The Five Ws in journalism are a series of questions that are used to gather the facts needed for a news story to be "complete".  The Fives Ws - who, what, when, where, and why - are building blocks for reporters because they supply the basic information that all stories should contain.  These questions also apply to translations because they give us the information we need to help you succeed in any language.

Who? Who is the translation for?  Is it for educated professionals, teens, or for mothers? This helps us know if the language should be conversational or complex.

What? What do you need translated?  Is it a website, marketing materials, or medical forms?  Do you need the translation placed in a layout?  Many languages are wordier than English and we'll make sure you know that before we get started.

When? When do you need the translation returned to you?  The longer the text, the longer it will take to translate and proofread.  If we can't meet your due date we will refer you to someone else.

Where? Where will the translation be read?  Languages vary from one country to another so it's important that you specify that you need French for Montreal and not Paris.

Why? Why does your organization need the translation?  Is it to sell more of your product, to educate patients, or to communicate with your employees?

You can make sure that your audience understands your message by applying these proven reporting techniques.

Esteban Bellan

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York has opened a permanent exhibit that recognizes the impact of Latin American players on baseball.  The exhibit focuses on the traditions of five countries: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela.

¡Viva Baseball! features almost 150 artifacts including a ball used in an 1871 game played by Esteban Bellan (Cuba), the first Latin American to play in the major leagues, one of Puerto Rican Hall of Fame member Roberto Clemente's jerseys, and equipment from current players David Ortiz (Dominican Republic), Johan Santana (Venezuela), and Albert Pujols (Dominican Republic).

According to the Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson, "Over the last 30 years, perhaps nothing has impacted baseball more than the rise of the Latino star and the number of Latino players making important contributions to the game every day."

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Many people study a foreign language for a couple of years in high school and then have no further exposure to it.  I've heard people say that they don't remember anything beyond "hello", "how are you?", and the numbers from 1 to 10. They may be surprised to learn that some of that long forgotten language may be lingering in their memory.

Psychologists at the University of Bristol tested native English-speaking volunteers who had learned Zulu or Hindi when they were young.  They were given a vocabulary test to determine if they remembered any of the forgotten language.  Science Daily reports that:

even though the volunteers showed no memory of the second language in the vocabulary test, they were able to quickly relearn and correctly identify phonemes that were spoken in the neglected language.

These findings...suggest that exposing young children to foreign languages, even if they do not continue to speak them, can have a lasting impact on speech perception.

If you have thought about studying the language you took in high school again, it may be easier than you think if, as this study indicates, traces remain in your brain.

Photo by Jon Candy. Licensed by Creative Commons.

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International online testing of product concepts and brand perception requires multilingual surveys.  Best practices in international market research show that your prep work needs to go beyond translation.

• Brand names can differ from one market to another so make sure your questionnaire is correct for each country.
• Are there any weights and measures in the survey?  Double check that they are correct for the markets where you'll launch the study.
• Use local units of currency.
• Some of your graphics and icons may be unfamiliar to some respondents.  Is there another image that is more commonly used or that would be understood by more people?

Don't forget that you need to translate more than just the online survey.  Any point of contact with the participants needs to be in their languages including:

• Invitation emails
• Introductory text
• Captions on buttons (Back, Next, etc.)
• Any validation or error messages
• Messages thanking respondents for their participation

What would you recommend to someone who's going global?

If it weren't for our Hispanic heritage and history, we might still be eating steak and kidney pie.

Thanks to our friends at Cool People Care for running our article on why this month is important even if you aren't a Latino.  To learn more about Hispanic contributions to U.S. history, visit coolpeoplecare.org

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