Thursday, 31 January 2008

French/English Translation: The Common History of Two Languages

Along with most of the other languages of Western Europe, both French and English are daughter languages of proto-Indo-European. French is a Romance language, derived from proto-Italic via Latin (like Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Catalan); English is a Teutonic language, derived from proto-Germanic via West Germanic (like Dutch, German, and Yiddish). French/English translation is made more interesting by the complicated history of English and the part French plays in this history, though the two languages are long-since separated on the Indo-European family tree. English is often described as a German language with a Romance vocabulary. Old English was an amalgam of the languages of several tribes of northern Europe – the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons – who displaced the Celts as rulers of the British Isles. With the 1066 Norman Conquest of England, the language of the court became Norman French, relegating English to the language of the common people. As English was only used for daily affairs in this period, it simplified into Middle English, the language of Chaucer. During the 300 years the Normans ruled England, many French words drifted into English. By the time English came back into favor as the primary language of the Isles, it had transformed into Early Modern English, the language in which Shakespeare composed his sonnets and plays. It is estimated that between one fourth and one third of modern English vocabulary comes from French.

In the history of French-English relations, English has not only borrowed from French, but vice versa. With the rise of English as the international lingua franca of business and science, French has borrowed many English neologisms. The watch-dog committee that polices the French language, The French Academy, has tried in vain to limit borrowings; their numbers continue to grow.

Over the millennia, significant vocabulary has been borrowed from Latin into English. The Saxons, Angles and Jutes fought and bartered with the Romans before relocating to the British Isles and were thus already using some Latin words before their languages coalesced into Old English. Christian missionaries to England brought with them Latin religious terms and further borrowings occurred at the time of the English Renaissance. During the Industrial Age and up to the modern day, new knowledge and technology is often labeled with names that are either direct Latin borrowings or neologisms created from Latinate roots. Such that an additional one fourth of English words stem from Latin or its derivatives. This has led to the doubles in English that both enrich and complicate the language: a native Germanic noun paired with a Latinate adjective, e.g., spider and arachnidian, eye and ocular/visual.

The unusual history of the English language and its exchange with modern-day French makes French/English translation simpler as there is a large body of cognates translators do not have to change, such as direct borrowings from French into English (ballet, moustache); direct borrowings from English into French (weekend, marketing); and Latin derivatives common to both languages (allusion, molecule). Those involved in French/English translation do need, however, to take heed of the many false cognates, known as 'false friends.' Some are homographs that, despite identical spelling, have no linguistic relation, such as chair (a place to sit in English, 'flesh' in French) or coin (a form of money in English, 'neighborhood' in French). More problematic are similar words that have evolved easily mistakable meanings, such as attend/attendre ('to wait' in French), eventually/eventuellement ('possibly') or actually/actuellement ('currently').

In short, thanks to the vagaries of history, French/English translation is often more straightforward than translation between other language pairs. Their many cognates and common Indo-European foundation mean that the two languages are more alike than they are different.

Monday, 28 January 2008

The Document Translation Service You Choose is Just as Important as Your Product

People have emotions and cultural laws. Computers follow functions and provide results, but they sadly lack emotions that are necessary for human connections. Therefore, trusting your name, your documents and your message to a machine to translate your words is a tricky idea. Sure, most of it will probably get translated some how and in a variety of languages that you would like, but will it provide the flow and deliver the common lingo necessary? Will it ensure that the document translation doesn’t offend a culture? document localization is just as important as the translation. Document localization means that someone, from the native country the language being translated into recognizes the laws, the cultural references and respects religious and country references. A computer program is going to have a hard time translating that.

For example, having a document translated into Hebrew, requires Hebrew translation and localization. It also requires a specialist who is trained in the area of expertise that the document is written for. You wouldn’t want a tractor repair specialist, fluent in Hebrew, to translate your software manual or a document about leadership studies or computer software.

