Editable files can easily be translated while still maintaining the original format and allows a translator to take advantage of all the quality and productivity tools at their disposal (Translation Memories, Glossaries, Do Not Translate lists, automated QA tools, etc.).

However, sometimes the editable source file just doesn’t exist, and we must deal with that.

There can be many reasons for this, perhaps it is a scan of a document that only exists in physical form (e.g., a scan of an old document).
It could also be the case that the PDF is an export from a computer system (e.g., an accounting software). Last but not least, it is possible that for one reason or another the source files exist but are not accessible. For example, a graphic designer has them, but you no longer work with this designer.

In this article we will discuss how to translate a scanned document, go over some of the issues of working with scanned copies and show 3 alternatives to translate your content.

Not having an editable source file generates the following problems

It disconnects the file from all reference material and quality tools

All modern CAT tools allow translators to have Translation Memories (with all the completed translations for a specific account so far), Glossaries, and DNT lists connected. The translator can therefore see in real time what would be the best term to use.

There are also QA tools that serve to aid in making sure that the translator is translating the same term in a consistent manner. These tools cannot be used without first having an editable source file available.

Simply translating directly to a different file (commonly a MS Word file) results in a loss of all these features and has a negative impact on the final quality of the translation.

It lowers productivity

Having to “alt+tab” every couple of seconds dramatically slows down the translation process. This, in turn, means less gets done each day, which negatively impacts both cost and delivery times.

Character corruption

There are many reasons why a character gets corrupted or misinterpreted as an incorrect character. For example, some scanned documents have a very low resolution and are difficult to convert. This can cause the OCR software to misinterpret certain characters, such as mistaking a “g” as an “8” or an upper case “O” as a “0”.

Documents that were old and grainy before conversion or have blemishes on the paper can also generate issues. Blemishes tend to be interpreted as characters by the OCR software.

Finally, a poorly made scan (e.g., a scan where the paper was not set straight) can also lead to characters being misinterpreted.

Format loss during OCR

While character recognition software does its best to match the original format, it is usually not enough, and the final product tends to have many flaws.
Even when the format appears to be flawless, it only remains so provided nothing is changed. As soon as the document is translated it all breaks down.

Translate a scanned document: 3 possible solutions

We have explored the many problems that scanned copies tend to have when used as source files for translations. Now we will explore some alternatives used to tackle these issues in order to translate your scanned documents, with all their pros and cons included.

Full re-creation

The file is fully recreated from scratch using a professional Graphic design software, for example Adobe InDesign or Illustrator. The end result matches 100% with the formatting of the original scan and can be used for professional printing.

Pros: the finished product is suitable for all uses and can be sent for printing and can be used to create high resolution PDFs. You also get to keep the file that was originally recreated, in case you want to translate it to a different language.
Cons: it is more costly, and it takes more time to recreate. If a high-quality format is not needed, it may not be worth it from a cost/benefit standpoint.

Light re-creation/Simple OCR

The file is recreated with OCR software to MS Word and only the major differences are corrected. This results in a file that is similar to the original but not an exact copy.
For this option to work it is important that the format of the original is relatively simple, and that there aren’t many tables on the document.
If it is acceptable to deliver a file that has a similar format to the original, but has small differences, this could be the right option for you.

Pros: Lower cost, faster to produce. The results are good enough to be used electronically and can be published on a website or printed on a home printer.
Cons: there will be slight differences with the original, the result won’t have a high resolution and will not be suitable to be sent to a professional printing service.

Translating directly to a Word file

As mentioned before this method is fairly time consuming and has all the problems discussed above. The formatting of the original is often completely lost.

Pro: a reasonable option when format is not important at all. It is the only solution for handwritten documents
Cons: the additional effort impacts the cost and time, the format is lost.

Conclusion

Translating scanned documents isn’t impossible, it just requires a bit more work. With the right type of recreation, time, and budget, even the grainiest of scans can be translated.
Part of our nature at Australis is to provide solutions, even when the initial conditions are not ideal. If you have scanned documents you need to translate, please send us an email to production@australis-localization.com and let’s discuss how we can help you.

