Translation Archives

Published On - July 15, 2013

Richard Brooks Language BlogTags: Translation

Idiom Translation a Hard Nut to Crack

One of the biggest mistakes to make while translating documents isn’t always getting the words wrong or poor grammar or sentence structure, but it can also be the altogether feeling on the conversation. Brits are well known for being a bit kooky, our language is full of idioms such as ‘piece of ...

Published On - July 11, 2013

Richard Brooks Inside TrackTags: Machine Translation, Translation, Twitter

Twitter Enters the Murky World of Machine Translation

Last week you may have heard, or even seen, that Twitter has been trialling automated translation of tweets from certain individuals in Egypt. Following the recent political upheaval, the former president Mohammed Morsi, opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei and Arab Spring activist Wael Ghonim have ...

Published On - March 19, 2013

Richard Brooks Inside TrackTags: English, Holiday, Japan, Translation, Travel

A Gaijin in Tokyo

In our last article, Alison noted how lazy we Brits are when it comes to getting a handle on the native language when preparing to travel abroad. From my own experience, I’ve seen just how extensive this can be and I’m guilty as charged. In both 2011 and 2012, I travelled to Tokyo for a [&he...

Published On - February 14, 2013

Richard Brooks Inside TrackTags: Translation

Ponglish: Diary of a Pole

Eight years ago I arrived in the UK with my fellow countrymen: rocket scientists, brain surgeons, state attorneys, film directors and hairdressers. They let us flow out of the plane and spread all over the country. Back home, in Poland, I grew up watching Mr. Bean, listening to Brit Rock and thinkin...

Published On - October 18, 2012

Richard Brooks Language BlogTags: Gangnam, Lyrics, Music, Translation

Gangnam Style Translated into English

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Published On - September 25, 2012

Richard Brooks Language Blog, Retail InformationTags: Language, Retail, Translation, Website

Translating Fast Fashion

We recently developed a solution for a very large European retailer to help them to localise/translate all of their packaging for their dynamic range of clothing. The challenge in this space is to provide translation that is ‘on trend’, error-free and makes the best use of all the previously tra...

Published On - March 13, 2012

Richard Brooks Language BlogTags: Translation

New Languages Take Tweets in Another Direction

Twitter added four new language options to its translation repertoire last week: Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew and Urdu. Like the other languages that the popular online messaging service has been translated into, the task was crowdsourced to volunteers via Twitter’s translation center, allowing it to...

Published On - December 7, 2011

Richard Brooks Language BlogTags: Language, Languages, Translation, Translation Errors

A Bounty on Engrish

Visitors to South Korea, take note. The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has set a bounty on the awkward, low-quality translations known as “Engrish.” These malapropisms are a prime source of amusement for tourists abroad in Asian countries (see The Top 10 Asian English Translation Failures for ...

Published On - November 29, 2011

Richard Brooks Language BlogTags: Language, Translation

Brand Name In China

Thinking of moving your business to China? A word to the wise: hire a skilled translator! As a recent article in the New York Times points out, translating a business name into Chinese requires much more than Google Translate; you also need a deep understanding of the nuances of Chinese culture to a...

Published On - September 15, 2011

Richard Brooks Language BlogTags: Language, Translation

Translating Honeybees

By now, many scientists are willing to accept that intelligent animals like dolphins may have languages of their own. But what about honeybees? They couldn’t possibly have their own language, could they? After all, they’re just bugs! Not so fast, say scientists from the University of Dundee in S...