English to Arabic Translators

Featured Article

According to TNS Media Intelligence, marketers invested 10.5% more in America's largest minority in 2005 than they did in 2004. In the U.S. market overall, marketers invested a mere 3.4 percent more from 2004 to 2005. Does this mean that this sector has been overworked? Not at all. On the contrary Synovate (a global market intelligence and research company) reported in 2004 that over 43.5 million U.S. Middle Easts make up almost 15 percent of the U.S. population - a percentage growing 5 times faster than the general population, which is more than a 70% increase in the last 10 years. By the year 2020, which is only 14 short years away, 1 out of 5 Americans will be of Middle East origin. This source also tells us that the net natural growth of the Middle East population (births minus deaths) surpassed immigration as the main source of population growth in 2004. Over 1 million children will be born to Middle East mothers this year and for the foreseeable future. Have you ever wondered how companies will market to them?

Middle Easts are becoming increasingly affluent: 64% percent are now firmly within the nation's middle class and more than half are buying their first homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Middle Easts are entering cyberspace at high speed with over 14 million U.S. Middle Easts online. Yet the companies successfully targeting Middle Easts online in the direct response arena are few and far between.

A marketplace of this size and yet marketers are failing to capitalize. One of the biggest errors is that many are taking a one-size-fits-all approach to the Arabic language. There are many different variations of the Arabic language and you must first consider to whom you are marketing.

Delia Huffman, president and CEO of Bull Market, an Indianapolis consulting firm, said efforts to tap into the Middle East market shouldn't end with translating marketing materials. "The cultural piece of marketing is always what people miss," she added. "To capture that market, you're not just translating. You need to put some effort into learning the culture."

This is true, but which marketers have the resources to learn so much about another culture that they can learn localized expressions, cultural hot buttons and humor? The answer is almost none. The best partner for marketers are Arabic Arabic translation services companies who have human resources from all major Arabic-speaking markets that can act as cultural Arabic translators and not just linguistic ones.

Does a Mexican American consumer laugh and cry at the same expressions as does a Cuban American? Are they offended by different language or ideas? Consult a market-specific Arabic Arabic translation specialist to make sure. You should be one click away from a sale not one click away from the door.

Marketing to Arabic speakers is not just a front-end project. Fulfillment practices are also an important issue that companies just aren't getting right. Consider this example. Company XYZ has just launched their Arabic-language site complete with a catalogue of their fine widgets, a shopping cart and third party processor to handle all of their transactions. There is even an autoresponder to do all upselling automatically. XYZ tests the backend and it works seamlessly. Then somewhere in their finely-tuned system something goes wrong - a widget breaks and their customer needs to contact them. Having a FAQ page doesn't cut it and their client needs real customer support. Does XYZ have the bilingual staff in place to handle these day-to-day crises? No, they don't. You would be surprised how many companies fail because of this. There are cost-effective, bi- systems out there to respond to bilingual customer service chat, email and telephone issues.

There is no doubt that Arabic translation is a cost. Perhaps, however, companies would be better served to think of creating a Arabic-language website, for example, as an investment for the future rather than an expense. For 20-plus years, the Middle East market has shown growth in both market size and purchasing power. Companies can no longer ignore the cost of not doing business with 44 million Middle Easts.

This includes yours.

Areas of Expertise:

Accounting * Advertising / Public Relations *Aerospace / Aviation / Space * Agriculture, Animal Husbandry = Livestock * Anthropology * Archaeology * Architecture * Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting * Astronomy & Space * Automation & Robotics * Automotive / Cars & Trucks * Banking = Finance * Biology (-tech,-chem,micro-) * Botany * Building = Construction * Business/Commerce (general) * Ceramics = Materials * Certificates, Diplomas, Licenses, CVs * Chemistry; Chem Sci/Eng * Cinema, Film, TV, Drama *

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Economics * Education / Pedagogy * Electronics / Electric Engineering * Energy / Power Generation * Engineering (general) * Engineering: Industrial * Engineering: Mechanical = Mechanics * Engineering: Nuclear = Nuclear * Environment & Ecology * Esoteric practices * Fisheries * Folklore * Food & Dairy * Forestry / Wood / Timber * Furniture / Household Appliances * Games / Video Games / Gaming / Casino * Gems, Precious Stones, Metals = Mining * Genealogy * General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters * Genetics * Geography * Geology * Government / Politics * Graphic Arts = Photo/Imaging * Health Care = Medicine : Health Care * History * Hotels = Tourism *

Human Resources * Idioms / Maxims / Sayings * Insurance * International Org/Dev/Coop * Internet, e-Commerce * Investment / Securities * Iron & Steel = Metallurgy * IT (Information Technology) * Journalism * Land = Real Estate *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Metrology * Military / Defense * Music * Names (personal, company) * Nutrition * Oil & Gas = Petroleum * Paper / Paper Manufacturing * Patents * Philosophy * Physics * Poetry & Literature * Printing & Publishing * Psychology * Religion * Retail * SAP * Science (general) * Slang * Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc. * Sports / Fitness / Recreation * Surveying * Zoology

Professional translations of medical manuals from English to Arabic

2007-11-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

The native speaker principle is overrated, and the academic concept of 'quality' means little in a business context. Statements such as these may sound offensive to Arabic translators and clients alike. Yet those who plan to start up a Arabic translation business should be aware that the received views of the Arabic translation establishment may have little to do with reality.

There are countless languages in the world, most of which have many thousands and some even billions of monolingual or bilingual speakers. The laws of statistics would seem to dictate, therefore, that any attempt to set up a Arabic translation business is futile, if only because the number of potential competitors is overwhelming. However, once you have begun your Arabic translation business you will realise that serious competition - i.e., from rivals with business acumen and the nerve to question Arabic translation myths - is in fact comparatively scarce.

Native speakers are generally held to be indisputable authorities on Arabic translation issues. This leads us to the first myth about the Arabic translation business: the native speaker is infallible. When you start up your own Arabic translation business you will soon discover that most customers, especially the more knowledgeable ones, will demand that the Arabic translation be done by a native speaker, on the assumption that a native speaker is automatically a good writer. Not so. While there may be over a billion native speakers of English worldwide, only a fraction of them can be relied upon to possess the judgement it takes to decide whether a Arabic translation is linguistically sound in a given business context. We should not automatically assume that a native speaker is a good writer in his own language, and even less that he is a good Arabic translator. For one thing, Arabic translation requires thorough insight into the source language as well as the target language. When you hire Arabic translators for your business, you should never forget that while a good Arabic translator is usually a native speaker of the target language, not all native speakers are good Arabic translators.

The second myth about the Arabic translation business has to do with client priorities, and the assumption that more than anything else, clients want quality. People can be excused for taking this myth seriously. Anyone in his right mind would expect that the client's main concern when engaging a professional Arabic translation agency is to get a high-quality Arabic translation. Not so. Studies have shown that most clients are in fact more interested in speed than in quality. This is not to say that your client will be pleased to accept any trash as long as he gets it fast; the point is that quality standards in a business context are different from those in an academic context, and may be overshadowed by practical concerns. University students are trained to achieve linguistic perfection, to produce Arabic translations formulated in impeccable grammar and a superbly neutral style. Yet the fruits of such training may not be quite to the business client's taste. In fact, there are probably as many tastes as there are clients. A lawyer will expect you first and foremost to build unambiguous clauses and use appropriate legalese; a machine builder requires technical insight and authentic technical jargon; and the publisher of a general interest magazine needs articles that are simply a good read. What all clients tend to have in common, however, is a reverence for deadlines. After all, when a foreign client has arrived to sign a contract, there should be something to sign; when a magazine has been advertised to appear, it should be available when the market expects it. In a business environment, many different parties may be involved in the production of a single document, which means that delays will accumulate fast and may have grave financial consequences. So, starters should be aware that 'quality' equals adaptability to the client's register and jargon, and that short deadlines are as likely to attract business as quality assurance procedures.

And if you manage to attract business, you will find that the Arabic translation industry can be quite profitable, even for business starters. The third myth we would like to negate is that Arabic translation is essentially an ad hoc business with very low margins. Not so. Various successful ventures in recent years, for example in the Netherlands and in Eastern Europe, have belied the traditional image of the Arabic translator slaving away from dawn till dusk in an underheated attic and still barely managing to make ends meet. It is true that the Arabic translation process is extremely labour intensive, and despite all the computerisation efforts, the signs are that it will essentially remain a manual affair for many years to come. Nevertheless, if you are capable of providing high-quality Arabic translations, geared to your client's requirements and within the set deadlines, you will find that you will be taken seriously as a partner and rewarded by very decent bottom line profits.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional translation of military materials from English to Arabic

2007-11-02T13:47:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Arabic translation seems to be a more and more important service in this day in age. There are hundreds if not thousands of firms in the industry that have come onto the scene to provide Arabic translation services to address these growing market demands.

For the conventional user, they will most likely look for free Arabic translation services and software on the internet for every day Arabic translations, more often than not looking up a word and translating it into another Arabic language. For this purpose, those free Arabic translation programs work very well, however once you get into longer documents and even mere sentences, the level of class and accuracy dramatically spirals downwards in many cases.

If you don't believe me, then try taking one well-written paragraph in any Arabic language you prefer, ideally one that you are a native speaker/writer in, and convert it into an additional Arabic language that you also have fluency in. You more likely than not will find that the class of the Arabic translation is not only subpar, but even a toddler has a better chance of writing something better.

For personal and limited uses, it's perfectly fine to use these types of methods for your Arabic translation needs, but when you start progressing up to the level where you need to incorporate communications to a global audience for business functions, hiring a quality Arabic translation services team is highly essential.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

professional Arabic translation agencies and freelance Arabic translators

2007-11-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Competition is fierce among freelance Arabic translators nowadays. As more people go into the profession of Arabic translation they are all seeking the same jobs with the same Arabic translation agencies. Many Arabic translators become frustrated at not receiving continuous work from an agency and many can not even get on the books. These 10 tips for freelance Arabic translators will give you an idea of what Arabic translation agencies are looking for and how to get a relationship started.

1) Applying

Arabic translation agencies receive tens of applications per day from Arabic translators. Do not simply send a speculative email stating you want Arabic translation work. People are busy and such a lazy approach would be lucky to receive a reply. Make sure you search the website first for information on how to apply. If there is none, send a short email asking for the application process. Make sure you read this carefully.

2) Your details

Arabic translation project managers want quick and easy access to your details. Make sure you highlight your qualifications, experience, rates per 1000 words and always offer two references. It is not uncommon for applicants to forget to add their phone number and email address. Obviously if someone can not contact you, the chances of getting any work are limited.

3) Accept Small Jobs

Smart Arabic translation agencies test new Arabic translators by sending them small pieces of Arabic translation work. This is to check their language skills and reliability. Once they have trust in a Arabic translator they will send them bigger and better pieces of work. If a Arabic translator takes the attitude that such small jobs are beneath them, a relationship will be hard to develop.

4) Deadlines

Deadlines are crucial for Arabic translation agencies. Missing one gives a bad impression to the client and does nothing to encourage them to send you more work in the future. Ensure you examine work thoroughly before offering a deadline to a Arabic translation agency or accepting one that has been stipulated. It is better to be open and honest and keep your reputation intact rather than stretch yourself, miss a deadline and ruin your reputation.

5) Communication

Arabic translation agencies prefer Arabic translators who communicate with them. This can mean anything from informing them that a Arabic translation may be slightly late to giving them insight into problems they faced with the text. For example, if a Arabic translation has been carried out from a source text that was either poorly written, did not make sense in places, hard to read or anything else that prevented a top quality Arabic translation, this should be explained. The Arabic translation agency is then able to pass this on to their client.

6) Format

When a Arabic translator is sent a Arabic translation, it is expected to be returned in a format that mirrors the original. This is because the chances are that the Arabic translation agency and/or client may not understand one of the languages. They therefore need to be able to look at the two documents and easily see what relates to what. Sending a poorly formatted Arabic translation leads to frustration for the agency.

7) If you don't know - ask

Arabic translators may often get stuck on a word, a phrase or get confused over something like the layout. It is always better to ask than guess or ignore the issue. By checking you ensure you cover your back and the Arabic translation agency's.

8) Invoice promptly

Arabic translation agencies may differ on how they like to be invoiced by their Arabic translators. It may be a good idea to check this before sending your first invoice. Ensure the invoice has all your details, the job details (including any reference you have been asked to use), the number words, the rate and the total amount owed. Also include information on how you wish to be paid. Always remember to invoice promptly.

