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Benefits of Language Localisation

28/1/2015

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A simple translation is not enough to engage an audience. This is especially true when you meet with foreign clients. Some of the thoughts are lost in translation. This is the reason why even if there are several online translating tools available, a translation agency is still a booming business opportunity.

Language localisation is the process of adapting an existing product into another language. It is different from just simple translation because it requires a study of the culture of the target market in order to transform the product or content into the needs of the foreign target market.

It is often done in countries where people speak the same language but have different dialects. For instance, an idiom might not have the same meaning in American English and British English.

Accent is irrelevant on paper, but this can be a problem when using an app to translate conversations when meeting with a client in person. Some countries also have different dialects that can confuse the tool as well. This is why there is still a need for a personal translator to interpret the conversation.

Online translation tools only give the user a rough idea behind the meaning of a phrase or sentence. It can’t interpret what the original phrase or sentence wants to convey. On the other hand, a human translator will be able to take the sentence, consider its context, and give an accurate translation.

Multinational companies that want to attract more global customers are likely to have their content translated into the language of the target market. Companies that want to be taken seriously will employ the services of a translation agency to localise their website content.

Localisation is a more complex process compared to direct translation. A localised content conveys the main message of the original text, but it is written in a manner that will appeal more to the reader. It will make a multilingual site more likeable to local visitors.

With localisation, a company can avoid saying things that might be controversial in other languages. This is important in marketing. One mistake can make or break the success of a marketing campaign.

Translation agencies often provide localisation services as well. It would be good if the same company can provide a personal interpreter and do the localisation of the website. There are some global businesses that hire a local copywriter in order to take the content and write it in another language from scratch. This process is a bit more expensive than just plain translation.

Google Translate might be a good online tool to get to know what other people want to say, but it will be bad for companies to rely on it to do businesses in other countries. You need a localisation service in order to have quality content in your multilingual website.
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Italian: More than just words

26/1/2015

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Italian is a language often wrongly mistaken to be a language that is not used outside of Italy, however throughout Europe itself there are said to be over 59 million speakers, being the main language in Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, Switzerland, and a second language in Malta, Slovenia and Croatia. Deriving from Latin, Italian is a popular language to learn between those with a passion for romance languages, such as Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian, and it is studied my many people across the world.

But what is it that gives this language, spoken by so many, its own identity? As a student of Italian, and after spending time with natives from Italy, I began to notice that Italian is far from being just a language of words. By simply walking through the streets of Italy and observing, it becomes evident that there is a clear difference between Italian and other languages. Italian natives are infamous for their expression through body language, and something very noticeable is their use of hand gestures that accompany the spoken language. After a recent conversation with a friend of mine from Potenza, Italy, I realized that there is a whole other side to this wonderful language. He described to me the numerous hand gestures and there meanings and after speaking with him I became increasingly intrigued by how much significance these gestures seemed to have, and how much they characterized the Italian language. After further research I found many examples of words that were accompanied by a hand movement, and a number of feelings that may be expressed just by a simple action. For example, a mother may scream ‘basta!’ at her quarreling children whilst waving their hands in front of them, indicating them to stop. Here are a few more of my favourite examples:

• One may swear on something by simply holding their two index fingers to their mouth in the shape of a cross.

• One may express indifference to something, showing that they ‘don’t care’, by swiping the hand forward from underneath the chin.

• To indicate that somebody is ‘crazy’, one may point at their own head.

Others include those signifying cleverness, desperation, and of course to describe something as simply bellissima! After some revision of these gestures, my Italian friend was extremely amused by my attempts to mimic and copy them, and after a while I realized that as a typical British girl studying Italian, it didn’t seem right to try and adopt this type of behavior that came so naturally to him, yet so unnatural and awkward to me. In conclusion, we decided that it is not essential as a foreign learner of Italian to be able to express themselves through these well known gestures, but what is essential is to understand the meaning of them. A recognition and understanding of these can make it much easier to grasp the feeling of any conversation that may be taking place around you!
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