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Porgy and Bess needs transcreation!

Oct 8, 2019

Porgy and Bess needs transcreation!

This article highlights a conundrum that presents itself with medical marketing translations frequently. We are reminded of ad campaigns that contain visuals or wording that simply do not translate. And then we rely on something called TRANSCREATION. Transcreation, however, requires that the translation team is completely on board and briefed on the strategy, the intent and goals of not only the language word play, but the import and impact of the visual being employed. In Po

Should a translator be a native speaker of your target language?

aiaTranslations

Sep 15, 2019

Should a translator be a native speaker of your target language?

Something in a recent article about choosing a translator for your marketing material made me stop in my tracks: Translations of product descriptions, publications for social media and promotional campaigns…have to sell, charm and win over your target market. This can only be achieved by a native translator. What struck me was a single word: “only”. On our blog, we continually write about how vital it is for translators to truly understand their target language, not to mentio

5 Reasons Why AI Will Never be Fluent in Semantics

aiaTranslations

Aug 30, 2019

5 Reasons Why AI Will Never be Fluent in Semantics

In an article on information-age.com, author Michael Baxter states that Artificial Intelligence is close to reaching an understanding of Semantics. He also says that the term AI is a misnomer; that while it may be artificial it is still far from intelligent. Most experts in the field agree. But will AI ever really be able to grasp the semantics of language? Will it evolve past keywords to translate entire sentences, paragraphs or books? Baxter’s article states that AI will r

Is linguistic validation the perfect way to translate for the pharma and healthcare industry – and w

aiaTranslations

Aug 15, 2019

Is linguistic validation the perfect way to translate for the pharma and healthcare industry – and w

Translation involves a significant amount of knowledge of the languages and cultures involved, but we usually think of it as a relatively straightforward process. Lately, however, an increasing number of health and pharma companies are opting for a process that’s much more complex. Linguistic validation, as the process is known, was recently highlighted at the international translator conference SlatorCon 2019 in London. One of the most striking things about linguistic valida

How English Teaches Us About East Asian Cultures

aiaTranslations

Jul 31, 2019

How English Teaches Us About East Asian Cultures

Leave it to the world’s lingua franca, English. Spoken widely throughout the world, English can often be found sneaking its words into other languages and staying there either unchanged or transformed through translation. As expected, all languages change and expand over time. And those English words get around. They specifically have integrated into East Asian countries in the most interesting (and different) ways and, in doing so, have taught us a lot about the national i

Shaking the Myths Surrounding Translators

aiaTranslations

Jul 15, 2019

Shaking the Myths Surrounding Translators

Tell someone you are a translator and you sometimes get curious questions or blanket statements about your profession. These statements are usually just one of those seemingly unshakable myths that follow translators around like a shroud of mystery. We are going to unveil nine of the most common myths and shake them once and for all! Here we go… Myth #1: Translators = Interpreters. Translators deal with the written word and interpreters deal with the spoken word. While thes

The Language of Emotions Doesn’t Always Translate Across Cultures

aiaTranslations

Jun 28, 2019

The Language of Emotions Doesn’t Always Translate Across Cultures

Every culture has an ability to read another person’s emotions. We can tell if someone is genuinely interested in what we are saying by a certain look or the sound of their voice. We can gauge someone’s motivation by watching their reactions. Getting good at this helps us make better decisions, steer business meetings, plan marketing strategies and more. But what happens when you cross over into another culture’s territory? Since emotions and how they are expressed and the me

Is Chinese really set to become the dominant language of the internet?

aiaTranslations

Jun 15, 2019

Is Chinese really set to become the dominant language of the internet?

Read enough news about language and marketing and you’re bound to come across this claim fairly often: In a few years, the dominant language of the internet won’t be English, but Chinese. It’s easy to understand why. China has the largest population in the world – approximately 1.37 billion people. It’s also an economic superpower that may surpass the United States as the world’s strongest economy in a few years. Still, something about the claim has always struck me as a bit

14 Signs You are (finally) Fluent in Another Language

aiaTranslations

May 30, 2019

14 Signs You are (finally) Fluent in Another Language

You have been fastidiously dedicated to learning another language. This may be your second one or even your fourth. The endless hours spent memorizing, practicing, and conversing whenever (and with whomever) you can is starting to feel like real progress. The goal of fluency is within reach. You can almost taste it! But how will you know? How can you be unequivocally sure that you are fluent in your new language? Is there a finish line of sorts? A parade? A certificate? The a

Marketing to a new culture is a big step – full of important tiny details. Here’s how to do it right

aiaTranslations

May 15, 2019

Marketing to a new culture is a big step – full of important tiny details. Here’s how to do it right

Ever wonder why an internationally successful company like McDonald’s doesn’t directly translate its slogans for each market? Advertising in different cultures goes beyond surface meanings. It’s fine, say, to translate your slogan into a rough equivalent…but does that rough equivalent really resonate with this particular set of potential clients, or would it be better to do something completely different? In other words, if what you say is right, what about how you say it? Le