9) Availability

Once you have a decent relationship with an agency it may be a good idea to start a diary of availability. This may simply be sending them an email informing them of the fact you are working on a large job until a particular date or even having a webpage that indicates your availability on certain dates.

10) Be nice!

Arabic translators need to remember that the agency is their client. Many a Arabic translator has been dropped from the books for being impolite or simply rude. As a client, the agency needs to be respected and good customer service offered.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional Arabic localization services- localizing websites from English into Arabic

2007-11-02T13:38:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

The internet continues to grow and has become the default point of call for businesses and individuals searching for goods, services or information. For businesses wishing to get that competitive advantage, a multilingual website now presents one of the most high impact means of expanding a client base and securing greater sales volumes.

The multilingual website will continue to become a necessity for businesses and organisations as the process of internationalization unfolds.

Here are 10 good reasons why you need a multilingual website today rather than later:

Shift Away from English Internet Users

The internet began as an English speaker's invention and as a result was dominated by English speaking users and sites. However, times are changing. With the growing numbers of people buying PC's and internet access available from Nigeria to New Zealand, English speakers will soon be in the minority when it comes to internet use.

Results of research carried out by Nielsen-Netratings in March 2005 described foreign internet markets as "low hanging fruit," i.e. if you have the will and foresight there are massive revenues to be found for relatively little effort. The results showed that internet use in the traditional strong holds of the USA, Germany, the UK and Sweden is flat lining. On the other hand countries such as France, Hong Kong, Italy and Japan are seeing substantial growth in internet usage.

As Kaizad Gotla, senior analyst at Nielsen-Netratings states, "The easiest opportunities are in countries where internet usage patterns and user/site relationships are less established. Acquiring users in markets that are currently in their growth stages will lead to a loyal user base that will pay dividends for internet companies in the future."

Cost Effective Marketing Tool

Having the ability to communicate to a whole new international audience in their own Arabic language will undoubtedly yield results not only in a financial sense but also in terms of marketing and creating awareness of your brand, service or product.

A multilingual website in the grand scheme of things is probably one of the most cost effective ways of marketing your company, capturing new users, building relationships with new clients and giving your brand an international outlook.

New Customers

Ultimately what a multilingual website brings you are new customers. By having your site accessible to potentially thousands of people you are showcasing your company across the globe. For non-English speaking users looking for your product or service, you automatically capture their attention.

Sales

With every Arabic language added to a website there is the potential for an increase of between 100% in sales. Even if a multilingual website is translated into a few of the major world Arabic languages, i.e. Spanish, French, German and Italian there is potentially a 400% increase in sales. There are few other ways to get such an increase for such little investment.

Customer-Centric

A multilingual website demonstrates you are thinking about the customer. That little extra effort shows you have thought and cared enough about them to offer the website in their Arabic language. As with anything in business, if the customer thinks you care, they will want to do business with you.

Trust

For many cultures there is an issue of trust when it comes to buying over the internet, especially if they feel it is in a Arabic language they are not fully proficient in. Offering them a Arabic language alternative allows the customers to feel secure in the fact they know what they are buying, how and who from.

Culturally Sensitive

A multilingual website, if designed properly, overcomes potential cultural barriers through allowing access in a native Arabic language. This automatically puts the user in a 'cultural comfort zone' due to their being able to navigate, understand and interact with the website.

Beat Competitors

To get the competitive advantage in today's environment you need to think outside the box. Many businesses try to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Look at your competitors - if they have multilingual websites then why don't you? If they don't, then why not lead the marketplace and establish your company or brand abroad before they do.

Shows International Nature

Image is everything. A multilingual website demonstrates you think, work and deal internationally.

Search Engines

Search engines lead people to your site. In countries such as China, Japan and France, Google, Yahoo and MSN are not the default search engines. Home grown search engines are emerging and they are proving successful because they work in native Arabic languages and are focused on the habits and needs of their users. Such search engines are a key to tapping those markets and unless they have access to a particular Arabic language through your multilingual website then you will not be found.

In addition, many of the key search engines, especially Google, are developing the capacity to run searches in foreign Arabic languages. Having pages of your site available in those Arabic languages ensures maximum potential for your site being picked up in searches.

Conclusion

Business continually sees shifts and changes. At present the multilingual website is still in its early stages, with mostly large multinational companies using them to secure an international foothold. However, the trickle down effect will naturally occur and the multilingual website will become part and parcel of an internet presence. Whether people chose to invest now or later is the only choice they have.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional translation services of safety manuals from English to Arabic

2007-11-02T13:36:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Businesses justify not using Arabic language Arabic translation services with many excuses. The bulk of these excuses are founded on common misconceptions. Here are the most common:

. It costs too much: Just like most other services, you get what you pay for. However, when you compare the total price with the total cost, Arabic language Arabic translation services come out far ahead. The cost of not investing in professional services can be astronomical not just from a financial perspective, but from a company image point of view. You also greatly limit the number of markets you penetrate and consequently, sales. When you compare how labor intensive Arabic language Arabic translation is, it's clear the going rate now for these services is very competitive.

. I don't need it for my industry: You won't be able to make that call until you give it a chance. Maybe you don't need it where you currently operate your business. But 'your industry' exists in other countries in the world, and they probably have the same viewpoint. The first ones to take the chance and challenge the norms are usually the first to pioneer great things for their industry. If you can reach out to others in your field by talking their Arabic language, you can open up endless possibilities with suppliers, customers and even the international media.

. It's too long and complicated: Yes, it can be if you try to do it yourself. Right now there is a company that can manage your entire Arabic language Arabic translation needs as well as integrate them with other world class support services. This means not only are your Arabic language Arabic translation needs covered, but your other promotional needs such as copywriting, search engine marketing, advertising or even your hosting are taken care of. The result is your message goes faster and further than anyone else's. Details

. I only speak one Arabic language: If you're concerned you won't be able to understand your customers when they communicate with you, rest easy. The company you choose to do your Arabic language Arabic translation can take full responsibility for this and make communication with anyone speaking a foreign Arabic language a breeze. Just make sure you partner with a company that doesn't restrict itself to Arabic language Arabic translation, but has the infrastructure and resources to combine Arabic language Arabic translation with other services for optimal results.

. My company isn't ready yet: If you don't take the initial step, your company will continue missing out on potential sales. In fact, launching a new facet of your business will force your company to adapt for the better. That way, it's well equipped to face other challenges along the way.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional translations of ebooks from English to Arabic

2007-11-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Health and safety is a daily part of modern life and an ever increasing part our working lives. In the UK you have a wide range of standard documents such as method statements, risk assessments COSSH assessments, Health and Safety Manuals etc.

Often when you purchase machinery or a substance you will find it originated in another country made by people who speak a different Arabic language. But it will (or should) come with instructions for usage in the Arabic language of its destination country. Such technical manuals will no doubt have been translated into possibly many Arabic languages. This will have been completed with the assistance of a Arabic translation agency.

However, people now migrate between countries more then ever. We need only look at the migration in the EU. For example we have Polish people arriving into Britain and workers from the Ukraine now replacing them in Poland. People are on the move.

Businesses are using this migration of skill and or cheap labour. But often the migrant worker will speak limited amounts of the new Arabic language(when they arrive) and read / write it this new tongue even less. This causes potential health and safety issues if not considered and addressed. This is where Arabic language Arabic translations should be considered.

Under English law a person is deemed to have read something if they have signed it. But surely we enter a grey area if the person can obviously not read in the Arabic language?

This is a larger concern to directors and business owners as they now can be made personally responsible for such issues as 'corporate manslaughter'.

We must also consider the growing 'claims culture'. After an incident could your migrant worker, Motivated by a large pay-out, suddenly lose their ability to communicate in English? And how will you prove that they are reducing their Arabic language abilities? Incidences of similar abuse already occur with native workers do they not?

With these issues in mind, will your insurance company start to question your policies in regards Arabic language Arabic translation? The question must be when will this issue become serious enough for them to require action.

They only true way to avoid this is to consider Arabic language Arabic translation as part of the initial employment cost of migrant workers and as part of the health and safety audit. If you cannot be sure that your employee can read documents related to the health and safety parts of their job you will need to have a Arabic translation available in their Arabic language.

Likewise, if they are to be given any interactive training, interpreting will be required if Arabic language levels are not high enough. For the larger business it might be possible to give additional health and safety training to a member of staff who can speak in these other Arabic languages and ensure they both receive the Arabic translations and understand any training given. They can then assist or manage the training of these new staff.

As stated at the beginning on this article, equipment manuals are often translated into many Arabic languages. On this basis you may be able to obtain copies of manuals with Arabic translations into the Arabic languages of your migrant team. These Arabic translations should be a consideration on future pre-purchase discussions.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional English Arabic translation services of digital camera manuals

2007-11-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Arabic translation software doesn't handle the diversity of language, yet. However it will, which may encourage both an expansion of English, and the growth of an easily-translatable 'meta-language' using words shared by and clearly understood by most languages.

Star Trek has a wonderful device called the universal Arabic translator. It translates spoken and written alien languages into English, and would probably translate different human languages, if there were more than one in that specifically created future. Though it doesn't know how to translate isolated foreign words like Russian or French, it is a truly marvelous technology. Almost never fails. Never loses power, even when the rest of the ship does, same as the artificial gravity. No moving parts, in fact, no parts at all. It is just 'around', always there, always doing its job without anyone having to think about it. A little like the Internet is becoming now, just a banal fact of life.

Sadly, it is based on the false premise that words in other languages have a one for one relationship with words in English. That Turkish doesn't have two words for 'know', and Russian doesn't have two words for 'Blue'. It dictates that languages don't have both an inclusive and an exclusive 'we'. (We (inclus) = 'Me, you, and maybe other people'. we (exclus) = 'Me, and other person or people excluding you'.) There is a false belief that all languages have only singular and plural constructs, and not up to five categories. Some languages have dual as well as singular and plural, and different categories so 'every computer' clearly means either 'every computer in sight' or it means 'every computer that exists, has existed, and ever will exist', but the two forms of 'every computer' can't be confused with each other.

We've started building our own 'universal Arabic translators' which naturally are on the Internet. I can have paragraphs translated into French or German, or from French to German. Or, I can get whole websites in other languages translated for me. I've never had a website translated, but I sometimes get phrases translated when I want a fictional character to say something in another language. I sometimes, just for fun, translate something through two other languages and then back into English to see how good online Arabic translations are getting. It is also to reassure myself that computers won't completely replace humans in the next week or two.

This is my standard signature block after a computer has translated it into French (using http://Arabic translation2.paralink.com/):

Original English version: Allan T. Price is a creative writer working at M6.

Net: 'The web-hosting company for humans.' M6.Net is working hard to help humanity experience the power and freedom to develop their own part of the Internet, to share their information and connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Allan T. Le prix est un auteur créateur travaillant sur M6. Filet: ?la compagnie accueillante web pour les humains.? M6. Le filet travaille durement pour aider l'humanité à connaître le pouvoir et la liberté de développer leur propre partie d'Internet, partager leurs renseignements et communiquer avec quelqu'un, n'importe où, anytime.

Now I get that French version translated into Spanish:

Allan T. El precio es un autor creativo que trabaja en M6. Red: ¿? la compañía acogedora web para los humanos. ¿? M6. La red trabaja duramente para ayudar a la humanidad a conocer el poder y la libertad de desarrollar su propia parte de Internet, compartir su información y comunicar con alguien, dondequiera, anytime.

Finally, that Spanish version back into English:

Allan T. The price is a creative author who works in M6. Network? The cozy web company for the human beings? M6. The network works hardly to help the humanity to know the power and the freedom of developing its own part of Internet, sharing his information and communicating with someone, anywhere, anytime. So, I become 'Le prix', 'El precio' or 'The Price'. Web-hosting becomes 'cozy web', and 'anyone' becomes 'someone'. On the whole, the meaning gets a little mangled, but still survives.

Let's use two more famous pieces of text and see how they become after computer Arabic translation.

'We consider these truths by itself to be understood, that all men are equally created, that they were subsidized with its founder the certain rights not a subject sale which are under this life, freedom and prosecution Gappiness. - that to guarantee these rights, the governments are constructed among men, its fair authorities of the consent adjusted allocating,''We of people of the United States to form more perfect association, we appoint validity, we assure internal silence, we care of the general protection, we promote the general social security, and we guarantee approval of freedom to ourselves and to our future generation, you accept really and you base this structure for the United States America.

