One World, Many Languages,
One Company, Worldwide™
What do Arabic, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Afrikaans, Swahili, Wolof and Amharic all have in common? They are all languages spoken in Africa, and this list doesn’t even begin to cover all the myriad of smaller subsets of various language and indigenous languages and dialects that pepper this vast continent – There are thousands! Indeed,…
Your company has a mission statement – and we bet that statement is compelling. At the core of every professional mission statement, however, is a thrumming mantra: We need to be profitable! If you’re not careful, that mantra will overpower the essence of your brand. It will cause you to make seemingly savvy, cost-effective decisions…
To the outside observer, it can appear that interpretation is a simple process of going from language A to language B via an interpreter versed in both languages, and that any interpreter could take on any job. But there is much more to the story than that. In fact, interpretation is not created equal at…
Like any industry, translation and interpretation is filled with terminology and lingo that is unfamiliar to the large majority of our clients – or that may have a slightly different meaning than they are used to. While learning these terms is not required, a cursory understanding will be helpful as you meet with various translation…
The skillset required to be a talented interpreter is much more involved than language fluency alone. It includes characteristics like being well-spoken, a quick thinker, able to remain two steps ahead at all times, multi-tasking, as well as having an intuitive sense of people and their intentions. Without these qualities, an interpreter will have difficulty…
Most of the time, professional interpreters are hired to perform straightforward interpretation from the source language to the target language, and sometimes back to the source language. This takes place via consecutive or simultaneous interpreting. Occasionally, though, things get a little more complicated. You may be attending an event where some members of the audience…
If you hire an interpreter for a one-on-one business negotiation, odds are the only components required are you, the client, an interpreter and everyone’s respective laptops. In the case of simultaneous interpretation, or where a larger, multilingual audience will be present, the right interpretation equipment ensures everyone’s message is heard and understood, without the confusion…
International Translation Day is celebrated every year on September 30 on the feast of St. Jerome, the patron saint of translators. Saint Jerome (347–420) was a Catholic priest, theologian and historian. He is best known for his translation of most of the Bible into Latin (which became known as the Vulgate). International Translation Day was launched in 1991 by the FIT, the International Federation of…
When planning a meeting or event with multilingual participants, it is important to determine the best way to ensure that all participants can understand what you are saying. To this end, there are several different types or styles of professional interpretation. Two of the most widely used are simultaneous and consecutive interpreting. It’s useful to…
You’re planning your firm’s annual migration for a global summit taking place in Brussels. While one of your colleagues spent a summer in Provence in college, and a few others took French in high school, you’re well aware that you need a professional interpreter to make sure everyone is on the same page. Awesome! You’ll…