We live in a world where people are more connected than ever. In the Services sector companies have clients and competitors all over the world.

In the product sector value chains go across continents, and in the manufacturing process of even the simplest of products you can find out that the different components were created in different countries and the final product assembled on another country altogether.

Globalization – An ongoing process

All of this is common knowledge, to the point that some people believe that Globalization is something that has already happened. Something that is old news.

The truth is that Globalization is far from over. It is an ever evolving and shifting process in which national and corporate interests.

Take, for example, China’s Belt and Road initiative, which aims to connect large parts of Asia (including the often-postponed Central Asia) with Europe. This initiative is the biggest transnational infrastructure project in modern times.

Europe in turn, is once again looking at Africa, both as a potential market, as well as a place where it can install factories. There are several trade corridors proposed, some modest and achievable, and others more difficult and challenging, but with greater potentials for profit.

There are many projects of this nature in several stages of development, which indicates that international integration is far from over.

The growth of eCommerce

We previously dedicated an entire article to the different options available for eCommerce. eCommerce has been an ongoing trend for a while now, but the pandemic has pushed it into the center of the world stage.

More people than ever are used to buying their products online and that number will only get bigger as new regions get added to the international trade networks.

A promising future – Reaching new markets

What does the future hold for you? It is hard to tell. But it is highly likely that, as new trade routes are open, your future clients and suppliers will come from new countries.

As you may imagine, doing business with a new country has unique challenges, here are some examples:

• Working under a completely new Legal framework (which includes labor, health and safety, trade and tax laws).
• If you are opening a new branch, this will require training and integrating your new staff to your company (which includes trainings, HR documents, healthcare documents, processes, internal policies, etc.).
• Adapting your sales and marketing strategy to a new demographic (marketing material, sales agreements, a new website in the target language, ad campaigns, videos, etc.).
• Onboarding new suppliers into your value chain requires bilingual contracts, and service-level agreements in their target language. It also involves processes and regulations that will allow you to coordinate work effectively with your new partner.

In all the examples above you will have to deal with linguistic challenges and it is key to have a partner that can help you navigate them so you can focus on your core business.

At Australis Localization we have over 120 language combinations and can work with many subject matters. Our translators are trained linguists, and experts in the target languages.

We can help you translate all the legal documents you will need, translate the healthcare plans of your new employees, help you with your new multilingual marketing campaign and, overall, give you peace of mind so you can focus on your main goals and not think about translations.

What is your strategy for the future? If you see the future as an opportunity, contact us today and let’s talk about how we can support your plans for expansion.

IMAGES:

1. Globalization: Designed by rawpixel.com / Freepik
2. eCommerce: Logo vector created by jcomp – www.freepik.com
3. Reaching new markets: Globe Vectors by Vecteezy

Localization Expands your Reach

Research shows that customers are much more likely to interact with your brand when they are able to access it in their native language. Localization is the process of adapting an existing website to local language and culture in the target market, and it is the best way to reach new markets. It will help you create brand awareness, and educate potential customers, distributors and partners about your company. By expanding the target audience to include speakers of other languages, you will reach more people, and by reaching them in their native language, they will feel more comfortable interacting with your website.

Increasing Your Conversion

When potential customers are able to learn about your brand in their preferred language, it will create trust and respect for your company. This will increase the amount of time spent on your site, and decrease your site’s bounce rate. A “bounce” occurs when a potential customer visits your website but does not interact with it. This could mean they leave after visiting the first page of your website, or that they do not click on any of the links that are available. The longer they explore your page, and the more they are able to read about your products and options, the more likely they will convert into a sale.

SEO Boost

Another huge benefit to translating your website is better SEO results. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines. This is done primarily with keywords. When you translate your website into other languages, you increase your likelihood of being found through search engines. This becomes hugely important for your company’s visibility. This means that your content will rank higher in the results if you are able to provide a version of your content in your user’s native language.

