Languages are living organisms. They are complex and multi-layered. And no one knows that better than Localization, LLC—after all, they are a translation agency that has been at it for a while now. Localization, LLC is a Cleveland based translation firm that provides such services as translation, interpretation, voice over and dubbing.
The list of the languages that the company works with is impressive. "The most requested languages that we get are Spanish, French, German, Russian, Cantonese, Japanese, Italian, Arabic and Hebrew," notes Ray Michaels, Marketing Director at Localization, LLC, "but all in all, we work with over 50 language combinations including very rare African and Asian languages."
The company contributes a lot of its success to outstanding customer service. The management realizes that a lot of its first time clients have never dealt with translation before. When a translation project lands on the desk of a project coordinator, he/she uses all of the knowledge and capabilities to ensure that the translation has the right dialect, register and tone.
Take Spanish for example. There are European, Mexican and South American dialects that Spanish carries and if a project coordinator fails to determine the right one the translation may end up sounding awkward to the reader or even offensive. Right, offensive; many languages, Spanish is one of them, have formal and informal way of addressing an individual, and if the translator is using a wrong dialect he/she may miss formal form where necessary which could be very offensive to the reader.
Another reason why it's important to know the dialect the text is going to be translated is to show that the seller is making an effort to show that he/she respects the regions' inhabitants, their culture and language.
And lastly, a matter of simple understanding," adds Mr. Michaels. "Take a word "email; it is different in Canadian and European French."
"I can't stress out enough the importance of dialects," continues Ray. "Take English as an example. There is US English, UK English, Australian and Canadian. Believe it or not, we've had a number of projects where after talking to the client, linguists and researches, we had determined that changing a document from US to UK English was the right course of action. It may make you smile, I know, but believe it or not, the right dialect and tone of the translated text is that important."
Choosing the right translation company is very important for your project. Mr. Michaels suggests that the potential client should always ask a translation company the following questions:
- Does the translation company use machine translation (If yes, do not use them. Ever)
- Does the translation company use Computer Assisted Translation Tools (CAT Tools) (If yes, absolutely use them, absolutely do not use them if their reply is: "What is CAT Tools?" It's as bad as if a surgeon asked you what a scalpel is)
- Does the company use native speakers of the target language (target: the language the document is being translated into: source language: original language of the document)
- Always ask for a written quote
- Make sure the deadline is agreed upon in writing
"These questions should give those searching for a translation provider a pretty good idea about that particular provider and their capabilities.
"Translation is actually a very exiting process for the company," concludes Ray. "That means the company is expanding, going into new markets and is trying to reach new clientele and in today's economy, that's exciting to see."
To learn more about translation and other language services please visit Localization, LLC at http://www.localizationllc.com/ or by calling 216.785.5252
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