Following on from our recent post discussing Google’s popularity, concerns have recently been raised about just how Google maintains such a high number of users, and the legitimacy of their methods. At the end of last month, the US Federal Trade Commission notified Google that they would be conducting a “wide-range investigation”. (more…)
You would think that, with all the resources they have at their disposal, the police in Ireland would be able to translate text in the blink of an eye, to ensure no embarrassing mistakes are made. It would seem, however, that such mistakes are not always avoided…
Back in 2007, police in Ireland took note of over 50 people with the name “Prawo Jazdy”. A popular name in Ireland? A common name among Poles who have emigrated to Ireland? Or, alternatively, the Polish translation of “driving licence”?
It is, of course, the latter. “Prawo Jazdy” was originally believe to be the name of one person who had repeatedly committed offences, until it became clear that the same name had been used on numerous occasions in order to refer to a number of different people. As a result, the police system contained over 50 people with the name “Prawo Jazdy”. Finally, upon investigating this seemingly unlikely occurrence, police discovered that this is actually the Polish for “driving licence”.
Whilst this mishap may have occurred a few years ago, it is a story that we can all learn a valuable lesson from – translation is vital!
Japanese is one of the languages most often requested by our clients, and so Web-Translations naturally has many connections with Japan, with translators, designers, typesetters and web developers alike.
Our thoughts go out to our friends and colleagues suffering the terrible effects of the recent earthquake and tsunami, and we hope that they and their families are safe. We hope they are soon able to rebuild their lives and country.
You can make a donation and get involved in the appeals that have been set up by the following charities to help with the disaster in Japan:
In an effort to do what we can to help Haiti one year on from the devastating earthquake that claimed more than 100,000 lives and left 2 million people homeless in January 2010, we’re cutting the cost of our translation service.
We’re offering translation into Haitian Creole and French (the nation’s two official languages) at cost for organisations involved in helping Haiti rebuild its infrastructure and economy. This includes charities, aid organisations, those working on healthcare programmes, education programmes, and so on. We can translate any type of document: medical, legal, public information,
If you are working with an organisation involved in the Haiti recovery effort, please get in touch to discuss your translation needs - we’ll charge any translation undertaken at cost, so the price won’t be marked-up. All we’ll add is a 10% project management fee to cover our administration costs.
Let’s hope that 2011 is a safer and better year for all Haitians.
Founded in 1999, www.wordreference.com is perhaps the internet’s leading online multilingual dictionary. It will be familiar to anyone who uses more than one language, from schoolchildren to professional translators. It offers dictionaries in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese, as well as Arabic, Japanese, German, Polish, Russian, Greek, Chinese and more. But what makes it so great?
With a Texan in the office, the British English vs American English topic is one that comes up relatively frequently.
These discussions not only cover spelling and grammar (offence vs offense, organisation vs organization and so on), but also various terms that are used widely in one version of the language, and not so much in the other.
According to eCommerce experts, October 15th was the deadline for implementing strategies that would help increase your sales this Christmas. However, there are a few tips that Practical eCommerce magazine have suggested that can easily be put into practice to enhance your sales figures in the build up to Christmas…
1. Offer Free Shipping - this will encourage online shoppers to buy more
2. Extend Guarantees - removing or reducing the risk for the customer will have them reaching for their credit card.
3. Add value to Gift Vouchers (e.g. pay £20 for £25 voucher)
4. Accept More Payment Methods - it’s very frustrating for a customer to get all the way to your checkout page to discover their preferred method of payment is not accepted
5. Offer Gift Wrapping (even better if this is free!)
6. Give them suggestions - this can be based on any previous purchases, or the pages they have recently browsed
7. Offer a variety of delivery options - some shoppers are happy to wait a bit longer if it means a cheaper delivery charge
8. Help a Charity - show customers that you will do your bit by donating a % to charity, you could even offer a choice of cause at the checkout
There are also other ways to increase sales this holiday season. A well-structured, focussed Pay-Per-Click advertising campaign can work wonders. Creating adverts for specific products; identifying popular products with social media; and regularly analysing your results can all contribute to high winter sales figures.
Furthermore, translating your site into several languages will attract more and more customers - after all, only 5.4% of the world’s population speak English as a mother tongue. Think of all those people who are missing out on your products and services simply because they can’t understand what it says on your website.
Christmas may only be a couple of weeks away, but there is still time to make a difference to your online sales figures this year.
Web-Translations is pleased to be part of the Goldman Sachs Business Growth programme. This unique business education scheme has been organised by Goldman Sachs to support small businesses throughout Yorkshire and the Humber. It is run by the Business Schools of Leeds and Oxford Universities, who also devised the programme.
Our founder and managing director, Daniel Rajkumar, is one of the 25 entrepreneurs selected from 150 applicants to be invited to attend business management courses and receive mentoring and support from a senior member at Goldman Sachs.
The idea behind the project is to help small businesses in the region achieve their maximum potential, and also to help create job opportunities, in order to alleviate the effects of the current economic crisis. As the main focus of the programme, the entrepreneurs will undertake a four-month business and management course which will have an emphasis on real-life practical experience, allowing the participants to implement the ideas and strategies they learn as they go.
Daniel says of the scheme: “The Business Growth Programme has been excellent so far. The topics covered have given me a better strategic understanding and practical skills to aid the decisions I make in the business. I’m learning to step back from the day-to-day activities of running the business, which allows me to work on my overall business vision and direction. I’ve had the chance to learn from the experience of 24 other successful entrepreneurs, and have met inspirational leaders and been taught by some leading business lecturers. I would recommend it to other business owners.”
We all look forward to seeing Web-Translations expand and flourish thanks to the support of Goldman Sachs.
We at Web-Translations are experts in the language industry.
Regular readers of this blog may remember our proud announcement that we had become members of the Association of Translation Companies back in March of this year.
We’ve also won an impressive collection of prestigious awards, right from the beginning of the company… (more…)
Web-Translations has moved to Leeds!
You can now find us at:
20 Queen Square
Leeds
LS2 8AF
T: 0113 815 0460
All email and web addresses remain the same.
We look forward to meeting, networking, socialising and working with lots more local people now that we’re here, so give us a call or drop us an email to get in touch!