Differentiate Yourself from Competition

Translating your content gives you a huge advantage over your competitors. When non-English speakers search for products or services, their options can be limited. With a localized website available in targeted languages, you’re already ahead of competitors who are not offering translated websites. If you get a head start and enter a new market ahead of the competition, a translated website will help you achieve market share more quickly. It can also give you the opportunity to set up standards for quality and customer service that your competition will need to meet later.

Keep Up with Competitors

If your competition is already serving online customers in their preferred language, to be relevant in that market you need to translate your website too. Customers in global markets have many brands to choose from, and they have come to expect to be served in their preferred languages. If your company doesn’t offer them localized, culturally-relevant online experiences, they’re far more likely to prefer your competitors’ offerings.

Reaching International Markets: Avoid Pitfalls

If your goal is to reach international markets, there’s no better way than to localize your website for those markets. But be careful! Customers in different countries want and expect an extraordinary website experience. They want something that is relatable, something that speaks to them in their own language, and in their own culture.

Straight translation will not get your brand there. You need to localize your website to the language and culture of your target market. If you rely on auto-translation, your website will be sorely lacking in the personalization that your customers want. It is important to know about the culture of your target market. Professional localization services will help you shape your brand to meet the wants and needs of your new markets.

At Australis Localization our team of translators and linguists stand ready to help you meet these challenges in a fresh, unique, and effective way that’s sure to create relationships that last. Contact us today and let us show you how we can help your company be the best!

One day you think “Shouldn’t we expand?” and you find yourself in the world of international distribution and eCommerce translations.

You have many options, which require you to consider your product or service, your average ticket, and your budget.

The one thing that all options have in common is that, in all of them, you need to make sure that you communicate in the language of your target market, and it needs to be done right. Google translating it isn’t going to cut it. You will need to work with a partner that can support you with eCommerce translations.

You must be able to provide customer support in your target audience’s language as well. In some platforms it is even a strict requirement.

Option 1: Selling on social networks

This is a quite popular and relatively low budget option for selling your products. Besides its relatively low cost, the other upside is that it gives you direct contact with your potential customers.

It will require some knowledge of how to run ad campaigns but there is enough reference material to start.

The upside to this approach is that social networks have enormous user bases you can access.

The downside is that when there are issues, the support you can get from these platforms isn’t always great. Another downside is that you don’t control the platform.

Option 2: Selling in an online Marketplace (for example Amazon, MercadoLibre, AliExpress, etc.)

This option requires a bit more work and it is recommended that you work with a specialist that can help you post your products, organize them, work with the SEO and with promoted campaigns.

The main advantage is that you are placing your products on platforms that receive millions of shoppers every day.

The downsides are that sometimes it can be difficult to stand out from the competition, and also that the platform takes a portion of your earnings.

In this case you don’t control the platform either, but the level of support in case of issues tends to be better.

Option 3: building your own store

If you want full control of your store, you can build your own on your website. You have a wide range of options from building your own solution to working with a pre-packaged eCommerce solution like Woocommerce for WordPress.

You need to make sure that the site is optimized for all platforms, including tablets and smartphones. Even though statistically most of the purchases are made from computers, people tend to use their phones to find information about what they want to buy.

Your main goal will be to design a process and interface that leads the client step by step all the way to the purchase while also keeping in mind all of the steps that take place after the purchase, like delivery, problem resolution and feedback gathering.

It’s always a good idea to include recommendations for your customers in order to bring attention to other products. It is also worth it to explore the idea of including Remarketing in your strategy (that is, to follow somebody who has left the purchase process unfinished with targeted Google Ads).

If you decide to create your own eCommerce website it is recommended that you work with a developer and specially with an UX Designer, as designer they will help you design a website that adapts to your business, and to your customers specifically.

The upside of this approach is that you are the sole Proprietor. Your products get all the visibility, and you have full control.

The downside is that this requires more time, larger budget and more work.

Regardless of the option you choose, please rest assured that at Australis Localization we are ready to help you with eCommerce translations, with over 90 language combinations available. Contact us today and tell us more about your eCommerce strategy.

The checklist:

1- Do you have knowledge of the subject matter of the documents? If you don’t, the right move is to stop before you even start and leave the translation to a subject matter expert. Subject matter experts are the only ones that can produce a professional translation: They know the key terminology in both languages and the style that is preferred by the readers.