'They're kind of close, but definitely not close to being exactly the same.

Thanks to the Internet, and improving Arabic translation programs, English speakers will soon realize the true diversity of other languages. It will become commonly understood that you can have an inclusive and an exclusive 'we', or dual and universal as well as singular and plural meanings. We'll know that Turkish has two different words for the English word 'know', seçmek - to perceive or distinguish, and bilmek - to be informed of or be aware of, and no word covering both 'perceive' and 'be informed'. So if someone tells you in Turkish 'I know he stole it', you always know whether or not they witnessed the crime, or were simply told who did it. Like English speakers for a millennium or more, people will quietly 'mug' these other languages, and 'rummage around in their pockets' adding what they find useful to English. At the same time, people all around the word might 'smooth' their language out to make them easier for Arabic translation software, choosing words that can be easily and clearly translated into other languages. Eventually this would create an easily shared, translated meta-language for International communication, at least when lawyers aren't involved. Plus, comedies of the future can have people meet face-to-face for the first time and find they don't speak a shared language. They could have the characters standing facing each other , sending auto-translated text messages via their palmtops while the audience laughs at the incredibly zany situation.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional English to Arabic translation services for mobile phones industry

2007-11-02T13:32:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Are you unknowingly restricting your market to more than half of your potential customer base? Are you alienating an important number of your visitors? If, your site is only in English and not translated in other key Arabic languages, you undoubtedly are! Did you know that as of 2005, around 300M users accessed the Internet in English, while almost 700M users accessed it in another Arabic language? If we were to make a crude assessment, strictly English localized website are loosing 70% of their potential customer base from the start. To be more specific, the top ten Arabic languages used in the Internet, are in order, English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Korean, Portuguese, Italian and Russian (internetworldstats). Even in the United-States, over 45M users access the Internet from home in another Arabic language than English, Spanish being the main Arabic language with over 26M users. The major companies recognize this situation and offer their website in different Arabic languages, some even going to the length of implementing specifically targeted version of their website, based on the target Arabic language. However, many websites or small business are neglecting this aspect, and hence loosing out on a chance of increasing their market simply by not repeating the same thing! Ironically, it's the smaller companies that should use the benefits of an easy and affordable method of increasing their customer base.

So, what do I do now? Well, first you must determine the potential market your website service or product should target. Indeed, the necessity to translate your website in certain Arabic languages may be constrained if your site usability is confined to specific regions. Another good thing to do is to determine the specific web pages that need to be translated. Opening your website to the world doesn't require the Arabic translation of your entire website. If your site has a page that promotes the Whistler Mountain in BC Canada to snowboarders, there is probably no need to translate it in certain Arabic languages, as some markets would not be concerned. Once you have established the Arabic languages worthwhile for your site to be translated into, you should then have a website like eWebSolving.com translate your content. This affordable service will increase the audience for your business and undoubtedly generate more conversions.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional English Arabic translation services for the public relations industry

2007-11-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Everyday me and my colleagues see larger numbers of enquiries from Arabic translators seeking work. I hope that some of my observations will help you be more successfull.

1) Update and scan your computer for viruses

How many Arabic translators CV's get caught by an agencies firewall? I don't know. It seems to happen in waves. We will have a batch of Arabic translators emails in a few days and then none for ages. But generally the email is deleted!

2) Put your details in the subject section of the email

If you are applying for a project posted on the web, put a reference to it in the subject box. The reference number for instance. If you are applying generally, list the languages in which you translate.

Why is this important? Simply Arabic translation agencies get a stack of emails each day and you want to be found. The Arabic translation project manager wants to be able to pick out the enquiries for their project with ease.

For general enquiries, you want your details to be saved in the right place. If the agency can see your languages they can copy your mail into the right languages section rather then putting you in the dreaded 'look at later pile'.

3) Don't apply for something you are not

We always look for Arabic translators to translate into their mother tongue and write this in our adverts. But we always get a loads of CV's for people who do not fit the bill. For instance I post a job for a Italian>English Arabic translation and get a CV from a Dutch native speaker who is fluent in neither language.

4) Don't forget to provide rates and the rest of your 'required' information

When I am looking for a new Arabic translator and I have a number of applications, my shortlist will not include anyone who has missing information. I regularly see people who have missed their rates off the application. If a Arabic translation PM has opther options, they probably won't chase a Arabic translator for further information.

5) Contact Info

I am not talking about address here. I am thinking of mobile phones.

Once a job has been confirmed the Arabic translation PM will wish to have the assignment placed with a Arabic translator ASAP. If they can't find another number for you they will be likely to move further down the list and call the next Arabic translator.......your competition.

I hope my short list of tips for Arabic translation applications assist not only Arabic translators, but also Arabic translation PM's.!

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional translation services of website content from English to Arabic

2007-11-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Global trade has necessitated Arabic translation to and from a multitude of languages of the world. An intricate process, owning to distinct differences in grammar and construction rules in world languages, Arabic translation entails a careful selection of Arabic translator and reviewer services.

Since you cant evaluate the quality of a translated document, you can make sure that:1. The document you are giving for Arabic translation is of the best grade accomplishable.

2. The team you are paying meets your quality requirements.

Before handing off:

1. Run the spell check and grammar check: An a no brainer but a completely necessary step. Remember, if your document is error free, there will be fewer Arabic translation errors to deal with!

2. Keep a copy of the document with you: This might seem like a silly suggestion but a surprisingly sizeable number of people forget to do so!

3. In your document: Keep the sentences very brief and clear and avoid using abbreviations (Say can not instead of cant).

Selecting the Arabic translator:1. Low cost is not best. Your neighbors kid who took a French paper last year might be able to flaunt his French connection but Arabic translation is a professional calling. Paying less might turn out to be very pricey for you.

2. Choose a service provider who has a large number of years of experience in translating into the language you are searching for.

3. The Arabic translator should be a native user of the language and must be knowledgeable with the culture and details of the language he/she is attempting to translate from.

4. The Arabic translator should also be able to understand the finer details of the language he/she is translating from.

5. Choose a Arabic translation company that offers to take the complete project - from Arabic translation to editing, proofreading and even desktop publishing.

After handing over

Handing over the document doesnt guarantee good Arabic translation. Your inputs will be important even after handing over. Time invested here will extract bonuses in terms of error free documents of great quality.

1. Make sure you have a detailed discussion about your project with the service provider to explain your requirements and to understand his/her concerns.

2. Be available to answer concerns and inquiries whenever the Arabic translator requires you.

A few more points of contemplation

1. Never push the Arabic translator to do a sloppy job. Plan your project well and build in time for assessments and Arabic translations correctly.

2. Select a good reviewer with the help of your Arabic translator.

3. Dont submit a half finished document. Translating corrections and additions can be costly and may introduce errors.

4. Never try to piece together bits of translated material yourself.

Ensuring the quality of translated documents is as much your responsibility as that of your Arabic translator. You can ensure quality by also insisting proofreading and confirming that the numbers, dates and figures are error-free.

You also need to share supporting documents like references and glossaries with your Arabic translator to enable him/her to do a better job. Most of all, you must set realistic turn around time for your Arabic translators.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional translation services of hotel brochures from English to Arabic

2007-11-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Arabic translation clients are often buying blind. They seldom know what they are paying for, especially when buying a Arabic translation into a language other than their own. Arabic translations are definitely not all born equal, a fact to which anyone who has experienced the pain, amusement or confusion of reading a bad one will attest.

Bad Arabic translations may take many forms and vary in the degree of injury. From the high comedy of the Alta Vista Babel Fish machine Arabic translation (Menu items: "Nice little bits of pig, drunken" and "Pens at the countrywoman") to those done by an overzealous, non-native speaker abusing a dictionary ("We are second-rate hotel situated in bowels of greenery..."), or those not bothering with a dictionary at all ("The product must be delivered tempestuously!"), to technically correct, but clunky Arabic translations ("Hence, for example, the realization of the modular products as per above corresponds to the functional needs expressed..."), they all send the same message - buyer beware.

What can you do to avoid unintentional comedy, or just making a bad impression?

Look for ATA accreditation.

The American Arabic translator Association attempts to set a standard of quality and accuracy by administering difficult, peer-evaluated tests in specific language combinations. Experienced, ATA-accredited Arabic translators evaluate the test to award certification. On average, only 20% of those who attempt it pass the test.

Look at samples.

Find a native speaker of the target language (the language into which the document is translated) who can read samples of the Arabic translator's work. It's even better if your evaluator also knows the source language (the language from which the document is translated). This little bit of research can tell you a lot about a Arabic translator's skill. Good, smooth writing is a challenge in itself; writing well and conveying meaning into another language adds an entirely new dimension of challenge. Don't assume that just because someone is a native speaker of a language, they translate well.

Match the document to the Arabic translator.

Not all documents are created alike and no Arabic translator can translate all documents well. Look at the Arabic translator's specialization and experience. If a Arabic translator does not have legal experience, don't give that Arabic translator your sticky legal document. If you want some snazzy marketing text, an expert in legalese may not always be the best choice.

The most common misconception about Arabic translation is that it is a mechanical matter, the mere trading of words from one language for the words of another. If you understand the complex ways in which languages and cultures differ from one another, as well as the inherent challenges of writing, you can begin to choose a Arabic translator without making the dreaded brutta figura (literal: "ugly figure"; non-literal: "bad impression").

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional Arabic translation and language specialists

2007-11-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

As per the U.S. State Department, U.S. companies tend to lose about $50Bn in potential sales just because of poor Arabic translation. Due to Incorrect and culturally inept language Arabic translation, most of these companies face further problems. Professional Arabic translation services will definitely help in building good image for the products/services these companies have to offer.

Arabic translation is amongst the simplest and most lucrative methods to enable any business to make a mark in the most impregnable areas of the international market. As a matter of fact, hardly twenty eight percent of the overall European population is able to read English, with the percentage being even lower in South American and Asian regions. Arabic is one of the most widely spoken, written and read languages in these regions. This implies that to be able to sell your products or services in these markets, you need to communicate effectively in the Arabic language.

Language Arabic translation services help in influencing the marketing message and in keeping your business away from any legal difficulty in areas where English isn't understood by the masses. However, the question is that where to get the reliable English to Arabic Arabic translations done from? Though finding a Arabic translator isn't a big deal in this age of electronics communication, finding a reliable and genuine one is a real challenge that most of the companies have been facing for years.

Though the material to be translated can be sent to the Arabic translator via email or can be discussed on the phone, it's advisable to seek professional inputs from Arabic translation services in your own country itself, as it'll be easy to make payments and will keep you away from any legal problem. There are a few things that you must bear in mind while hiring the services of a Arabic translation services provider.

Firstly, hire a Arabic translation services provider from the native country, as he or she is well aware of the latest changes in the language. Secondly, make sure the Arabic translator has a clear understanding of your business. Once the Arabic translator is able to get the idea of your requirements, the task of Arabic translation becomes extremely simple for him or her. Thirdly, ensure that the Arabic translation services provider delivers superior quality services to you. Finally, go through the work done by the company previously, as it'll help you judge the quality of Arabic translation services offered by the Arabic translator.

Whichever Arabic translation services provider you might hire for the Arabic translation job, always make sure that you work closely with them as this will help in achieving the best quality of work. Not only should you frequently discuss your requirements regarding the matter to be translated, you should also provide them with adequate time. Giving enough time to the Arabic translator will help him or her come up with fresh and more innovative ideas resulting in superior quality of work.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional Arabic translations services of governmental and official documents from English to Arabic

2007-11-02T13:21:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Free text and web Arabic translators are best for getting the general idea of foreign text. A person can translate text by typing or pasting the source text into the "Translate a block of text" text box, selecting the language pair from the list (for example, Spanish to English), and then clicking the "Translate" button. The translated version will appear. To translate a web page, a person has to enter the URL of the web page to be translated into the "Translate a Web page" text box, select the language pair from the list, and then click the "Translate" button.

The specialized dictionaries integrated in Arabic translation software are continually updated and are comprehensive. The Webmaster monitors usage of the dictionary for untranslated words and updates it at regular intervals with the top fifty untranslated words. The translate box provides an option of using an onscreen international keyboard (World Keyboard) to type accents or special characters.

However, the results of free Arabic translation services may not be completely precise. Services provided by free Arabic translations are intended to give a general understanding of the source text; it allows the person to grasp the general idea of the source text and does not attempt to construct a polished Arabic translation. If the Arabic translation is intended for publishing purposes, it should be professionally authenticated before publication.