The right translation company hires a variety of translators that are living all over the world specializing in all different professions, teaching, software, architecture etc. They hire people with university degrees with a minimum of a bachelor degree and most having doctoral level degrees in language translation, linguistics or other technology related field. Most great translation companies hire certified translators with 7 years average in the document translation services industry.

Can you imagine spending the money and the time on a piece of translating software, only to find that it didn’t provide what you wanted it to do, or it did a half-ass job on your precious software manual or technical document? The piece of mind that comes with hiring a quality translation company that can translate your product in several languages, perfect document localization and have all of the document translation deliver to international markets at the same time. Can you imagine increasing your market share and profit and contribution and exceeding your product’s international reputation? It can be done, and a professional translation company can make it possible.

Thursday, 24 January 2008

Trusting in Translation

If you are in the market to invest in a translation company to professionally translate your documents into other languages, you need to make sure the company you are going to trust, has your best interests in mind. Just like you wouldn’t hire your relative who is studying Japanese or Hebrew to translate your business documents, why would you trust just anyone to document translation of an entire software manual or literature of your company’s mission statement? A professional translation company hires Japanese translators, Hebrew translators, French and almost any other language translators you can think of in their native countries to ensure that when your language is translated into theirs, you are getting more than just a document translation. Their translation is more than their language. It is the county’s culture, rules, politics and etiquette. • Only translators who have experience working in the same field as what you are trying to translate will be working for you. • Strict details are taken into consideration. For example, the space a document will take up when the language is translated into Japanese from English by a Japanese translator will expand up to 55%, depending on the context of the document. • Religious references, gender and age all have important titles and etiquette in all languages and each language is a bit different- these details are taken into effect. • Accent emphasis, word order and how a language is written left to right or horizontal or vertical are all crucial details that are important in every language. Why Not Rely on Translation Software? Translation software can give you the starting point with document translation. Next will be to put the document into a real person’s hands and have them make sure it flows well, contains all the right vocabulary and is a flawless professional translation. When you invest in a company that has their translators living in the country of the language they are translating into, you can breath easy knowing that you invested in trust of translation with a company that has experienced professional translations and not just translation software- that like “Spell Check” is a great tool- but their they’re and there can all mean something else, no matter how you say it. A translation company also hires translators who specialize in the business you are translating in. A translator who is also a software specialist is going to be hired to translate your information, not a dental hygienist, or an automotive specialist who is also a translator.

Wednesday, 23 January 2008

Amazingly Quick Translation Service

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Obtenir vos documents de nouveau à toi, traduit, dessus le même jour. À Transl8, nous offrons la traduction la plus rapide de vos documents de l'anglais à : traduction espagnole, traduction française, traduction allemande, traduction japonaise, traduction chinoise, traduction italienne, traduction en ligne, traduction hébreue, traduction arabe, compagnies de traduction, traduction portugaise, traduction polonaise, traduction coréenne, traduction hollandaise, traduction turque, traduction en anglais chinoise, traduction de langue étrangère.

Thursday, 17 January 2008

Krav Maga Explained

Krav Maga is the official self defense and hand to hand combat system of Israel and is the most battle tested self defence and hand to hand combat system in the world today. The English translation of the Hebrew name means contact fight. The system was created and developed by Grand master Imi Sde-Or 1910-1998. Imi originally developed the system for the Israel Defence forces (I.D.F) and other national security services. The principle of the system focus's on the natural reactions of the body when threatened or attacked by an armed or unarmed assailant or assailants. The beginner student will be surprised how quickly they learn to react fast and without hesitation to many different types of threat and attack. The chief instructor of the International Krav Maga Federation is Eyal Yanilov (born 1959). Eyal is highest ranked instructor in the system today. He is the only man in the world to hold the grade of Master level 3/Expert level 8. The system is used by the FBI, S.W.A.T teams and many other elite military and police units throughout the world.