2- Make a comprehensive review of all the reference material available and try to find the answers to the following questions:

• • What is the target audience?
  • Is the language Formal or Informal?
  • Are there any special instructions?
  • Do numbers, dates, measurement units, monetary amounts, etc. need to be localized?
  • Is there a specific terminology that must be used? (for example, a glossary of terms)

If any of the points above is unclear, you may want to clarify them before you start the translation. Do not hesitate to contact your customer for the information you need. Having a clear picture of what needs to be done is critical to producing a high-quality translation.

3- Do a quick read of the text to be translated and check if there are any terms that are particularly important or that are repeated a lot. If so, create your own glossary with those terms and take additional time to research and translate them properly. The time invested here will pay off since it will have a direct impact on the final quality.

4- How many words do you plan to translate per day? Plan your productivity and working hours ahead. Always remember to be realistic, nobody works at full speed (and with full attention) after a certain number of hours. Make sure you take into account the difficulty of the text in your estimates. For example, complex technical translation will require more of your time than working with texts of a more general nature.

5- Time management is key: Translate without stopping for too long when you find some text that’s not clear for you. If you need to spend a lot of time clarifying some part of the translation… Stop!, write it down, and continue. You will probably find the answer later in the document, or you will be able to figure it out later. Focusing for too long on a single sentence is not only harmful to your productivity but also abstracts you from the bigger picture and can make you miss the idea of what you are translating.

6- At the end of the day, when you finish the part you decided to work with, go back to review the notes you wrote, and look for the answers in your reference material or in reliable internet sites. If you can’t find an answer, it’s time to talk to your PM or client for clarification.

7- If you have any questions for your client, write them down but wait until you have a handful of questions (or are about to finish your job) before you send them. Never send your questions one by one. It not only clutters people’s inbox, but it also increases the chances of your questions being missed amid so many emails. Plus, your point of contact will thank you for making it easier for them to deal with your queries.

8- Avoid literal translations and adapt the sentence whenever needed. Remember that it’s important to stick to the source meaning, not to the exact source words.

9- A simpler translation is better than a fancy one. Avoid overly complicated expressions, excessive flair, or purple prose.

10- Never add or remove ideas from the original text. Always work to maintain and transmit the author’s idea.

11- Please make sure to review your translations for Redundancies, they must be avoided at all costs.

12- Avoid using Gerunds or Passive voice unless it is absolutely necessary.

13- After the translation is done leave the computer for a while to clear your head

14- Come back to the computer and re-read the whole translation (if possible, read it aloud to hear how it sounds).

15- Congratulations, your translation is ready!

We hope that this guide helps you navigate your Spanish Document Translations. That being said, this is only a part of the entire translation process. For the whole picture please visit our post about Quality Control on Translations.

If you need help with your Spanish Document Translations you came to the right place. We have experience working with a very wide array of subject matters and have the right experts for your material. Contact us at production@australis-localization.com today!

Taking the United States as an example, approximately 14% of its population comes from another country. That in turn means that there is a sizeable number of children in the Education System that only speak English as a Second Language.

In today’s blog post we will cover the topic of Educational Translations, and show you how they are different from any other translations. 

Reading Levels

Let’s start with the subject of Reading Levels. While a translation of Technical or Legal content would assume a certain reading proficiency on the side of the reader, in Educational Translations it is important to understand what vocabulary the reader can really understand and translate the text accordingly. 

How can a translator create a translation that matches perfectly with the reader’s proficiency? The main references that translators review are textbooks written originally in the target language. Which gives a clear idea of the type of vocabulary that’s adequate for a specific Education level.

 Additionally, there are several online tools and services that allow the translators to verify that the reading level of the translations they produce meets the reading capabilities of the intended readers.  

To make sure that a translation fulfills its purpose it is key to determine the reading level that the translated text needs to have before the translation starts. Always put the focus on the readers. 

Tone and Vocabulary

The tone of a text is the type of language the writer uses to transmit a message. It’s the writer’s attitude towards their writing.