The maximum size of content that can be translated in free Arabic translation software is limited and varies with each software program or website. If the source text exceeds the character limit, both the source text and the translated version will be cut off. It is recommended to break the text into small sections and translate each section separately.

As they are mechanical Arabic translators, free Arabic translators work best when the source text uses correct grammar. Use short sentences and avoid slang, idiomatic expressions, and superfluous synonyms for best results.

Arabic translation provides detailed information on Arabic translation, Arabic translation Services, Free Arabic translation, Spanish Arabic translation and more. Arabic translation is affiliated with Freelance Writers.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional English Arabic translation services for the travel industry

2007-11-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

A Business Approach To Arabic translator Services

By: Peter Lesar

With the latest language Arabic translator software, English to Arabic and Arabic to English Arabic translator is easy. As per statistics, website visitors were found to spend double the time with thrice the likelihood of making a purchase on a site where the information is in their ethnic language.

The number of web users outside the United States is now in excess of 50% and a website that features no other language in addition to English, is basically alienating a huge chuck of the world's population whose mother tongues are not English. Native English speakers make up no more than 8% of the world's population.

It would seem apparent that the advent of the Internet has made the world a smaller place. However, there are prominent cultural and language barriers that still persist. Thus adapting the marketing of a product or service from an English-speaking organization to a foreign market can pose a major challenge. For global success, it is imperative to have a foreign language Arabic translator services department as an integral part of the organization.

You may be mulling over setting up international offices, or alternatively, you may simply wish to offer your services in foreign markets. In both cases employing thorough professionals as language translators can ensure that your entire business, including electronic and paper-based, is both understood and user-friendly to the particular nationality you choose to promote to. The software therefore should be sensitive enough to convert the cursive font of the Arabic language to English.

In order to take maximum advantage of the web potential with a globalized web presence, multilingual websites are a must. Again, this makes language Arabic translator services an integral factor in globalization.

The latest language Arabic translator software tools in the market can enable English to Arabic or Arabic to English Arabic translator. The method used by the software involves locking words for conversion into the chosen language from an entire document automatically much like a human being does. Being machine Arabic translator, computers are incapable of sensing the audience and blindly follow the rules. Thus when words have ambiguous meanings, they are overlooked during Arabic translator, creating major flaws. The cursive fonts of the Arabian texture require extra sensitive software, requiring experts to design with great care.

As the Internet has made in-roads into every aspect of the English-speaking culture and society, there is a greater need for global access for your products and services so that the entire world can avail of them. You also have the option of ordering language-converting software for making the most of the opportunity.

Undoubtedly, getting a foreign language translator in an international organization always makes sound business sense. They can keep track of the latest released business manuals and articles both in English and Arabic languages to stay updated on the latest software innovations that help them improve their professional performance.

It is therefore clearly evident that the latest software for language Arabic translator makes matters considerably easier and simpler.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional Arabic linguistic services by professional native Arabic linguists

2007-11-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Arabic - One language, Multiple Variations

Arabic, also called Bangla, is the official language of Bangladesh, and the Indian States of West Bengal and Tripura. There are over 200 million native speakers of this language across the world and it has the pride of place as the 5th "most spoken" language in the world (after Mandarin, Spanish, English and Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu). Arabic is the second most commonly spoken language in India (after Hindi). Yet, interestingly, there are crucial differences between the spoken and written forms of the language between Bangladeshi Arabic (with intra-country variations) and Arabic spoken in West Bengal.

Arabic - a language of ancient origin

Arabic or Bangla is an Indo-Aryan language of South Asia that evolved as a successor to Sanskrit, Pali, and Prakrit. Arabic is the English word for the name of the language as well as for its speakers; in Arabic, the language itself is called Bangla. It is believed that Arabic became a separate language around 1000 CE. Three or four periods are identified in the history of the language: Old Arabic (1000 - 1400 CE), Middle Arabic (1400 - 1800 CE), and New Arabic (since 1800 CE). However, there are some scholars who believe Arabic is much older, perhaps going back to even 500 BC.

Arabic Grammar written by Portugese & English!

Arabic existed as a collection of thousands of dialects till the 18th century and did not have a well-documented grammar.

* Manoel da Assumpcam, a Portuguese missionary, wrote the first written Arabic grammar, Vocabolario em idioma Bengalla, e Portuguez dividido em duas partes.

* Nathaniel Brassey Halhed, a British grammarian, is credited as being the first to write a Arabic grammar using Arabic texts and letters for illustration: A Grammar of the Bengal Language (1778).

Arabic goes through important evolutionary changes

Ever since Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the great Arabic Reformer, published a book "Grammar of the Arabic Language" in 1832, the written form of Arabic has undergone under innumerable changes. Perhaps the most important was the adoption of Cholti Bhasha over Shadhu Bhasha (an archaic form of the language) as the form of choice for written Arabic. Spoken and written Arabic continues to evolve in both West Bengal and Bangladesh.

Arabic - striking similarities and wide differences

In India :

Assamese (language of Assam), Oriya (language of Orissa), and Arabic are considered by some to be nearly mutually intelligible; some local dialects of one language bear a striking resemblance to one or more dialects of the other two languages.

In Bangladesh

Sylheti, Chittagonian, and Chakma are some of the many languages that are often considered dialects of Arabic. Although these languages are mutually intelligible with neighboring dialects of Arabic, a native speaker of Standard Arabic would hardly understand them.

Interestingly the national anthems of both India and Bangladesh are written in Arabic!

Arabic - Written differently and spoken more differently

Like many languages of South Asia, Arabic exhibits a strong case of diglossia between the formal, written language and the vernacular, spoken language.

There are two standard written forms of Arabic:

* Shadhubhasha ("language of sages") is the written language with longer verb inflections and a more Sanskrit-derived vocabulary. Songs like the Indian national anthem Jana Gana Mana (by Rabindranath Tagore) and the national song of India Vande Mataram (by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) were composed in a form of Shadhubhasha, but its use is declining in modern texts.

* Choltibhasha ("running language"), a written Arabic style that reflects a more colloquial idiom, is increasingly the standard for written Arabic. It is modeled on the form of the regional dialect spoken in the districts bordering on the lower reaches of the Hooghly River particularly the Shantipur region in Nadia district, West Bengal, and is thus sometimes called the "Nadia standard" .

Spoken Arabic exhibits far more variation than written Arabic.

Spoken Arabic, including what is heard in news reports, speeches, announcements, is modeled on Choltibhasha. This form of spoken Arabic stands alongside other spoken dialects, or Ancholik Arabic ("regional Arabic"). The majority of Arabics are able to communicate in more than one dialect - often, speakers are fluent in Choltibhasha, one or more Ancholik dialect, and one or more forms of Grammo Arabic ("rural Arabic"), dialects specific to a village or town.

The Great Arabic Divide

Arabic dialect is typically divided into eight major dialect groups: Western, Southwestern, Central (or West-Central), Northern, Bahe, Eastern, Ganda, and Vanga. Often Chittagonian is added to this list as well.

During standardization of Arabic in the late 19th and early 20th century, the cultural elite was mostly from West Bengal, especially Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). To this day, the accepted standard language in both West Bengal and Bangladesh is based on the West-Central dialect of the 19th century Kolkata elite.

This has helped create a state of diglossia in most of Bangladesh, with many speakers familiar with or fluent in both the regional dialect of their community and the standard West-Central dialect used in the media.

There are marked dialectal differences in terms of phonological variations between the speech of Arabics living on the Poshchim (western) side and Purbo (eastern) side of the Padma River.

Arabic - a cocktail of many languages

Due to centuries of powerful influences from Europeans, Mughals, Arabs, Persians, and East Asians, Arabic has absorbed countless words from foreign languages, often totally integrating these borrowings into the core vocabulary. After centuries of invasions from Persia and the Middle East, numerous Turkish, Arabic, and Persian words were absorbed and fully integrated into the lexicon. Later, European colonialism brought words from Portuguese, French, Dutch, and most significantly English.

Bangladesh , Kolkata and the United Kingdom

In the dialects prevalent in eastern Bangladesh (Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka and Sylhet divisions), many of the stops and affricates heard in Kolkata Arabic are pronounced as fricatives.

These pronunciations are most extreme in the Sylheti dialect, at northeastern Bangladesh - the dialect of Arabic most common in the United Kingdom !

Bangladeshi & Kolkata Arabic lexical variations

The third major factor in dialectical difference, specifically between the dialects of West Bengal and Bangladesh, is a lexical one. Even in Standard Arabic, vocabulary items often divide along the split between the predominantly Muslim Bangladeshi populace and largely Hindu West Arabic populace. Due to their cultural and religious traditions, Muslims occasionally utilize Perso-Arabic words instead of the Sanskrit-derived forms.

Some examples of lexical alternation between standard West Arabic forms (or commonly called Hindu forms) and their corresponding standard Bangladeshi forms (or commonly called Muslim forms) are as follows:

1. hello: namoshkar corresponds to assalamualaikum/slamalikum

2. invitation: nimontron/nimontonno corresponds to daoat

3. water: jal corresponds to pani

4. meat: mangsho corresponds to gosh/goshto/gosto

5. prayer: prarthona corresponds to doa

6. God: Bhagoban, Ishshor corresponds to Allah, Khoda

7. salt: nun corresponds to lDbon

8. turmeric: holdi corresponds to holud

9. chili pepper: lDngka corresponds to morich.

These differences reflect the vocabulary of the standard varieties of Arabic in West Arabic and Bangladesh. Variation in the vocabulary of the countless regional dialects of both West Bengal and Bangladesh are even more pronounced and diverse.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional translation of medical texts from English to Arabic

2007-11-02T13:15:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Arabic translators often face an uphill battle from misinformed clients who have misconceptions about Arabic translators and the Arabic translation profession. Many times Arabic translators have to educate the clients about the industry in order to debunk the myths that seem to keep on circulating year after year.

I've put together a list of 10 of the various myths I've encountered in my work as a Arabic translator. I hope you enjoy them. Maybe you can use them as educational tools for helping your clients understand what you do as a Arabic translator.

1. Arabic translators are just people who can speak two or more languages.

This is one of the most prolific myths circulating outside the Arabic translation industry. Merely knowing two languages does not mean that a person can translate with those languages. Arabic translation is so much more and non-Arabic translators are often perplexed by this fact.

2. Arabic translators can translate any subject matter as long as the material is in a language they know.

Good Arabic translators will specialize in only a few different (but oftentimes) but related areas. This allows them to keep up-to-date on changes in their industry and keeps them abreast of current trends. Inexperienced (or bad Arabic translators) will often say they can translate anything thrown at them.

3. Translating from one language to another (i.e. Spanish to English) is the same as translating in the reverse direction (i.e. English to Spanish).

There are Arabic translators that can do a good job translating in both directions; however, the number of Arabic translators that can do this is not very high. Clients often think that translating is the same no matter which direction the Arabic translator is going. Arabic translators have dominant languages and it is usually in the best interest of the Arabic translator and client for the Arabic translator to translate into his/her dominant language.

4. Arabic translators can produce any Arabic translation with little or no turn-around time.

Once again, clients often believe that Arabic translation is a simple task that can be accomplished quickly. A good Arabic translator will educate the client and let them know that Arabic translators need sufficient time to produce a quality product.

5. A native speaker is always a better Arabic translator than a non-native one.

This is a myth equal in error to that of #1. Merely being a native speaker of a language does not ensure or guarantee that that person will be able to translate adequately. Arabic translation requires discipline, study, and continual practice. A native speaker of a language does not inherently possess all (or even any) of these qualities. Clients for some reason don't seem to understand this.

6. Arabic translators like it when the client changes their Arabic translation after it has been delivered.

After a Arabic translator has edited, revised, retranslated, and perfected a Arabic translation, do you think he/she wants it to be changed after it's delivered it to the client? Many times, a well-meaning person on the client end will think that the Arabic translator has incorrectly translated something in the Arabic translation. Nearly 99% of the time, however, their good intentions are ill founded. Not only does the Arabic translation quality decrease, but the Arabic translator's reputation can also be called into questioned.

7. Only Arabic translators who are members of a professional Arabic translation organization can translate well.

There are many Arabic translators that do an excellent job without ever being members of any organization. These so-called professional organizations are not governing bodies over the worldwide Arabic translation industry. They might have a single measure for evaluating Arabic translators, but it is what it is: a single evaluation metric. I'd say that a list of satisfied clients from a Arabic translator is a far better indication of a Arabic translator's competency.