Today Krav Maga has been developed to meet civilian needs throughout the world and has since gained interest with civilians and celebrities and the system is widely used by military and law enforcement personnel. Krav Maga is an ideal self defense system for men and women, and children of all ages and physical abilities - anyone can take part without any previous martial arts background. On browsing the internet you will discover that Krav Maga training is available to all at venues such as sports centres, martial arts schools and dedicated Krav Maga training centres.

A typical Krav Maga training session combines aerobic training with self defense techniques. Emphasis is put on speed, endurance, strength, accuracy and co-ordination especially for intensive Krav Maga training. According to medical and fitness experts, Krav Maga training provides a superb full-body workout. If you are already a martial artist, you will find Krav Maga to be an excellent addition to your training! Krav Maga training focuses on teaching simple Krav Maga techniques which are specifically catered to reality based attack situations and specifically designed to get quick results in a short training period. With self defense as a goal, the Krav Maga programs teach students to expect the unexpected. In today's world you never know when you might have to defend yourself or somebody else from an unprovoked attack. The system will teach you how to defend yourself against various situations such as chokes, strangles, kicks, knife and weapon threats to name a few. Krav Maga training also carries the additional benefit of greatly improving your physical fitness while increasing your confidence that comes from not being afraid in threatening situations. Krav Maga training will also teach the student to be more aware of their surroundings at all times in order to avoid attack while gaining a greater understanding of reading body language and understanding the body's vulnerable areas and pressure points.

Increasingly popular with women, Krav Maga is tailored for the average person, combining psychological preparation, strong will, and physical skill. The combination of interesting training and potentially useful Krav Maga techniques for present-day situations has made Krav Maga the success that it is today.

Wednesday, 16 January 2008

The Chinese Translation Industry

The 21st century is witness to a phase in business that is seeing the breaking down of the language barriers to worldwide communication. We know that high quality communication is important for the perfect coordination necessary for managing global staff. One of the common problems that people face is the language barrier. This places translation services high on the list of commercial ‘essentials’, and as the Chinese economy grows almost exponentially, so too does the ‘Chinese Translation Industry’.

Amongst all the translation requirements in businesses, the requirement for Chinese translation service is growing at the fastest rate. The need for Chinese translation is underlined by the fact that China possesses an enormous human resource that is relatively unfamiliar with the English language- unlike other nations with global markets who communicate predominantly in English. Bearing this in mind, Chinese translation services provide a tremendous business opportunity to those willing to take up the challenge.

With their economic development, the Chinese have become adept at identifying and building on investment opportunities. As a result, Chinese companies who have understood the importance of Chinese translation in running a more effective overseas business are the ones actively promoting and benefiting from it. With such a demand today you can find many organizations which not only promote but also generate Chinese translations. The translation industry provides high quality professional translators who are adept and, most importantly, precise in this field.

The industry offers great opportunities for native Chinese speaker to make a living from their mother tongue. Translators are selected based on their experience and their level of knowledge of all Chinese dialects (with Mandarin being the most widely spoken). Most Chinese translation work is interpreting English to Chinese, rather than vice-versa, although the most taxing work can be translating from Chinese to English. These can include those dealing with diplomatic issues, technology and broadcasting, finance, medical, legal, media and publishing.

Generally, these mentioned documents are translated either into Cantonese Chinese or Mandarin Chinese. The written form of Cantonese Chinese came into existence probably in the 19th century. This form of Chinese language is typically used in magazines, advertisement, newspapers, comics, and personal communication.

In conclusion it is safe to say that professional Chinese translation is must for any type of operation dealing with Chinese businesses, whether they are off-shored in English speaking locations, or located in China itself. Added to this the experience of translators with specific field expertise will provide high quality translations for the most exacting negotiations. To support this growing demand there are increasing options for machine translation, using the latest translating software. With these new technologies the Chinese translating industry is making its presence felt world-wide, and enabling the further growth of businesses dealing with China.

Tuesday, 15 January 2008

Friday, 11 January 2008

Thursday, 10 January 2008