While the tone of an Educational text can vary depending on the subject matter and the wishes of the publisher, the tone used for content that’s aimed at Students tends to be informal. On the other hand, translations aimed at teachers tend to be a bit more formal in tone and vocabulary.

Besides the reading level and tone, it is important to keep the vocabulary as straightforward as possible and avoid overly complicated structures and purple prose.

Also, it is important to avoid regionalisms unless the translation is only going to be used in a certain region (and even then, you may want to avoid them anyway). 

Common challenges

Here are some of the most common challenges that a translator has to face when working on Educational Translations:

• Dates and Measurement units: Pounds or Kilograms? Are the dates going to be DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY like in the US? What are the decimal separator and the thousands separator? These are some of the questions that need to be answered in order to ensure that the final product is what is expected. Don’t shy away from sending instructions that are as detailed as possible.
• Rhymes: what easily rhymes in English may not rhyme at all in German or Spanish. In these cases, it is important to understand if it is possible to do a more free and loose translation that may change the structure of the original, or if the translation must stick to the original text and lose the rhyme.
• Idiomatic expressions and Wordplay: Trying to translate them literally can end up producing sentences that are awkward and nonsensical. In these cases, the translator first looks for a similar expression in the target language, even if it doesn’t fully respect the structure of the original sentence. If a similar expression does not exist, then a translation is created preserving the meaning of the expression, although losing the wordplay (sometimes something’s got to give).

Final words

This blog post can’t possibly cover all the topics related to Educational Translations, but we hope that you can at least get an overview of the most important aspects you need to take into account.

If you are a member of an Educational institution or work with Educational Materials we invite you to visit our website dedicated to Education: edu.australis-localization.com

If you think about it, everything you do in life needs quality control: the food you cook, the essay you write in school, that DIY shelf you built. If all those things need to be done right and work properly, then it is clear that quality control must be stricter when you provide a service to a person or a company. It is not only about ensuring customer satisfaction, but also knowing you are delivering something of quality.

When we talk about Quality Translations, it is a common misconception to think that translating a document, poster, simple text, book, etc. only means changing the words from one language to another and that would be the end of it, but the truth is that it is not the complete process: There is a lot of additional work that goes into it and that makes the difference between bad translations and quality translations.

When a document is submitted for translation there is an entire team that is involved with the final product, from the sales rep that gets the details and specifications, or the project manager that sets up the translation project, to the qualified experts that thoroughly review and proofread the translated files before they are delivered to the customer. And let’s not forget about the Graphic Design specialists that ensure that the translated documents keep the exact same design as the originals.

There are so many eyeballs on the job that any errors are sure to be caught before the project is finalized.

The QA Process

Reviewing a new project is the first step of quality control. With the text from the customer in hands, the Translator must check whether it is complete, check the vocabulary, check the order and coherence of files, text inconsistencies, grammar mistakes, and confusing or missing parts. A careful reading of the text can avoid several future problems and is indispensable for good quality control. Customers should be notified of any problems encountered on their files. If these issues are not addressed early on, they could delay the translation at later stages.

Once the text/file has been reviewed, and the files are good to go, the Translator will start with the translation process. The Translator’s role is critical because they are the one that gets the project started. The translator’s job is to translate the written material into another language, to ensure meaning and context are maintained, and to create glossaries, term dictionaries, and any reference material needed. With expertise and experience in your subject matter, the Translator understands the content like no generalist linguist would ever do, and can best convey the message in the target language.

After the translation has been done, the Editor steps in and adds more subject matter expertise and native language experience to your translation project so it feels more natural. As the editor works on improving sentence structure and readability, the translator’s work is also checked in order to catch any errors before they are moved along in the system. In short, the Editor performs Linguistic Quality Assurance to make sure that the translation is clear, correct, and with a great style and readability.

Once the translator and editor have completed their tasks and the translation has gone through Linguistic Quality Assurance, then the translation project will be sent to the Graphic Designers at the Desktop PublishingTeam.-. As you may know, the translated texts might be way longer than the original ones, and that is a problem when you need to fit more text in the same space. The Desktop Publishing Team is responsible for reproducing the layout of the source file using the translated content. Multilingual DTP experts eliminate any difficulties that come from text expansion or retraction or character differences from the original language to your target language translation.