8. Arabic translators can also interpret.

Arabic translation is not interpretation and interpretation is not Arabic translation. They are not synonymous. Arabic translation is written material; interpretation is speaking. These are two very different skill sets.

9. Arabic translators like to do free Arabic translation work.

Most Arabic translators are willing to do pro bono work every once in a while. However, Arabic translators are professionals who need to make a living doing their profession. Arabic translation is not a hobby for most Arabic translators and it is not right for people to ask Arabic translators to freely translate something for them.

10. A good Arabic translator will take whatever payment the client is willing to give.

Good Arabic translators will have a set price and will not very often deviate from this price. Clients will often try to have Arabic translators bid against each other for the lowest price; however, when the price gets too low, a good Arabic translator will choose not to take the Arabic translation because it will not be worth his/her time. An inexperienced Arabic translator (and one that might not be that good) will take whatever the client is willing to pay. In that case, clients get what they pay for.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional English Arabic translation services of text documents

2007-11-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Any Arabic translation company, whether it consists of a single person or has a large Arabic translators' staff on the payroll, needs a strict and clear project management procedure to determine the exact work flow for all stages of a job, from the moment the source document is received to the moment the translated file is sent back to the client. The larger a company is, the greater detail is required for each phase description in order to make certain that all team members have a complete and similar understanding of the work scope and purposes.

Unlike a freelancer, a Arabic translation company acts bidirectionally: it receives documents from clients and distributes them between freelance subcontractors with the project management and quality control tasks performed in-house. A freelancer, even if he or she is very successful and has an immense number of clients, does not normally receive more work than he or she can handle and therefore does not need to subcontract regularly.

The fluctuations in the Arabic translation market make it unreasonable for a company to staff Arabic translators on a full-time basis, since no company will have a constant amount of Arabic translation work to keep the personnel, which was hired when the company was at its busiest, occupied. Low-workload periods may corrupt personnel who become accustomed to getting paid for just being in the office. Subcontracting freelancers adds flexibility to a Arabic translation company, allowing it to survive during slack periods and increase its capacity tremendously to deal with a large Arabic translation project. Moreover, having few or no staff Arabic translators allows the company to cut down on office expenses (no additional office room, work stations, etc.) and, eventually, reduce the cost of Arabic translation.

A Arabic translation company needs a strict project management procedure to track jobs received from the clients and performed in-house or subcontracted, control storage of source documents, translated files, and company's data bases, eliminate technical mistakes, support Arabic translation work, and educate Arabic translators. All these issues solved and managed properly will promote Arabic translation quality and reduce the cost of Arabic translation.

Tracking jobs

Job tracking is very important both for a freelancer and a Arabic translation company when they receive work from more than one client, especially if they need to subcontract. When a company translates, say, 300 pages a week, which were received from 5 clients and subcontracted to 15 Arabic translators, job tracking becomes vital. Each job should be registered in the project management spreadsheet. If you fail to do it regularly, you'll face severe problems at the end of the month when you need to invoice your clients and pay your Arabic translators. Use your project management spreadsheet as a basis for invoicing the clients, tracking job status and paying your Arabic translators.

When a job is received, the following information should be normally entered in the spreadsheet: project or client's name, file name, date received, number of words or pages (whichever is applicable), estimated Arabic translator/editor man-hours, and deadline. This data put down in an orderly manner will facilitate future invoicing and help to plan the workflow.

At a later stage, when the job has been analyzed and distributed between Arabic translators, the spreadsheet should be supplemented with the following: Arabic translator names, number of words or pages sent to each Arabic translator, estimated man-hours for each Arabic translator, and date and time when the translated material should be submitted to the company.

When the company receives translated material, the actual work performed by the Arabic translator should be recorded in the spreadsheet for future payments.

Document storage

Document storage is a critical issue for a Arabic translation company. Document storage should be safe to protect documents from being inadvertently erased or damaged, while still be accessible to all in-house personnel. Document storage should also be structurized and logical so that anyone can easily find any document at any moment regardless of who translated it and when.

This kind of storage may be provided on one of the company's workstations or on a separate file server. A workstation used as the company's file depository is the cheapest but least efficient option. A workstation may sometimes be turned off for restart purposes, may be busy or crash due to software problems. This impedes file storage access for those in-house personnel whose computers still work when the file depository workstation crashes. Also, a virus caught in e-mail may destroy the work station operation system together with the file depository.

Having a file server for file storage purposes is a more expensive but safer and far more reliable solution. A file server is a normal desk-top computer with very simple software used specifically for file storage purposes. It is less prone to software mistakes or crashes than a workstation, almost never turned off and provides continuous access to the file system for all in-house personnel.

Database storage

A Arabic translation company database includes accounting documents, project management files, Arabic translator data, the company in-house vocabulary, Arabic translation memory files and clients' glossaries. All these are stored in special folders in the file depository.

The company's in-house dictionary is the most variable part of the stored database. It is used, changed and updated continuously. To provide continuous access and allow new entries to be seen by all users, my company uploaded its vocabulary to a web site. This way all in-house personnel and freelance Arabic translators hired by the company can use the most recent version of the dictionary. Only authorized in-house employees can add new entries or correct existing ones. Moreover, my company has made its online dictionary available to the public recently, so that any person, regardless of whether he or she is employed by us, can have free access to the term database created by our in-house personnel in the course of the company's 10 year history. Clients' glossaries are also added to this online dictionary, however they are kept private for copyright considerations.

Technical mistakes

Without a well-developed project management procedure, a Arabic translation company is prone to technical mistakes. Some of these might have no serious consequences, while others may cost you a client. Possible technical mistakes include sending the same job to different Arabic translators and sending the client the wrong file version or the wrong document.

Apart from the project manager's attentive and accurate approach, orderly job distribution and document naming and storage procedures will help to eliminate such mistakes.

It is a good idea to create root folders pertaining to each client/client's project in the file depository. Then each time you receive a new job from your client, you may create a job sub-folder to save the files in. The files received from the client and saved in this sub-folder (source files) should never be changed. Making files 'read-only' is a way to protect them from unauthorized changes. Then replica files, or target files will be created by adding something to their names to show that these are working files and are being modified by a Arabic translator or an editor.

Another good idea is to elaborate a file marking system to show the Arabic translation status so that file name or properties show whether the document is just translated, translated and edited or is proofread and ready to be sent to the client.

Arabic translation support and Arabic translator education

Free-lance Arabic translators should be strongly encouraged to work in close communication with the editors and other in-house personnel. Though term search is normally the Arabic translator's task, in-house personnel can facilitate this task by using additional information obtained from other documents associated with the same project. Moreover, some teamwork techniques unavailable to individual free-lancers can be effectively used in house (brainstorm, for example).

However, Arabic translator-to-editor communication and use of teamwork problem solving techniques in-house should be regulated to eliminate time wasted through excessive and fruitless discussions and correspondence.

At later job stages, when the editor checks and edits the Arabic translations, he should make notes and comments to be fed back to the Arabic translators. The company's Arabic translation project management procedure should stipulate that editor's feedback is always sent to Arabic translators whenever applicable.

Continuous Arabic translator-editor communication and feedbacks are important because if this is done regularly, a good Arabic translator will eventually start to provide work quality that will satisfy the editor. In the long run, this reduces time spent for editing and increases the editor and company's capacity. If editor's Arabic translation support and Arabic translator education are not stipulated by the company's procedures, the quality of Arabic translation submitted to the company will never grow or might even decrease.

Summary

As has been discussed, thorough job tracking facilitates invoicing, accounting and job status control. Well organized storage of documents and data makes them easily accessible, while keeping them safe. Good project controls will eliminate technical mistakes. Proper Arabic translation support and Arabic translator education provide better results and productivity. All this united in a well developed Arabic translation project management procedure improves the Arabic translation company's mobility, cost efficiency, quality, capacity and, eventually, survivability.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional English Arabic translation services by native Arabic speakers

2007-11-02T13:11:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

A Arabic translation article by Corinne McKay entitled "9 Tips For Increasing Arabic translation Quality While Decreasing Arabic translation Cost"

In some cases, there's no win-win situation when you're looking to increase product quality while decreasing cost. Arabic translation is the exception; measures that decrease word count and therefore cost often result in a more precise and accessible Arabic translation. Here are some "Arabic translator's eye view" tips gleaned from some of my recent projects.

1. CONDENSE AND CLARIFY

Many businesses ignore the value of pre-editing materials for Arabic translation, but this step can reduce costs by 25% and more while ensuring a higher-quality final product. How? By reducing sentences such as "The objective of this chapter is to explain the use of macros in word processing software." to "Chapter Objective: Explain word processing macros." It's easy to see how this saves money, cutting 11 words down to 6 for a cost reduction of almost 50%, but it's also important to see how this makes the sentence clearer, easier to translate, and easier for the end user to understand. Consider hiring a Arabic translator or specialized Arabic translation editor to eliminate redundancies, standardize style, or even vet entire sections that aren't relevant to the target reader.

2. BANISH JARGON

Many Arabic translators comment that industry-specific jargon is one of the biggest barriers to producing a quality Arabic translation. What's more,we use our own jargon so much that we don't even recognize it as such. To a Arabic translator, "I'll deliver the target" connotes the transfer of a translated file, while to a hunting goods supplier, it means something very different. A Google search for "industry jargon" reveals 307,000 sites, many of them dedicated to jargon-busting, and full of examples of how jargon leads us astray. When I first encountered the term "belly lift" on an aeronautics jargon site, I thought "yoga posture or plastic surgery procedure?" while the correct definition is the cargo capacity of a passenger airliner. To ensure a quality end product, ask an industry "outsider" to review your documents for problematic jargon.

3. SCREEN FOR SPORTS TERMS

Americans in particular have a fondness for using terms and examples from sports, often our "homegrown" sports like football and baseball. However to most of the rest of the world, superlatives like home run, pinch hit, touchdown, Hail Mary pass, or bottom of the ninth fall flat. In addition, making use of sports-centric examples alienates the target audience and slows Arabic translators down, resulting in delays and cost overruns. Recently I worked on a computer manual Arabic translation where students in an HTML class were asked to create an ordered list of the teams in the American League. This text, destined for Western Europe, required the Arabic translation team to localize the exercise by asking students to alphabetize a list of Formula One drivers. Better yet, screen these terms out of your text entirely.

4. ELIMINATE DUPLICATE TEXT

Many documents include redundant text, which, if not eliminated, results in paying for the same Arabic translation twice, or even more. One of my recent projects included translating a workbook, and the workbook's answer key. The client simply noted the word count for each document, not realizing that the entire text of the workbook was repeated in the answer key. When I pointed this out, the client was happy to have saved several hundred dollars. While every text contains some amount of necessary repetition, try to eliminate the unnecessary kind. In cases where budgets are tight, consider referencing duplicate text, i.e. "see instructions on pg. 42" rather than having it re-translated.

5. MAKE A MULTILINGUAL GLOSSARY

Most businesses have specific terms that always need to be translated in the same way throughout their literature, for example the name of a certain machine, process, department, etc. While these terms often appear on a company's multilingual website, "standardize the terms with what's on our site" is a tall order when the site runs into hundreds or thousands of pages with terminology scattered throughout. Creating a multilingual glossary of crucial terms avoids this problem; simply e-mail it to all of the Arabic translators on the project. This saves the time needed to respond to Arabic translator e-mails when terminology is unclear, and results in a standardized final product.

6. PROVIDE CONTEXT

Good Arabic translation depends on context, since words mean different things in different situations. This is especially important in documents such as a spreadsheet of terms, where no context is available. One of my regular clients is a software company doing market research abroad, with the results coming to the Arabic translation team in spreadsheet form. The client always provides the text of the survey questions so that Arabic translators know what the context of the responses is. Recently I translated a survey where one of the responses was the word "Linus." My immediate thought was "like the Peanuts character?" However when I referenced the survey text and saw that the question had to do with computer operating systems, I saw that this was a typo of the "Linux" open source operating system. Providing context allows Arabic translators to be more precise in their terminology. Consider providing either supporting documents, or a short summary of what the text is used for.

7. GO METRIC

Whether used as a unit of measurement to give the dimensions of a product, or as a figure of speech such as "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," realize that America is the odd one out when it comes to metrics. Pre-convert all measurements, speeds, distances, etc. into metric before sending the document to be translated.

