Showing posts with label document translation services. Show all posts

Thursday, 20 March 2014
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Instruction manuals, native speakers & professional standing

As professional linguists who have worked hard to achieve our qualifications, gather experience and attain professional credibility in our field through forging strong client relationships and professional accreditation, our biggest issue remains with potential clients who have no understanding of the translation task and often feel that some knowledge of a language or languages is all it takes.

A frequently overlooked aspect is that industry specific or topic specific knowledge or the ability to understand it is essential in order to convey the true meaning into another language. Understanding of the source language term is essential but is only consolidated in the translation context when the translator has a complete understanding of the appropriate target language term.

Over the years, instruction manuals have caused many linguists and non-linguists alike to cringe or even laugh out loud and highlight not only the sentiments of the preceding paragraph but the importance of a truly native speaker qualified to perform the required task.

The following extract from an instruction manual equally exemplifies the need for careful proofreading and editing.

"[...] Insert the three feet plug of battery to output port of battery charger, and the green indicator will dark, gradually increased along with the battery capacity, the green  indicator will gradually bright, when the green indicator is completely bright, the battery capacity will achieves 100%, it shows that the recharging finishes[...]"

Sometimes the cheaper option is perfectly acceptable, when buying certain food items, small casual clothing items, etc., however, accepting the lowest bid to a translation project is not a guarantee that your firm or company will appear in the best light to potential new clients or business partners.

Translations2u/Language Matters Worldwide Ltd specialises in legal translation services as well as editing and translation for many other fields including scientific business and technical translations.  See our reviews and our website for more about our translation services.

Tuesday, 21 January 2014
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Burn's Night - a Scottish tradition

Burns’ Night is a special Scottish celebration which commemorates the life and works of a famous poet from Scotland named Robert (Rabbie) Burns who contributed greatly to the country’s culture and history.  The date of the festivities is always either on or close to January 25th, the day of Burns’ birthday.  Burns’ Night has many different components including a dinner known as “Burns’ Supper,” toasts, the reading of famous Burns poetry, the playing of bagpipes and more.  It is also typical for attendees to wear traditional Scottish clothing such as kilts and dresses made from the wearer’s family tartan.

The typical order of events, though the celebration may be formal or informal, is fairly consistent.  There is normally music playing to welcome the guests and in a more traditional Burns’ Night celebration the musical entertainment would be live bagpipers.  Next, the event’s host formally welcomes their guests and reads a prayer prior to serving them a meal.  The prayer is called “The Selkirk Grace” but it is also often referred to as “Burns’ Grace at Kirkcudbright.”  Then, comes the meal’s most revered ingredient known as the haggis is brought into the room in a procession that includes bagpipers, the celebration’s host and the chef. 

While this grand entrance parade takes place, guests clap enthusiastically in anticipation of the delicious food. Whisky will be served to accompany the meal and there is an address and a toast to the haggis prior to dinnertime that includes the Burn’s poem “Address to a Haggis”.  Finally, it’s time for the dinner itself and, after eating, there is an array of entertainment to culminate the evening that incorporates music, poetry reciting and speeches.

The dinner itself consists typically of traditional Cock-a-leekie soup, Haggis, Tatties (potatoes), Neeps (turnips), Clootie Dumplings and pudding.  The alcoholic beverages are also quite important.  Scottish whisky is always served and is often accompanied by a quality selection of wines and ales.

Burns’ Night is a lively and traditional Scottish celebration that really shows how vibrant the country’s culture is.  

It is an event that brings people together to commemorate a famous Scottish person who made a difference to Scottish people and their culture.  The night is filled with great entertainment, food, traditions and company.  While the evening is extremely important in Scotland in particular, it is also celebrated in other countries where Scottish heritage is commonly found around the world including Canada, Australia and the United States.

Translations2u is a uk based translation company offering legal translation and other document translation services.
Monday, 6 January 2014
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What is a "first footer"?

This term, "first footer", given to a person who practises the act of "first footing", most likely makes little sense to non-native speakers of the English language. In fact, not every English speaker knows what this refers to or has even heard of the practice!

This is because "first footing" is a term that arose in Scotland in the UK in connection with New Year practices. In Scotland, the celebration of the new year is a pretty big thing with "Ne'erday" being used to refer to both New Year's Day and to the tipple of alcohol traditionally consumed at the time. It may be of interest to note that New Year's Eve is known as Hogmanay in Scotland when there are numerous celebrations of the event.

So, back to "first footing". This is the practice of the Scottish tradition of calling on friends or family following the new year to wish them well. The "first footer", however, must traditionally be a dark-haired male since a member of the opposite sex or a blonde man would be considered bad luck.  The overriding sentiment of goodwill behind the visit is apparent in the bringing of certain items representing warmth (a piece of coal), food (traditionally a form of fruit cake), wealth (in the form of salt) and cheer (in the form of a half bottle of whisky).  Shortbread is now commonly taken as the food item and just about any alcoholic beverage would suffice nowadays. Modern times in Scotland have more or less dispensed with the need for coal or salt to be offered.

If you would like to know anything else about Scottish or other British expressions or life there, why not come along to our Facebook page where we will be pleased to try and answer your questions.

Translations2u is a UK based provider of language services offering editing and proofreading of English texts and other languages as well as specialising in the translation of multiple languages.