What’s Important in Translation Industry

Common Sense Advisory Blogs

Business is Booming! Demand for Interpreting Services Continues to Climb Posted by Hélène Pielmeier on February 5, 2015
In CSA Research’s 2014 annual market study, we computed that the opportunity for interpreting services and technology represents 17% of the total language services market (this year’s survey is under way - click here to participate). In addition, 14% of respondents told us that on-site interpreting is their fastest-growing service. To gauge the state of the interpreting market, CSA Research conducted a survey of buyers of interpreting services from 25 countries on whether they have seen their organization’s demand for interpreting increase for any language over the last five years. A hefty majority of 66% said that it has. We uncovered six trends that language service providers will find useful in their business planning: Overall demand is on the rise. One type of interpreting often grows at the expense of another, but... Link to the full article HERE.  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dialogos Blogs   Raising the Bar   Posted by Martin Boyd on February 6, 2015    One of the most thought-provoking presentations I attended at last year’s ATA conference in Chicago was the talk titled “Why Raising the Bar on Your Own Translation Quality is about to Get Deadly Serious”, delivered by Chris Durban, Kevin Hendzel and David Jemielity. The session was something of a wake-up call to freelance translators, alerting them to the increasing stratification in the industry between what they call the “bulk sector” of high-volume, medium-quality translations and the “premium sector” of high-quality work by genuine subject-matter experts. /..../ Apart from the general instability that has afflicted the global economy in recent years, numerous factors could be attributed to this negative picture for translator incomes; perhaps most notable among these factors are the globalization of the sector brought by the communications revolution of the past decade and the increasingly popular cost-cutting trend in recent years of abandoning human translation in favour of machine translation followed by human post-editing. The globalization of the industry has certainly put language professionals based in regions with a lower cost of living at a distinct advantage, as they may potentially be able to offer the same level of quality at a lower rate thanks to their lower overheads. Often, however, the cost savings expected from contracting a language service provider in a remote location end up being offset by the subsequent need to localize the product of their services due to their lack of knowledge of the target location, not to mention the risks associated with hiring providers whose distant geographical location can hinder verification of their qualifications and immediate contact when needed. As for the increasing popularity of the machine translation + human post-editing combination, the clunky textual constructions produced by MT frequently require not so much “post-editing” as complete rewriting, unless the client is not really concerned with questions of textual coherence and.. Link to the full article HERE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Skyword Blogs How a Multilingual Content Marketing Approach Can Help You Reach and Engage With New Audiences Posted by Christian Arno on February 11, 2015 In 2014, Common Sense Advisory conducted a poll across 10 predominantly non-English-speaking countries. It found that 60 percent of respondents said they rarely or never make purchases from English-language sites, and 56 percent either spend more time on sites in their own languages or boycott English-language URLs altogether. For those with limited English skills, the preference for content in a mother tongue rises to 80 percent. Surveys aside, it seems obvious that it’s easier to create content capable of actively engaging a viewer in his or her own native language. As Nelson Mandela once said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes.. Link to full article HERE --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Internet World Statistics Internet World Users by Language Internet World Stats presents its latest estimates for Internet Users by Language. Because of the importance of this research, and due to the lack of other sources, Internet World Stats publishes several tables and charts featuring analysis and details here below for the top ten languages and also for the detailed world languages in use by country. Indeed, many people are bilingual or multilingual, but here we assign only one language per person in order to have all the language totals add up to the total world population (zero-sum approach). No adjustments have been made for infants or illiteracy in the Internet penetration rate calculations. Very few countries have 100% literacy. Australia, Denmark, Finland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Norway are six countries to mention. Regarding children, most are early Internet adopters (when and where children are given the chance to surf). Link to the full article HERE