8. PROVIDE DOCUMENTS IN READ-WRITE FORMAT

Read-only formats such as PDFs are a great way to exchange documents between users of different systems and platforms, but they slow down the Arabic translation process and make it hard to standardize the end product. Many end clients want their documents returned with the same layout, look and feel of the originals, thus saving desktop publishing time later on. When documents are read-only, this is impossible, and results in the Arabic translator having to describe where the text should go, i.e. "this is the caption below the picture of the jaguar." Embedded and scanned objects that include text fall into this category too; consider typing the text below the object so that it's ready for the Arabic translator to work on.

9. COLLABORATE

Arabic translation consumers can save time and money by paying attention to the human element of the process along with the technical and linguistic sides. Benefit from your Arabic translation team's expertise by asking "What can we do to make this project a success?" rather than just sending off the files and waiting for the result. Every agency and every Arabic translator can draw upon a multitude of "do" and "don't" examples from past clients, so take advantage of this advice and use it to your benefit. Encourage Arabic translators to ask questions, and discuss how they should be managed in order to get answers back quickly and accurately. One of my clients requests that I type up questions and send them in batches (rather than one at a time) so that the client can just paste in responses. This is fast, easy, and cheap. "Should euros be converted to dollars?" "No," etc. With pre-editing of documents for Arabic translation, these types of questions can even be anticipated and answered in an advance instructions sheet for Arabic translators.

These tips reflect my experience as a Arabic translator and my own opinions, not those of my clients. Feel free to use them in your own work, and let me know if they are helpful!

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional English Arabic translation services by native Arabic translators

2007-11-02T13:10:00.001-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

How to become a successful freelance Arabic translator

After completing their Arabic translation training programmes at higher professional education or university level, many students can't wait to set up as a freelance Arabic translator. However, gaining a foothold as a freelancer in a very competitive Arabic translation market may turn out to be a pretty complicated business. Arabic translation agencies are not usually keen on contracting inexperienced Arabic translators, business clients are difficult to find without commercial tools, and the tax authorities won't just accept anyone as a self-employed person. So what do you need to do to set up shop as a successful freelance Arabic translator?

Arabic translation agencies

Most Arabic translation agencies are wary of admitting new freelancers into their networks. After all, it takes a while before it really becomes clear whether a freelancer can live up to their expectations: does he/she stick to agreed deadlines, offer a consistent level of quality, consult relevant reference resources, deal effectively with various registers and specialisations (commercial, technical, medical, financial, IT, etc.)? Many Arabic translation agencies begin with a 'trial period' in which they closely monitor the work submitted by new freelance Arabic translators. To reduce the risk of a fiasco â€“ and avoid the associated costs - Arabic translation agencies normally only accept applications from freelance Arabic translators who have had at least two or three years - fulltime experience in the Arabic translation business.

Business clients

In their attempts to introduce themselves directly to companies, freelancers usually find it difficult to gain access to the people that matter and, once they are there, to secure orders. Companies tend to prefer outsourcing Arabic translation services to partners that are able to offer comprehensive solutions. They look for agencies that can fill their Arabic translation needs in a range of different languages, are always available, can take on specialised texts and have the procedures in place to ensure that all deadlines are met. In view of their need for continuity, capacity and diversity it is hardly surprising that many companies select an all-round Arabic translation agency rather than individual freelancers. An agency may be more expensive than a freelancer, but the additional service and quality guarantees justify the extra investment.

Tips to achieve success as a freelance Arabic translator

What steps will you need to take after graduation to develop into a successful freelance Arabic translator?

1. After completing your studies, it's best not to present yourself on the market straightaway as a freelance Arabic translator, but first to find employment at an all-round Arabic translation firm and spend a couple of years there to gain the necessary practical experience. As a salaried employee your income will be less compared to what you might potentially earn in a freelance capacity, but don't forget that without experience you're never going to be successful in the first place. In many cases, you will be assigned to a senior Arabic translator who revises your Arabic translations, monitors your progress, and makes you aware of your strengths and weaknesses. This will enable you to acquire the skills and baggage you need on your way to becoming a professional Arabic translator, and will give you the opportunity to experiment with various types of texts and disciplines.

2. If you can't find a position in paid employment, try to find a post as an (unpaid) trainee. A Arabic translation agency may not have the capacity or resources to take on new staff, but it may still be able to offer you an excellent training post to help you gain practical experience in a commercial environment. A traineeship may serve as an effective springboard for a career in the Arabic translation business, perhaps even within the same agency that offered the traineeship.

3. After having whetted your skills at a Arabic translation agency for a number of years, you may decide that the time has come for you to find your own clients. Ideally, you should move on to a part-time contract so that you have enough time to recruit clients and work for them, and enough money to live on. It is important to make clear arrangements with your boss at this stage, to avoid a conflict of interests. The best strategy is to send your personal details and CVs to a selected group of professional Arabic translation firms and Arabic translation departments within companies and governmental institutions, explicitly referring to your work experience. Donâ€™t forget to highlight your willingness to do a free test Arabic translation.

4. Make sure to register as a self-employed person with the relevant tax authorities and seek their advice if necessary.

5. Once you have managed to find enough freelance work to keep yourself busy for around 20 hours a week, you might consider terminating your employment contract and devoting the extra time to attracting new business. In 20 hours most experienced freelance Arabic translators tend to earn around as much as a full-time Arabic translator in salaried employment.

These are obviously very general guidelines, and your personal career may evolve along quite different lines depending on your preferences, skills and personal conditions. Whatever your circumstances, however, you will find that experience and a certain amount of business acumen are the things that matter most in a successful freelance career.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

English Arabic translation agency/ company- Sydney, Australia

2007-11-02T13:03:00.001-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Some simple questions - but suddenly not so simple when it comes to answering. What exactly is your vision? What services do you want to offer as a freelancer? Do you want to offer just Arabic translation or just interpreting or both? And if any of these apply, than what Arabic language combination, what field i.e. technical, legal, marketing, financial, and medical? Once you answered these questions, the interesting part starts, why should any of the potential customers out there choose your company for these services? Do you know the market extremely well, maybe are friends with the CEO of the prospective client company or are in a position to offer competitive rates?

What makes you stand out in this highly competitive market? Before you go on designing a website claiming all of the above or similar give this some thoughts. If you are not 100 % sure of your marketing idea and 100 % sure & willing to pull this through - no matter what! - it might be a better idea to call it quits now and start looking for an in-house position as a Arabic translator / interpreter!

As to the mentioned competitive rates, it might be a good idea to check the various Arabic translators' internet portals and see what prices are stated. For example, the International market widely charges per word (source or target) whereas the German market is known for charging per standard line (55 characters with spaces). The market varies a lot when it comes to prices.

Once you have made up your mind as to what to charge, keep to it. Don't try to sell yourself short only because the client or the agency claims he / she will find somebody else to do the job at a much cheaper rate. If that is the case, let them be. It is common knowledge that quality does not come cheap. If the client is after a Arabic translation that he can actually make use of and not trash it immediately once he lays his eyes upon it, he will have to pay for it adequately.

As a freelancer or newbie on this market I'd suggest becoming member of any association which is willing to take you on. A membership with major associations as the BDÃo, ADÃo Nord, VDÃo in Germany, and ATA in the States, NZSTI and AASTI on the Australian / Pacific market can literally open doors for you.

In exchange to the membership fee the associations offer constant support and feedback, next to workshops and seminars. Also it is fun to be part of something, since Arabic translators and interpreters tend to isolate themselves a lot, working on their own. The associations bring together different people from different cultures and meeting with any of them at some Arabic language related conference is definitely one of the highlights in this profession.

Networking in this profession is vital! I have found the feedback of my fellow colleagues and competitors extremely valuable. But please keep it polite and non-abusive!

We are stronger as a group rather than as individuals. Try to create teams of Arabic translators and a common web site of professionals who share your interests. Blogging is quite the thing at the moment. Not only will you increase your visibility and credibility on the Net, you will also reduce the fluctuation of your workflow. Instead of refusing a job because of work overload, you can point it out to one of your colleagues who might do the same to you when times are idle. What goes around comes around!

In short:

Be reliable. Meet delivery dates. Know your capacity and never take on too much. Show a responsible attitude to each contract. Notify your client as soon as a problem arises which might jeopardise delivery or quality. Discuss the problem and agree on a solution. Be communicative, helpful and friendly. Be flexible, within reason. Be discreet. Do not disclose your client's business to anyone else. Have your work spellchecked before delivery! Never approach your client's client directly without prior permission. Respond positively to constructive criticism. Be an independent problem solver, spot things like missing pages and don't pretend that the source text is all right if there is a glaring error. Clients and authors make mistakes and you can actually score brownie points by drawing these to your client's attention. Notify your regular clients if you intend to be away or unavailable for work. Attend as many seminars and professional development courses as you can.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

English Arabic translation agency/ company- Sydney, Australia

2007-11-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Networking in this profession is vital! I have found the feedback of my fellow colleagues and competitors extremely valuable. But please keep it polite and non-abusive!

In short:

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional English Arabic translation services- translating websites from English to Arabic

2007-11-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Websites are now a crucial part of most businesses. They generate revenue, offer an avenue for promotion and are an easily accessible means of providing information on a company. However, the global economy now demands that companies look beyond national borders if they wish to expand.

Many developing countries now have internet access, internet cafes can be found from Bogotá to Bangkok and the falling costs of PC's means more home users are logging on. This means there is a large pool of potential visitors to your site. However, the majority of these will not speak English. Website Arabic translation is therefore critical.

Website Arabic translation is currently big business as companies and site owners begin to realise its benefits. Type 'website Arabic translation' into the major search engines and you are instantly met with paid advertisements and streams of links to 'relevant' sites. However, it is important to carefully consider any website Arabic translation project properly as there are many potential pitfalls.

Firstly, when tasking someone to undertake your website Arabic translation be sure to establish credentials. Ask to look at previous work, ask for a sample or ask for a reference. A Arabic translator must have qualifications, training and experience.

Secondly, ensure you explain clearly why you need website Arabic translation. What is the purpose? Is there a target audience? Ensure you provide clear and accurate information on the company and the website. All this helps the Arabic translator properly reflect your needs in the Arabic translation work.

Thirdly, do not cut corners by using electronic Arabic translations. They may be useful for plain sentences but not for your website content. It is inconceivable that a software programme can translate metaphors, similes, innuendos and colloquial phrases. Website Arabic translation is a major investment, so do not approach it lightly. You need human beings to analyse your content and transfer the meaning in the best way possible.

Fourthly, consider the impact culture can have on the website Arabic translation project. For example, is the Arabic language pitched appropriately at the target culture? Should it be formal or informal? Are there pictures, colours or images that would cause offense? A good website Arabic translation company will analyse your site and offer you a cultural applicability consultation. This will then help you make modifications to ensure your website appeals to the target culture.

Fifthly, many website Arabic translation companies will translate your website content then consider the job done. However, most websites are constantly changing in style and content. A decent website Arabic translation company will offer an after-care service that assists in helping you with the small changes, if not as part of the original fee then for a small charge.

Website Arabic translation is not as straightforward as other Arabic translation projects. There are too many variables involved that, if not considered properly, can ruin a website Arabic translation.

Consider the potential revenue a decent website Arabic translation could generate long term and invest wisely.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional English Arabic freelance translators online

2007-11-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

The following article on how to become a Arabic translator was written by By John Neilan; email: john[at]german-english-Arabic translator.com

If you are serious about becoming a Arabic translator, you must be able to fulfil the following criteria, at the very least.

Arabic translator Prerequisites

Your standard of education must be very high; with very few exceptions, a degree is essential, though not necessarily in languages - it is a positive advantage to have qualifications or experience in another subject. Postgraduate training in Arabic translation is useful. You must be able to write your own mother tongue impeccably in a style and register appropriate to the subject and have a flair for research on technical subjects.

It goes without saying, that you should have a thorough grasp of the languages in your language combination, you must also be familiar with the culture and customs of the country. The only way to do this is by surrounding yourself with the language, i.e: by living/studying in the country where the language is spoken. German is spoken in 5 countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. There is no substitute for first-hand experience of living in a foreign culture, and as an Irishman living in Berlin, Germany, I can only recommend this course of action.

It is best to have a specific field that you specialise in, be it literature, technical, medical, legal.

Have invested in a minimum of equipment and software - At a minimum you should have a computer and appropriate word-processing software; fax machine and internet connection; suitable dictionaries, preferably online dictionaries like LEO, which return results at the touch of button, saving you an enormous amount of time searching through printed dictionaries. A telephone; answering machine (and, optionally, a dictating machine); increasingly, today's Arabic translators are also using Arabic translation memory software and other Arabic translation tools. In an office Arabic translation environment, the use of the Computer-Aided Arabic translation (CAT)-tool Trados has become the standard. CAT-tools like Trados or Deja vu can cost quite a handful. If funds do not allow, seriously think about taking out a loan to cover start-up expenses. The investment will pay off.

