One of the best things you can do to ensure consistency in your translations is to create an English glossary.  Every industry and most companies have standard terminology  and catch phrases that they use repeatedly.  A glossary will ensure that the term in English will always be translated the same way.

Here's how it works:

• compile key terms used by your company
• if you are having a technical manual or user guide translated, the author of the English version should write the definition of the terms
• ask your translations partner to create equivalents in the target language
• run the translated terms by your in-country staff
• the project manager at your translations company will then revise the glossary and distribute to the translator(s)

The glossary will become the "bible" for your translators, and will save you time and money.

http://www.pandltranslations.com

If you want to learn a foreign language on your own schedule,  we've discovered a site that lists 37 languages that you can learn for free.  From Arabic to Yiddish, you can find everything from survival phrases in Vietnamese to lessons in Mandarin Chinese from the Peace Corps.

No more excuses.

http://www.oculture.com/2006/10/foreign_languag.html

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April 23rd is St. George's Day and is a widely celebrated event in Barcelona, where he is known as Sant Jordi.  On la Diada de Sant Jordi hundreds of flower sellers stock up with roses and temporary bookstalls appear all over the city.  Women receive a rose from their significant others while men are given a book.

The roses are given in honor of Sant Jordi, who gave a rose to a princess he rescued.  The tradition of giving books dates back to the 1920s.  A bookseller in Barcelona decided to mark the anniversary of the April 23, 1616 deaths of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare as a way to sell more books.  The idea took hold and now half a million books are sold on Sant Jordi's day.  Inspired by this celebration, UNESCO declared April 23rd to be the International Day of the Book to promote reading and publishing.

http://www.pandltranslations.com

What are you risking when you use a free online translation tool for your documents or your website?

• Future sales. Consumers can't use the product properly if the instructions are unclear or incorrect.  Who do they blame?  Your product. And, who do they tell? When someone is satisfied with a product, they tell one person.  When they have a complaint, they tell ten people.
• Your bottom line.  What happens if you're sued because the product was not used correctly? A woman in Houston was given a prescription that was to be taken once a day.  Unfortunately, she read "once" as the Spanish number for eleven.
• Your reputation. Your customers will know you were too cheap to spend money on a professional translation.  What message does that send about the quality of your products or services?
• Lost business. When potential customers visit your website, they may find the translation amusing, but what will they think about your product?  Will they trust your company enough to open up their wallets?  Or will they find a company that respects them enough to communicate with them correctly?

http://www.pandltranslations.com

Photo by jovike. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Nashville's First Annual Cherry Blossom Festival begins on Saturday, April 18th, at 2 p.m. in front of the Metro Courthouse.  Both Mayor Karl Dean and Consul-General Hiroshi Sato will attend the Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival).  The event celebrates the strong relationship between Nashville and Japan. The Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival Committee will plant 100 cherry trees each year for the next ten years.

For more information on the event, visit the Japan-America Society of Tennessee's website www.jastn.com/cherryblossomfestival/index.php.

Photo by Tiziano. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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