just three months after she published her translation, Dr. Lee found herself with Gao Xingjian at the center of International literary recognition when Xingjian won the Nobel Laureate. Today, Dr. Lee works as a Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Sydney in Australia, is the founder of Wile Peony Book Publishers, and is one of the leading authorities on Chinese literature and translation.
  

• Where Dr. Mabel Lee translated Xingjian’s novels, Gilbert C. Fong translated his plays. Also a professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Fong specializes in Gao Xingjian, translated drama, and Hong Kong movie and television subtitling.

Gao Xingjian moved to France to seek political asylum and was granted citizenship in 1998. "After I went to France, I finally had an environment where I could work freely," he said. "So you could say I worked extremely hard, but I was very happy."

Gao Xingjian in numbers:

The decade during which Xingjian stayed in Anhui Province doing farm labor and teaching Chinese at Gankou Middle School during the Down to the Countryside Movement. In 1975 he was allowed to move back to Beijing where he became the group leader of French translation for “China Reconstructs” magazine (《中國建設》).

The number of politically charged plays that are argued to have openly criticized the Chinese government and contributed to his absurdist drama acclaim. Titles include Signal Alarm (《絕對信號》, 1982), Bus Stop (《車站》, 1983), The Primitive (1985), and The Other Shore (《彼岸》, 1986).

Five years after being granted asylum in Paris during a visit to Europe in 1987, Xingjian was made Chevalier de l'Ordere des Arts et des Lettres de la France.

Number of pages in Xingjian’s novel Soul Mountain; a fictional autobiography exploring Xingjian’s boyhood and relationships with women. The protagonists in the novel are named with the pronouns "I," "you," "he," and "she", and explore the interconnectedness of each others’ identity.

For a New York Times interview with Xingjian, click here.
For an interview with one of Xingjian’s translators of Soul Mountain, Mabel Lee, click here.
For the Asia Society’s interview with Gao Xingjian, as interpreted from Chinese by Daniel Fertig, click here.

About MotaWord

MotaWord is the world’s fastest professional translation platform. Through the use of cloud technologies, smart algorithms that manage projects around the clock, and over 15 thousand professional translators, MotaWord provides high-quality translations in any language 60% cheaper and 20 times faster than traditional translation agencies. If you are a professional translator and would like to work with MotaWord please register using this link.

About This Article
Famous Translators is a MotaWord segment showcasing notable professional translated works and famous linguists from history to the present. We are researching, compiling and sharing stories that matter to every translator on our blog. You, too can be published right here on the MotaWord blog site - just contact kali@motaword.com.

Check out our previous "Famous Translators" articles:

• The Mistranslation of the Mystical Nostradamus

• High-Quality Translation Philosophy with Jorge Luis Borges

• Oh! The Places You'll Go...with Translation: The Professional Translator's Experience with Dr. Seuss
  
  Citations: TranslationReview, NobelPrize, UGC, IrishTimes, TIME, NYTimes, AsiaSociety, TheGuardian