Translation Archives

Chinese Translation Services A Beginner's Guide

Published On - November 10, 2017

Richard Brooks Chinese, Language Blog, TranslationTags: China, Chinese Translation

Chinese Translation Services: A Beginner’s Guide

Is your business looking for Chinese translation services? The potential benefits are tremendous: Mandarin Chinese has approximately 955 million native speakers, making it the most commonly spoken language in the world. China is the world’s fastest-growing consumer market, and the second-large...

Published On - September 25, 2017

Richard Brooks Inside Track, Machine Translation, TranslationTags: Machine Translation

The Dangers of Online Machine Translation

Data privacy and data security have become two increasingly hot topics in recent years. As technology grows rapidly in its scope and capabilities, it seems that everyone from Google to the government is keen to glean all they can from our personal data. Hackers, too, are eager to get their hands on ...

Published On - August 8, 2017

Surinder Singh Business, Inside Track, Technical Translation, Translation

Translation Test Pieces

Translation test pieces may seem to be a simple concept on the surface, but they can be a surprisingly complex subject. There are both pros and cons to translation test pieces, which can make it difficult for companies looking to use them as a means of assessing the quality of a Language Service Pro...

New Chinese Translation Guidelines Is This the End of Engrish

Published On - June 30, 2017

Richard Brooks Chinese, Language Blog, TranslationTags: China, Chinese Translation

New Chinese Translation Guidelines: Is This the End of Engrish?

Over the years, China has become famous around the world for culture, food, industry . . . and funny translation mistakes. “Engrish” may have been born in Japan, but China has been exporting memes of hilariously bad translations for years now. Except that the Chinese government is o...

Published On - June 15, 2017

Richard Brooks Inside Track, Marketing, TranslationTags: Marketing Translation

Translating sport into global success

Translation and interpreting have long played a role in the global sporting industry. The international nature of a great many sporting competitions brings together athletes, trainers, coaches, judges, sponsors, fans and more from all corners of the globe. All of those participating need to understa...

Why Translation is Important In A World Where English is Everywhere

Published On - July 27, 2016

Richard Brooks Language Blog, TranslationTags: Translation

Why Translation is Important In A World Where English is Everywhere

In a world where English is everywhere, is translation still important? Is it even necessary? English is the third most widely-spoken language in terms of native speakers, of which it has at least 330 million. But if you count the people who speak it as a second language, it’s the most popular...

Translation Price is what you pay, Value is what you get

Published On - February 24, 2015

Richard Brooks Inside Track, TranslationTags: Business, Machine Translation, translation fails

Translation: Price is what you pay, Value is what you get

Picture the scene, it’s the weekend, the sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky, a perfect day for a leisurely drive. About an hour into your jaunt around the local country roads, you notice a strange clunking sound coming from under the bonnet. It looks like a trip to the garage is in […]...

Published On - December 1, 2014

Richard Brooks Language Blog, TranslationTags: idioms

Idioms from Around the World

Idioms, well-known phrases of figurative language like “It’s raining cats and dogs,” are to languages as spices are to cooking. Often peculiar, charming and funny, they add a distinctive local flavor to everyday speech. They also don’t translate very well. A new infographic f...

Published On - July 24, 2013

Richard Brooks Music, TranslationTags: Music

The Top Ten Tracks for Translators

You love languages, you love music, here are your top ten tracks voted for by the team at K International. #10. 99 Red Balloons from Nena (in German – obviously). Nothing to do with translation but I love this song and remember the first time hearing it in the original German. Written at the ...

Published On - November 10, 2012

Richard Brooks Language Blog, TranslationTags: idioms

Common Idioms in Translation

An idiom is a common figurative expression with a widely-understood meaning; for example’ “the Devil is in the details.” English has at least 25,000 of these phrases. Since idioms aren’t meant to be taken literally, they present a special problem for translators. Sure, ...