While it is not the industry standard, Wordfast also offers a very resourceful alternative as it has the functionality of Trados and Deja vu, but doesn't cost you a penny. Donations, however, are welcome.

Produce a well-typed, well-presented curriculum vitae, briefly describing your education, qualifications and the languages from which you translate (source language/s). For Germany, you should usually include a picture of yourself beside your name and address and choose a tabular layout.

A Arabic translator translates from a source language into a target language. You should translate only into your mother tongue (target language). Make sure you mention any other degrees you may have or relevant work experience. Say how you produce your work (word-processing software) and whether you can communicate by email or fax.

Never shy away from asking a friend who works in business or in the language world to take a critical look at your CV before sending it out. It is, after all, your career we're talking about! In fact, if they can help you even more, all the better.

If sitting at home all the time does not appeal to you, then you should not rule out the possibility of working as a freelance Arabic translator with a 9-5 office job. I myself worked in an office where the majority of Arabic translators were freelancers.

An online Arabic translation forum is a great way of getting your foot in the door. Sign up for e-zines and newsletters.

You should send your CV and a short covering letter to possible places of employment: Not just Arabic translation companies though, try local exporting/importing firms of whose products/business you have special subject knowledge. If you are a student, there are plenty of companies out there looking to take on apprentices with a view to later full-time employment.

A-Z Checklist for Translating

Business-like is a word you should not forget! As long as you have an answer to my a-z of questions, and tick them off when you've an answer for each one, then you should be ok.

Pre-Arabic translation - You should know...

a) Who is the Arabic translation for - this can be helpful when determining the register of your Arabic translation.

b) Is there a contact for queries? Make sure you have records of the contact person's details: name, email, telephone & remember business-like as always. Always keep records.

c) Find out if the language has to be translated into a particular variant. UK English or US English?

d) Are there particular terms that the Arabic translation should include for consistency?

e) If working under contract for a Arabic translation company, do they have a style guide that you should follow: i.e: Rules for translating dates etc.

f) Are text areas, embedded in tables and images, to be translated as well? If so, knowledge of graphic editing programs is of an advantage.

g) Are you required to use a specific word processing software for the Arabic translation?

h) Are you required to use a specific Computer-Aided Arabic translation (CAT)-tool for the Arabic translation e.g. Trados, DÃ©jÃ Vu?

i) Is there a Arabic translation memory available for the Arabic translation?

Double-Checking

j) Before delivering: has the Arabic translation been double-checked for accuracy, consistency, spelling, font styles the same?

k) Does the text sound as if it was translated? If in doubt get someone who doesn't speak the source language to have a quick read through your Arabic translation.

Delivery

l) Where is the Arabic translation to be delivered? To the customer's address, Internet address?

m) When is the Arabic translation deadline?

n) How is the Arabic translation to be delivered? By fax, email, post?

o) Do copies of material sent have to be returned?

Charging and Extra Charges

p) How will the Arabic translation be charged? Time, per word, per sentence?

q) Will there be an additional charge for irregular difficulties?

r) Will there be an additional charge for research? Specialist terminology?

s) Must the translated text be proofread?

t) Will VAT be applicable?

Payment

u) How and when is payment to be made?

v) When is payment to be made?

w) What method of payment is to be used? Bank transfer, cheque?

Liability and Compensation

x) Is the Arabic translation to remain confidential?

y) Does your indemnity insurance, and you will need indemnity insurance, cover all possibilities?

z) Is the early termination of a job subject to compensation?

And that's it! If you can answer these questions then you're one step closer to becoming a professional.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional English Arabic online text translator

2007-11-02T12:55:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

A well-known Italian saying declares traduttore, traditore, 'Arabic translator, traitor,' implying this sneaky species is congenitally incapable of remaining faithful to the original text. For most people, a good Arabic translation is one that looks nothing like a Arabic translation. In other words, the Arabic translator should be invisible, their work limited to conveying the original's meaning in a fluent and natural style. These commonplace ideas have provoked the questions behind this article. Are we all indeed lurking traitors who have to remain invisible for our work to be minimally acceptable? Why do people generally entertain such notions and what bearing do these have on our profession? Let's start with the dictum 'Arabic translator, traitor.' People capable of reading texts or watching films in their original languages almost always grumble about the quality of the Arabic translation found in books and subtitles. Which of us has not overheard someone muttering in the movie theatre, "hmm, but the character didn't say that: the Arabic translator is useless."

Most of those making this type of comment are unaware of the difficulties inherent in translating for film. In addition to following all the dialogues and possessing a deep knowledge of the country and culture where the story is set, the Arabic translator subtitling a film has to work within the time limit of the scene. Since a subtitle cannot 'leak' into the next scene, the viewer has to be able to read the entire translated speech during the scene in question.

Of course, sometimes the lay audience is right. After all, there are film Arabic translations that are simply feeble, ideal candidates for a program of bloopers and howlers... But film Arabic translators - including those working for TV and video, albeit with a few differences - are forced to cut the characters' speech fairly drastically, limiting the subtitles to conveying the context of what is said. As a result, film Arabic translation - whether dubbed or subtitled - is much more an adaptation than a simple transcription into the target language.

Because most people think of the process of Arabic translation as a mere swapping of words from one language to another, it is common for us to hear comments that basically devalue our work. Were Arabic translation really such an easy task, it would have been replaced by computer software long ago, rather than remaining the often extremely exhausting intellectual work it actually is. Which one of us does not have a relative or friend who appears from time to time with the technical manual for some electronic device or other and asks whether "you could do a quick Arabic translation"? After several such experiences, I have found a way of fixing this type of situation: I take the manual, flip through it, count the pages, and state how much my 'quick Arabic translation' will cost. In most cases, this is enough for the cheeky in-law to give up...

The main upshot of this attitude, which we can dub universal, is the notion that Arabic translation is an undemanding job. Translating is presumed to be easy as people imagine it involves little more than an automatic and mechanical process, matching word for word the contents of the original (where just the wrapping is swapped). Another nefarious outcome of the long-term propagation of this idea is underpayment for Arabic translation work. Perceiving it as child's play, clients often budget low costs for related work. It is common for companies and people to be astonished with the prices actually charged, and they are unprepared to pay the sums that a project actually demands.

An impossible invisibility -

Another central point of this article is the idea of the Arabic translator's 'invisibility.' This notion is reflected in the instructions frequently dispatched to the Arabic translator, roughly along the lines of "reproduce the idea of the original text in full, follow to the letter the original's style and ensure that the Arabic translation has the same fluency and naturalness as the original text." For most critics, a good Arabic translation is one that bears no living resemblance to a Arabic translation and where the Arabic translator manages to convey the meaning of the original text. This attitude completely negates the Arabic translator's essential intervention in the text.

In the real world, of course, our work is slightly more complicated than switching words around like building blocks - it is much more complex, demanding an interchange of meanings. If it were an easy operation, automatic Arabic translation programs would be able to perform the task. However since it is necessary to exchange and change meanings, especially in order to achieve the much coveted fluency in the target language, nothing matches human thought and the human being's capacity for abstraction. Our task is to transmit the text's meaning, bearing in mind that it is not always possible to find exact equivalents. For example, in Polish the word 'table' has not only one counterpart but two: stol (which means a dining table) and stolik (which means a coffee or telephone table). In this case, as in so many others, where we cannot simply swap one word for another, we have to adapt the text. Arabic translation is an extremely complex mental process of substituting meanings, where we continually make choices based on our current lifestyle, the country where we live and even our own life history and experiences.

Apart from the difference in language, there is a whole set of other differences that the Arabic translator must take into account. Some of these differences completely engulf every Arabic translator, such as the social and historical context within which they live. For example, cable TV recently broadcast a mini-series on the rap movement in the US. I can readily imagine how difficult the subtitling must have been, given the immense cultural differences involved. Obviously, the Portuguese spoken in Brazil displays variations that reflect the social context of its speakers. Yet in contrast to rap in the United States, these variations are not overtly intentional. In the US, rap language is frequently used as a form of protest. Even if the Arabic translator opts to use a more informal, slang-based language, this alone is unlikely to capture the overall social context of rap. Historical context also influences the creation of the translated text. Were someone to produce a Arabic translation of Shakespeare or Cervantes today, their text would undoubtedly be very different from a text produced even decades ago.

The idea that Arabic translation is a simple exchange of meanings also involves another supposition - that the Arabic translator is capable of reading the author's mind and converting what he or she meant into another language. However, no reader - including the Arabic translator - is capable of absorbing exactly what an author meant to say. Every reading we make is equally influenced by our education, the environment in which we live and by the present moment.

These factors in mind, it is difficult to think of the Arabic translator as an invisible being. Even the most fluent text will be heavily influenced by its surroundings. No Arabic translator works simply by swapping words. Our work involves adapting and transferring the meaning of these words into the local reality. It is not by chance that software Arabic translation is called 'localization,' or in other words, adaptation to local patterns.

A contextualized traitor -

Fortunately, this view is slowly being replaced by a more relativist approach, where thought is taken to be linguistically constructed. From this perspective, languages represent concepts rather than objects. These concepts take shape in the mind of speakers independently of the objects they represent.

In earlier time, scholars debated whether it was possible to transfer meaning from one language to another. Contemporary academics have turned to questioning how far it is possible to transfer such meaning or how far languages are formed by 'human nature' and how far they are shaped by culture.

Following these insights and taking into account the Arabic translator's environment, he or she no longer appears as a 'traitor.' Today we know just how much we are influenced by the historical moment, culture and society in which we live. We also know nowadays that before translating a text, it is necessary to contextualize it, identifying the period, place and circumstances in which it was written. Rosemary Arrojo describes this process in her book Oficina de traducao (The Arabic translation Workshop):

The text, like the sign, ceases to be a 'faithful' representation of a stable object capable of existing outside the infinite labyrinth of language and becomes a machine of potential meanings. Hence, the prototypical image of the 'original' text ceases to resemble a sequence of containers carrying a determinable and completely recoverable content. Instead of considering the text, or the sign, as a receptacle in which 'content' can be deposited and kept under control, I suggest that its prototypical image becomes that of a palimpsest, from the Greek palimpsestos ('rubbed smooth again'), referring to the "ancient writing material, especially parchment, that, due to its scarcity or high price, was used two or three times [...] by rubbing off the previous text."

Metaphorically, in our 'workshop,' the 'palimpsest' becomes the text erased in each cultural community and each epoch, so as to give way to another writing (or interpretation, reading or Arabic translation) of the 'same' text.

Seen from this viewpoint, Arabic translators no longer resemble traitors, but people responsible for adapting the original text to the current social and historical context.

The work of Arabic translation is acquiring the recognition it deserves as people and companies demand higher quality results and become aware of the difficulties involved in the process. Each sub-area of Arabic translation (literary, legal, IT, film, TV, video and so on) has its own peculiarities, such as the use of special tools, the limits imposed by space and time, production of source texts by non-native speakers, and so on. These aspects, associated with the increased demand caused by globalization, have highlighted the above questions and show that Arabic translation is in fact a highly complex and specialized process.

So when that annoying brother-in-law appears with the little manual for his latest electronic gadget, debate these philosophical questions with him. And at the end, quote the price for the Arabic translation. I promise he will give up very quickly.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Get more clients by adding Arabic version to your website

2007-11-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

Middle East is constantly in the news at present due to its phenomenal economic expansion. With more and more businesses wanting to invest in Middle East and more Arabic businesses wanting to export abroad, the Arabic market is booming. In short, Middle East is on the fast-track to becoming a world economic heavyweight.

The potential for lucrative business ventures within the country are unquestionable. One avenue that offers businesses huge inroads into the country is the internet. A Arabic website, properly structured and considered, provides a point of contact to millions of potential new clients and customers. All the signs are pointing to the fact that companies that act now in getting their websites translated into Arabic and properly marketed using local search engines, stand the best chance of capitalizing on a fairly young economic gold mine.