Language Service Providers: A Pharmaceutical Company’s Best Friend

aiaTranslations

Apr 30, 2019

Language Service Providers: A Pharmaceutical Company’s Best Friend

Pharmaceutical companies are in the business of delivering effective drugs to market. This is a monumental feat requiring complex, time consuming and expensive processes which includes conducting cross-cultural clinical trials, obtaining international regulatory approval and dealing with vastly different cultures. (No wonder it costs so much!) And while these mighty giants are good at what they do, they occasionally need a best friend to rely on to help them make it to the f

Why medical texts should be simplified – and how to do it

aiaTranslations

Apr 15, 2019

Why medical texts should be simplified – and how to do it

In translation, the golden rule seems to be reproducing a source text as faithfully as possible. But what happens if that could mean putting lives at risk? Medical translators often do more than translate; they simplify translated texts to make them easier to comprehend. For some people, this may sound invasive or problematic. But when you look into who’s reading and what’s at stake, it becomes clear that simplification is necessary. After all, medical texts can be anything

Content Ruining Translation Errors

aiaTranslations

Mar 29, 2019

Content Ruining Translation Errors

At some point in every business’ life, it is natural to want to expand to reach a broader audience with your message. However, remember how you painstakingly created just the right content for your business and marketing—the long hours, meetings and brainstorming spent trying to find the right words, image, and brand? Well, you wouldn’t want that same content that you molded and tweaked to perfection being ruined during the translation process. Incorrect or mistake-laden tra

Soft Skills are Vital to Business Success

aiaTranslations

Mar 15, 2019

Soft Skills are Vital to Business Success

Dictionary.com defines soft skills as “personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.” Different from technical skills, soft skills are the things that round out your personality and truly show your potential to get a job done well. Without them, we would be a bit robotic, untrustworthy and possibly not have enough perseverance to complete projects, win clients, collect unpaid invoices, you name it! It is really like a well

How to Surmount Cross-Cultural Trust Barriers in Business

aiaTranslations

Feb 28, 2019

How to Surmount Cross-Cultural Trust Barriers in Business

Our culture is embedded in everything we do. Defined as shared values, beliefs and norms of a specific group of people, culture influences how we learn, connect with one another, form relationships, react, celebrate and even do business. Scientists believe our culture shapes our personalities as well, which is why even though our fellow countrymen may look and act differently, we all share similar personality traits that make us all Americans, Europeans, Asians, etc. And the

Anchors away! Using Translation to Chart Your Global Marketing Course

aiaTranslations

Feb 15, 2019

Anchors away! Using Translation to Chart Your Global Marketing Course

They say only 1 in 7 people speak English as their primary language. That leaves about 6 billion people who do not. That is a lot of people who can’t understand your English-only content and therefore, are unable to buy your product or service. What untapped potential this is! Savvy marketers need to look over the horizon towards new lands and explore the opportunities beyond. So, hoist the sails! And grabs this, your new nautical marketing map, to help you chart your course

How Cycling Could Make Bilinguals Monolingual

aiaTranslations

Jan 31, 2019

How Cycling Could Make Bilinguals Monolingual

What would you do if you woke up thinking and speaking one language, but by the afternoon, after a bike ride, you could only speak an entirely different language, with no knowledge of the one you spoke earlier in the day? How would you feel? What would you do? Well, that is exactly what happened to Hannah Jenkins after a bicycling accident where she collided with another cyclist. After being airlifted to a hospital in critical condition, Hannah woke up in a UK hospital unab

Medical and pharma translation fails are no laughing matter. Here’s one reason why they happen.

aiaTranslations

Jan 15, 2019

Medical and pharma translation fails are no laughing matter. Here’s one reason why they happen.

Translation fails are usually good for a laugh, unless you’re directly affected by them. But medical and pharma translation fails are the exception. Not only can they make companies and service providers lose clients, money, even entire markets; more seriously, they can put patients’ health and even lives at risk. Here are a few notable pharmaceutical and medical translation fails: Recently, Chinese pharmaceutical company Guangdong Zhanjiang Jimin Pharmaceutical Co. was about

Need a do-over? Here is how to celebrate the new year 8 times in 2019!

aiaTranslations

Dec 28, 2018

Need a do-over? Here is how to celebrate the new year 8 times in 2019!

It’s the end of December and the beginning of a shiny, brand new year, a time when most of us look back and reflect on all that was good, bad, and somewhere in between over the past year. It is a time to ponder on what we want for the new year. Time to make those resolutions and goals. But, in case you aren’t quite ready for 2019 or if you run into the new year with arms held open wide and happen to run smack-dab into the proverbial brick wall, never fear! You get a second

How we could improve in-country review…and why we haven’t

aiaTranslations

Dec 15, 2018

How we could improve in-country review…and why we haven’t

A client creates marketing copy in English. They send it to a translator, who creates an error-free, seemingly perfect translation. It gets sent to the marketing team in the target country. The team rewrites the document – unfortunately not for the better. The result no longer reflects the meaning of the source document and includes grammar and spelling errors. What went wrong? Any client, including individuals and small groups or businesses, may change a translation from ti

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