When all the steps we mentioned are completed, the file will go through a QA process that will consist of double-checking if the translation, layout, and overlook of it all are good and ready to be delivered. This part of the process is very important and if any errors are caught, the QA team is responsible to get them fixed promptly. Linguistic issues are worked out by the Reviewer, whereas any formatting issues are derived to DTP.

When all required changes are made and all detected errors are fixed, the project will go through a Sign Off phase in which a final look takes place to make sure if everything is now good and ready to go. After this last step, the team will prepare the project and will get it ready to be delivered to the client, making sure that all the customer’s specifications for the delivery are followed.

After the project has been delivered, the client may request some changes to be made in the project. If the client wishes to make any changes, we would quickly check if the changes will have to be made by the DTP team or the translation team and start the update process right away.

All this may sound like a lot of back and forth, but this process is essential and necessary in order to deliver a high-quality translations. Quality can only be achieved by having the right process, the right people and the drive to give a professional service.

Now you know how we do it :). Please subscribe to this Blog for more articles related to localization.

Dubbing (the process of replacing the original voices in a video with lip-synched voices recorded in another language) is not only expensive but also time-consuming. On the other hand, subtitles (plain text at the bottom of the screen) cut down on costs and time, as they are less demanding at a technical level at the same time that they are incredibly effective. Using Subtitles allows for video presentations and campaigns to be distributed in many languages with minimum cost and in a short time.

Classification

Subtitles come in different shapes, and the right one for your videos will depend on your technical requirements and the desired subtitle language. It’s important to remember that Subtitles are not only useful for those that are not fluent in the original language in the video, but also for people with hearing loss.

Depending on the subtitle language and the way the subtitles are displayed, they can be classified as follows:

Captioning

When the subtitles are in the same language as the language spoken in the video, they are called “Captions”. Captions are primarily used to allow those with hearing impairments to understand what is being said, but they can also help people who are not native speakers of the source language, or people that are watching the video in a noisy environment.

Creating captions starts with the process of writing down the exact words that are spoken in the video. This step is known as “Transcription”. The output of a transcription process is a plain text document containing all the dialogues that can be heard on the video.

Once the transcription process is complete, it is required that a caption specialist fragments the text and synchronizes it with the video, so that the text that is going to be displayed on-screen reflects what is being spoken at any given time.

Closed or Open Captions?

Captions are either Open or Closed. Open captions are embedded in the video file, so they always are in view and cannot be turned off. On the other hand, Closed captions are stored in a separate file and can be turned on and off by the viewer.

Open captions are always there, so they allow for a non-tech-savvy audience to always have access to the captions. Also, open captions make it easier for you to distribute your content as you’re dealing with a single file.

On the other hand, closed captions are always displayed with better quality than open captions (as they do not lose quality when the videos are compressed), and they are more flexible as they allow for quick modifications without the need of re-rendering the entire video.

Subtitling Videos for a Foreign language

When you need subtitles in another language, it’s best to perform the Captioning of the source language first. It makes much more sense to segment and synchronizes the original text with the original video than to perform these steps with the translated text. This facilitates the translator’s work and reduces the overall project time substantially.

However, since translations from English usually require more space than the original text, it is important to emphasize that the intention of subtitling in a foreign language is to maintain the meaning of what is said, and not about Translating word by word. A good subtitle translation will allow the viewer to understand what is being said without deviating from what is happening visually, at the same time that it will keep the length of the text within the standard parameters.

Soft Subtitles & Hard Subtitles

Just like we have “Closed” and “Open” captions, we have “Soft” and “Hard” subtitles. Hard- Subtitles refers to subtitles that are embedded within the video and therefore modify the visual content of the video, while Soft Subtitles are those subtitles that are added by means of an external file (usually *.SRT or *.VTT) that enable the visualization of the subtitles but are not embedded within the video.

