Recently, we came across an article where two friends were discussing Alfonso Cuarón’s movie, Roma. They were debating the narrative’s pace and style. Friend 1, being an Anglo-American, thought it was too slow, and too visual. Friend 2, felt that it was a beautiful movie that reminded him of his upbringing in Latin America. It
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These days, the vast majority of translation service providers use computer-aided translation (CAT) tools to carry out their day-to-day work. This doesn’t mean to say that it’s a machine doing the actual translation. Put simply, these tools enable us to run through files that professional linguists can work on. Once in the system, the translator can
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“If you speak to a man in a language he understands, it goes to his head. But if you speak to a man in his own language it goes to his heart.” – Nelson Mandela Building an international brand requires insight into how to build trust in new business environments where language and culture
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We all know that words can take on completely different meanings when directly translated into another language. Not only does the meaning of the individual words change, but so can their context when grouped together. For example, we would say, ‘I made a mistake’, but wouldn’t say ‘I did a mistake’. Beyond the word
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It’s not often that I get goose bumps during a presentation at a language industry event. But as I sat and listened to Mandy Hewett’s talk entitled ‘Collaborative translation for the future of New Zealand’ about a group of volunteer translators who set out to translate one of New Zealand’s most important documents into 30
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Translation is a highly subjective matter. Give the same text to three translators with no guidelines whatsoever, and there’s a good chance that you’ll end up with three very different outputs. Give all these translations to three clients, and again, the probability that they each prefer a different one is fairly high. The truth is
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For over a decade now, there has been an exponential increase in the public interest in how language and communication shape (or break down) prejudices and other forms of discrimination. After being taught for centuries that language is a neutral, abstract concept (“It’s just words, they don’t do any harm!”), we are now starting to
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What is transcreation, how does it work and when should you opt for transcreation rather than translation to localise your content? Here’s a quick guide for you. What is transcreation? Transcreation (also called creative translation) is a process whereby we take your creative copy and turn it into something equally as emotive and engaging in
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Starting out as a freelance translator can be tough. If you are just about to take your first steps into the world of professional translation, don’t let a lack of experience dampen your confidence. After all, we all had to start somewhere. As an experienced linguist with many years of translation and editing, as well
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Towards a new corporate consciousness Nowadays, more and more companies are becoming mindful of the limits to financial models based on the unrelenting, unnecessary production of goods and services. The recent global pandemic and the urgent warnings about the devastating consequences our economy is having on our planet have certainly highlighted our individual and collective
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