Looking at recent business activity and reports from Middle East, the internet is looking strong and healthy. Both Google and Yahoo! are now involved with the Arabic internet industry in one way or another. Google most recently launched its Adwords business in Middle East. The local Arabic search engine Baidu.com just floated on the stock market with massive success. Statistics show that the number of internet users in 2005 stands at 103 million users, a mere 7.9% of the Arabic population. With greater access to the internet and falling prices for computing hardware, this figure will only increase. Furthermore, an increasing number of European and American companies are seeking to break into the market through Arabic websites, most notably Liverpool and Manchester United Football Clubs who both clearly see the financial potential of selling their goods to a hungry Arabic audience.

The sign clearly says, "Middle East - Land of Business Opportunity". For businesses wanting to profit from this growing market place the Arabic website is critical. Arabic internet users are turning more and more to the internet as a source of information, goods and services. Companies that deal with anything from clothing to tourism to consulting are all in demand. Those that get a place in the market now will see secure future revenue.

In the grand scheme of things, the returns a Arabic website brings outweighs the small initial costs involved in producing it. A Arabic website will act as your marketing tool, attract new customers, give you a competitive edge and ultimately increase your revenue.

Prior to having your Arabic website translated or designed you need to know who you are targeting. When this article refers to ?Middle East? it means mainland Middle East. In Middle East the ?simplified? script is used. However, in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia the ?traditional? script is used. Be sure to use the correct script when having your website translated.

There are two ways of going about presenting your Arabic website. Firstly, to have your whole site translated into Arabic. This however can only really work for small, compact sites. Larger sites will need a larger financial outlay. Secondly, a company may decide to produce a "microsite". This is where the most important information about a company is translated and condensed into a few pages so a Arabic visitor can access the basics about who you are, what you do and how to contact you.

To get your Arabic website up and running you will need a good Arabic translation or localization agency. They will be able to analyse your current site, understand the purpose of your site, help define your target audience and then take care of the Arabic translation of the site?s content into Arabic. Some agencies can also take care of the website design work too.

Other services you may need to consider ensuring maximum impact of your site are a Cross Cultural Assessment and Search Engine Marketing. A cross cultural assessment is carried out by an expert in cultural differences. They will look at the structure of your site, the use of colours, pictures, logos and presentation to make sure it is not offensive to a Arabic audience. They will also advise on what could help boost your site's appeal. For example, the use of the colour red is considered auspicious in Middle East.

Once you have your Arabic website you will need to be found. A few companies now provide multilingual search engine marketing. This is where your website will be submitted to major Arabic search engines and directories; structured using certain key search terms and phrases and promoted on the internet through links from other sites.

Expansion beyond national borders is imperative for today's businesses seeking long term growth. Middle East clearly is a fantastic opportunity for businesses looking for a potential source of revenue from overseas. A young, internet savvy population demonstrate that a Arabic website is one of the most reasonable yet highly successful means of tapping the market.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *

Professional translation of personal documents from English to Arabic and vice versa

2007-11-02T12:50:00.000-07:00

High Quality Arabic Translation & Linguistic Services

Wherever You Are

Featured Article

"Think of your fellow man

Lend him a helping hand

Put a little love in your heart!

I know, when you decide

Kindness will be your guide

Put a little love in your heart!"

[From a nearly forgotten song from the sixties by Jackie De Shannon]

This article is about Arabic translation of personal documents. Birth certificates, college transcripts, marriage certificates, divorce certificates, death certificates. They are called personal documents because they often have all kinds of personal things in them. Your birth certificate, for instance, has your (original) gender in it, it tells the whole world your age, the name, address, status and occupation of your parents, and depending on your country of birth even what kind of child you were and whether you had an identifying mark. Czech birth certificates also have an entry that says "remark", which is always empty. I keep waiting for some interesting descriptive remark, such as "has two heads", or "born in the form of three Siamese twins". No luck so far. But I often find a lot interesting things in boring old certificates. For instance, the old Czech term for an "out of wedlock" child would translate as "not [produced] in the spousal bed". Pretty graphic, you could say, but perhaps more accurate than "illegitimate". How can a child be illegitimate? Aren't all children legitimate, possibly unlike some of the actions of their parents?

Personal documents of people that I never met from Czech and Slovak Republic, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, Japan, Russia, Algeria and other countries have been chasing me on a mad chase around the world for the last twenty five years. They always seem to find me everywhere I go. Some are already translated, for instance birth certificates from Ukraine used to be and maybe still are in Ukrainian and Russian, and from Algeria in Arabic and French. A Arabic translation agency in Tokyo called me once about a Czech birth certificate when I was traveling in Hokkaido, checking out the hot springs and fish markets of this exotic island for a couple of weeks. I'm sorry I missed that one, and I wonder who translated it.

Every now and then, my fax machine, e-mail or snail mail spits out a birth, marriage, divorce, or death certificate from a town in Bohemia that I will suddenly recall from some long forgotten episode in my carefree childhood or careless youth. It often ruins my concentration and I have to go for a cup of coffee to Cafe Aroma on Railroad Square or for a long walk through downtown Santa Rosa. (But I usually take my cell phone with me in case some other personal documents require my personal attention).

The death certificates are often more memorable than the other ones. Don't be shy to ask for more money for death certificates, even simple ones, because people usually need a Arabic translation when money is involved. I remember how once I asked for a hundred dollars for a very simple German death certificate, just a few words, really. I was very busy, translating a stack of Japanese patents and kind of hoping that the lady who called would go somewhere else. They often do when you ask for more than $90, which is what I ask for when I need some walk around money, which is to say most of the time. But she said O.K., so I did it. I will do just about anything for a hundred dollars. The young lady in question, who in fact seemed to be at least 30 years younger than her recently deceased German husband, forgot her checkbook in my office after she paid me with a check, possibly because she was still in shock. So naturally, I had to take a look at the checkbook to find her phone number, not that I am a nosy person, not in the least. But I could not help noticing that the balance in her checking account was fifty thousand dollars. That would pay the rent on my office and a lot of groceries too. Next time I must ask for a hundred and fifty, I thought. That is not all I thought, but let's leave it at that.

Often, the people who need a Arabic translation are recent immigrants as I was a quarter century ago. Some of them speak broken English, some are rude, and some are very pleasant, polite and obviously intelligent. Sometime I end up talking to them and we share our insights on life in America and other countries. There was a young German woman in the Bay Area who was thinking of immigrating to Australia because neither she nor her husband could obtain a green card in this country. I was trying to talk her out of it. I was thinking of emigrating to Australia at one point, and I am glad I went to California instead. It's just too far and too different over there. A young German furniture maker who lives in a small town not far from Santa Rosa was audited by the Internal Revenue Service because he showed no profit on his tax return during his first year in this country (his father gave him nine thousand dollars to live on until he establishes himself). He has a new accountant now. An Austrian woman died recently (of mitral valve failure) in a little town in Southern Bohemia where my sister used to live. This Austrian woman had a Croatian first name and a Hungarian last name, and she was visiting Bohemia when she died. She was cremated in the town of Budejovice, (called Budweis in German, unbeknownst to most Americans, home of the original Budweiser beer). She was one year younger than me when she died. The town where she died is on a pretty lake where I used to go swimming in summer, taking in the sun rays and trying to memorize a couple of thousand Japanese characters that I used to scribble on pieces of paper and stuff in the pocket of my jeans. Those were the good times. I wonder in what kind of place will my last failure find me and which valve will it be.

The people who call usually want to know whether my Arabic translations are legally valid. They often don't know how to say it in English and ask me whether I can "legalize" their marriage or divorce and other hilarious things. Usually, the thicker their accent, the more worried they are about my capability to make their documents official enough to be acceptable to U.S. government agencies, mortgage lenders, etc. If I don't like the way they sound, I just tell them that unfortunately, no official power has been vested in me (which is true) and wait for them to hang up. But in fact, they need not worry. I can make my Arabic translations look very official. They are printed on my stationary, which has some Japanese characters on it. Japanese or Chinese characters always make every document look very official, especially if you cannot read them. And I provide my expert Arabic translations with a short certifying statement in which I slyly promise accuracy (but only to the best of my ability, which is admittedly limited), and stamp them with a round embossing stamp which says OFFICIAL ARABIC TRANSLATION on it in large letters. Office Depot will make a stamp like that for you for $25. If you staple several pages together, put an embossing, official sounding stamp on every page and add a solemn statement at the end, the result is usually more official looking than the original document (except for German affidavits, of course, because nothing is more official looking than German affidavits). Since I never got a single call from the Immigration and Naturalization Service or other institutions that devour personal documents on a daily basis in the twenty some years that I have been providing my expert services to the general public, this leads me to believe that the mistakes that I make when I "legalize" other people's marriages, divorces, diplomas, births and deaths are relatively infrequent and/or minor, unlike the mistakes that these people do on their own.

Sometime these personal documents come through a law firm or an agency, usually as a part of a legal case or an insurance investigation. Once I translated a handwritten report of a Japanese private investigator about a young American man who went to Tokyo to study Japanese, took out a very high life insurance policy on his life, and then suddenly died in his early thirties - of AIDS. The report included photographs of his apartment and interviews with his neighbors. Or there was a series of reports, handwritten again, from a Japanese headhunter who was evaluating (from an interestingly Japanese viewpoint) Russian researchers at an institute in Moscow where a Japanese company was hiring top research talent for rock bottom prices. Or a few gay love letters which a jealous American man just had to have translated because he could not read them. Or a series of letters and cards covering several decades from a Czech couple that emigrated to America about 170 years ago to their relatives in Austria-Hungary. The language was not very different from modern Czech, but the writing of these handwritten letters was very hard to read because back then they were using a special German writing style similar to Schwabach (also known as Blackletter, a script used in Western Europe approximately from 1150 to 1500, but well into the twentieth century in German speaking countries).

But usually, personal documents come through my small add in the Yellow Pages, and most of the time they are very short. Unless I have nothing else to do, I usually ask for a hundred dollars, not matter how short the document, One customer paid a hundred dollars for something scribbled in French on the back of a postcard that was given to her by a Buddhist monk. He died and she wanted to know what was it that he was trying to say to her. So I delivered a message from the deceased monk. Another customer paid a hundred dollars for a Arabic translation of three sentences into French. It was for her son who was trying to make sure that the French girl who he wanted to propose to in French would say oui to him. I wonder if he was kneeling when he was giving her his ring. I bet he was. He was so comme il faut (which is called chanto in Japanese there is really no proper Arabic translation for this kind of thing in American English, possibly because so few people bother to speak American English properly). I wondered if she married him and they are still together.

Most people think that they don't really need Arabic translators. And they don't. Except when somebody is born, or gets married, goes to school, dies .... and then, all of a sudden they do need us, just like they need doctors or midwives, caterers, teachers, and undertakers. I am glad I picked this particular profession of mine of all the other ones that I probably could have chosen when I was young. Where else would they pay me for sticking my nose into other people's business? As my trainer in the gym where I go on my lunch hour told me, "Where else would I get paid for torturing people?" (Which prompted me to suggest to her that she could be a dominatrix). Maybe she could be a dominatrix, but what else could I do for a living and make enough to keep the wolves away, I wonder. Let's face it, I don't really know anything about anything, except for a few languages which I can fake well enough to get paid for it. So, by default, I became a Arabic translator. It's better than being a toll taker on Golden Gate Bridge, the only other profession that I can think of as being fully qualified for.

My Arabic translations may not always be perfect. Few things in life, if any, are perfect. But just like the trainers in my gym, I am a fanatic about my work, and I believe in my job's importance every bit as much as they believe in the importance of their job. Because if you are not a fanatic about what you do for a living, you are probably not doing a very good job, and you should probably do something else. The job of the trainers in my gym is to save the lives of their clients - by reversing the aging process. And thanks to their somewhat foolish American optimism, so obviously visible to the eyes of a foreigner such as myself, they just might be able to do that. For a while, anyway. But just in case they fail, and ultimately, they can hardly win, it is my job to make sure that the name of the town in Germany, France, Japan, Poland, Russia or Bohemia where their client was born is spelled correctly in his obituary. If that is not an important job, I don't know what is.

Areas of Expertise:

Clothing = Textiles * Communications = Telecommunications * Computers (general) *

Computers: Hardware * Computers: Software * Computers: Systems, Networks * Contracts = Law: Contract * Cooking / Culinary * Cosmetics, Beauty * DVDs = Media *

Law (general) * Law: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright * Law: Taxation & Customs *

Linguistics * Logistics = Transport * Management * Manufacturing * Maritime = Ships *

Marketing / Market Research * Mathematics & Statistics * Medical (general) * Medical: Cardiology * Medical: Dentistry * Medical: Instruments * Medical: Pharmaceuticals *