Soft Subtitles are the most frequently used, especially if the intention is to reach speakers of different languages. For example, consider an international Company that wants to upload a promotional video to YouTube so that it reaches their customers in Europe and SE Asia. Using soft subtitles, they can upload a single video together with many subtitles, and let the viewer choose which subtitle to use. If this company used Hard Subtitles, they’d need to upload a different video for each language, and this is not only expensive and time-consuming, but it also makes it harder to distribute the video as the company needs to deal with several video URLs instead of just one.

The most used types of subtitles: SRT & VTT

SRT and VTT are the subtitle formats that are the most widely used. SRT files only allow for the design of the words in the subtitles to be quite simple (for example making text bold or italic). On the other hand, the VTT format puts a wider variety of design options at its disposal, like adding color, shapes, shadows, and depth.

It’s important to note that all subtitle formats (SRT, VTT, or any other) can be either used as a separate file (Closed Captions/Soft Subtitles) or burned in the video (Open Captions/Hard Subtitles), so choose what subtitle format to use based only on how would you like them to be displayed.

Should you use subtitles for your videos?

If you use promotional or informational videos and you want to reach new audiences, subtitles are a great way to do that in a very efficient manner.

By using subtitles, any production, whether small or large, can be prepared in a very short time to be distributed without delay in other countries. In addition to being more affordable, captioned or subtitled videos also have the advantage of being a great tool for people with hearing loss, who make up for 5% of the American population. Overall, it is a great and powerful tool that brings a lot in terms of convenience, accessibility, and usability for the viewers.

Do you want to reach new audiences with your videos and make your message accessible to all? Are you ready to show your content to the world? Contact us today at production@australis-localization.com to discuss how we can help you.

Please visit the following website for more information about our Subtitling Services.

SOURCES: 

https://bbc.github.io/subtitle-guidelines/

https://www.washington.edu/doit/what-difference-between-open-and-closed-captioning

In this article, we will explore Brazilian Portuguese and explain why, unless you are aiming for a specific audience like Portugal or Angola, it is your best option if you are looking to translate your content to Portuguese.

Differences of Brazilian Portuguese with Portuguese from Portugal

Let’s start by marking some differences with its European counterpart. While an exhaustive list of the differences would exceed the scope of this article. We can name a few examples to give you an idea of the main differences:

• Loanwords: Brazilian Portuguese uses more loanwords from other languages than its European counterpart. These loanwords come from different sources, some from African Languages like “samba” (a dance), “berimbau” (a musical instrument), or “macumba” (a folk religion), while many other modern words are taken from English. In contrast, European Portuguese tends to use fewer loanwords and stick to its Latin roots.
• Formal and Informal speech: in Brazilian Portuguese the word vocêis used for “you”, while European Portuguese uses Tu. That being said, it is common in European Portuguese to remove “Tu” from the sentence in more formal occasions and address the person in the 3rd person of Singular. Of the two variants, European Portuguese tends to be more formal.
• Gerund for continuous actions: Brazilian Portuguese uses “estar+ gerund” while European Portuguese uses the expression “estar a + infinitive”

There are more differences, but this should serve to illustrate that a person from Brazil would notice if the text was translated for Portugal and vice versa.

This means that unfortunately there isn’t a “one size fits all” solution when approaching the translation of your content, and thus a decision must be made.

Choosing Brazilian Portuguese may be the best option for your content, and here’s a list of reasons why:

Reason 1: It has a wider reach

Portuguese is by itself pretty widespread, placing 6th on the ranking of languages by the number of native speakers.

Brazilian Portuguese is the most common version of the Portuguese language: Out of approximately 282 million native Portuguese speakers, roughly 210 million speak Brazilian Portuguese. That means that roughly 74.5% of all the Native Speakers of Portuguese speak this variant.

Reason 2: Economical Relevance

Brazil is the 8th economy in the world when measured by GDP. To put things in perspective, compare Brazil’s estimated GDP for 2020 is 1.3 Trillion USD, to Portugal’s 222 Billion.

Brazil is also the largest economy in South America and a member of 2 important groups:

• Mercosur (Southern Common Market) the South American trade bloc: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay (with other South American countries having partial membership)
• BRICS the group of the five main emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Reason 3: Cultural Influence

Brazil has a significant cultural influence in other Portuguese-speaking countries, mostly due to its music and TV shows (especially soap operas). This has caused other countries to have some degrees of exposure to Brazilian Portuguese.

This means that even those who aren’t necessarily native speakers are familiar with Brazilian Portuguese.

Conclusion

Even though there isn’t a generic solution that would fit all audiences, the wider reach, economic potential, and cultural influence of Brazilian Portuguese make it the best option to reach Portuguese speakers unless you have a specific market in mind.

Brazilian Portuguese is a language that can be described as poetic, but at the same time highly practical. A language that is vibrant and fun to learn. If you have content that needs to reach all the Portuguese-speaking world you can’t go wrong if you choose Brazilian Portuguese.

At Australis Localization, we love all the languages of the World. Please subscribe to our blog for more language-related topics every month.

SOURCES:

https://www.worldometers.info/gdp/gdp-by-country/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers

In the US, this is very well understood and there are several regulations that require medical institutions to provide language access services to patients with limited English proficiency. To read more on this topic, take a look at this article in our Blog.

We have years of experience offering Healthcare Translation Services and in this article, we will share with you an overview of what is important to consider when translating Healthcare content.

Understanding Healthcare Translations

Healthcare communications and documents addressed to the patient will contain information that it’s critical for the receiver: Diagnoses, Instructions, Medication, etc. That’s why it is paramount that the patient understands perfectly every piece of information directed to them: The translations need to be patient-focused. A patient-focused translation is simple in its language (5^th to 6th-grade reading level) and ensures that the information and instructions are understood by everybody regardless of their education level.

The tone must be formal, but as warm and friendly as possible. It is important to be professional without losing the human touch. We must not forget that we’re addressing a person that might be going through health problems, or aiding a relative or close person who needs medical help.

Spanish is the second most spoken language in the US, and institutions in the US will usually translate their documents into what is called “US Spanish”. It is a neutral flavor of Spanish that uses some English rules and conventions that are familiar to Spanish speakers in the US.

Considering that America’s Spanish-speaking immigration comes from different Countries and Regions, sometimes choices need to be made in order to keep terminology as generic as possible.

For more information on US Spanish, you can visit the following article.

Tips to getting Healthcare Translations right

Here is a list of points that will guide you through your next Healthcare translation project.

Healthcare content can be a bit repetitive and have some terms and parts such as disclosures that come up frequently across different documents. If that’s the case of the content you need to translate, it may be worth investing in creating a glossary.

A Glossary is a list of very important terms that are carefully translated, reviewed, and approved by the end client, that is to be used by all the translators and editors involved in the project. Creating a glossary isn’t expensive and it is a great tool to ensure quality and consistency.

There need to be clear instructions regarding Healthcare Plans’ names: do they need to be translated? And If so, is there a translation that is already approved and in use?

Regarding medication, it is important to determine if drug names need to be translated, if they should be kept in English, or if the translations should use the commercial name.

Phone numbers also require a special mention, it must be clear if in order to receive attention in their own language patients need to dial a different phone number than English-speaking patients.

Last but not least, it is always important to have clear instructions for date and number format, since it can be a source of confusion. For example, imagine having a doctor’s appointment on May 6^th, 2021. In English, the date is written as 05/06/2021 (MONTH/DAY/YEAR) while in Latin America it would be written as 06/05/2021 (DAY/MONTH/YEAR). This is just an example of how small details can end up causing problems.

In conclusion

Just like with everything related to healthcare, the most important thing is to put the patient’s needs first.

This is achieved by mentally putting ourselves in the place of a person who is vulnerable and needs medical attention. This person needs to be able to understand what their healthcare plan covers, what’s their provider response to a claim, the diagnosis they receive, and what medication has been prescribed.

We hope that you find this information useful and that it helps you in your continuing efforts to take care of your patient’s health and wellbeing.

At Australis Localization, we have translated millions of words of Healthcare content and we consider it a subject dear to us. If you have any questions or would like to receive a quote, you can contact us at production@australis-localization.com