According to Wikipedia, IKEA has a special naming system for their products, which are mostly of Swedish origin.  This system was developed by IKEA’s founder Ingvar Kamprad who found proper names easier to remember than product codes due to his dyslexia.

It’s a very straightforward and logical system:

• Upholstered furniture, coffee tables, rattan furniture, bookshelves, media storage and doorknobs have Swedish place names
• Beds, wardrobes and hall furniture have Norwegian place names
• Dining tables and chairs have Finnish place names
• Bookcase ranges are named after occupations
• Bathroom items are named after Scandinavian lakes, rivers and bays
• Some kitchens’ names are derived from grammatical terms
• Chairs and desks have men’s names and fabrics and curtains have women’s names – can we overlook the sexism for great design?
• Garden furniture is named after Swedish islands
• Carpets are named after Danish place names
• Lighting products are named with terms from music, chemistry, meteorology, measures, weights, seasons, months, days, boats and nautical terms
• Bed linen, bed covers, pillows and cushions are named after flowers, plants and precious stones
• Children’s items are named after mammals, birds, adjectives
• Curtain accessories names are derived from mathematical and geometrical terms
• Kitchen utensils’ names are derived from foreign words, spices, herbs, fish, mushrooms, fruits or berries and their functional description
• Boxes, wall decoration, pictures and frames and clocks’ names are derived from colloquial expressions and Swedish place names

Certain ranges are aptly named too:

• Effektiv which translates as effective/efficient in English is a range of office furniture
• Duktig which translates as good/well behaved in English is a children’s toy range
• Skärpt  which translates as sharp/clever in English is a range of kitchen knives
• Dinrea which translates as to dine in English is a range of tableware
• Kassett which translates as cassette in English is a range of media storage

However as many multinational companies discover, ‘one name certainly does not fit all’ when it comes to product names.  Often what works for one country is totally inappropriate (although amusing) for another. 

In IKEA’s case the following product names were not appropriate for English speaking countries and some had to be withdrawn:

• The ‘Fartfull’ workbench
• The ‘Jerker’ desk
• ‘Fukta’ plant spray
• ‘Lyckhem’ (meaning bliss)

If you need more Swedish language translation help than IKEA product names can provide, give the Enigma Translation team a call on +44 (0) 1604 750799 or get in touch via email or Facebook.

As with any new system there seem to be a few teething problems, which the ALS is trying to iron out.

Bad press
The Law Society Gazette reports it has received numerous allegations from solicitors about problems with the system and that some interpreters provided by ALS have not been sufficiently competent.

One report told of how a clerk at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court resorted to using Google Translate when a Lithuanian language interpreter couldn’t be sourced by the service.  Other reports of the ALS not being able to provide interpreters have also been received by Mike Jones, Chair of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association.  He told the Gazette that incidents in Sevenoaks, Colchester, Leeds, London, Kent, Lincolnshire and Sheffield had been reported to him.

According to an online survey by CrimeLine (an education and training provider) completed by 80 lawyers and judges, 56% of cases had a no-show from interpreters between 12-16th March.  However, there has been a slight improvement since with only 4 in 10 cases affected by a no-show from an interpreter between 16-20th April.

The Gazette also reports the collapse of a four-day burglary trial at a London Crown Court was due to a mistake made by a Romanian language interpreter.  The interpreter incorrectly translated that the defendant had allegedly been ‘bitten’ instead of ‘beaten’.

Some good news
During this period of transition courts have been told they can temporarily book short-notice interpreters using the previous system.  However, this is probably of little consolation to the people who have already been affected by the system’s failing.

Here to help
At Enigma Translation we provide professional interpreters for individuals as well as businesses and can help with communication in legal situations.  This could be at a court hearing, a tribunal, a solicitors meeting or when dealing with the police.

We can also ensure that our professional interpreters will observe your need for confidentiality and remain impartial, whatever the situation.

Of course it’s not just legal scenarios we can help you with, in fact any scenario where there is a language barrier and interpretation is required our interpreters can assist you.  We offer consecutive interpretation, simultaneous interpretation and whispered interpretation.

Don’t rely on computer software or gimmicky websites to decipher languages in crucial situations, choose the personal touch of a professional interpreter.  Give the Enigma Translation office a call on +44 (0) 1604 750799 or get in touch via email or Facebook.

According to an infographic created by Smartling, 24% of web content was in Chinese at the end of 2011 and 27% of content was in English.  With Chinese hot on its heels, the days of the English language dominating web content could soon be coming to an end.

Take a look at these statistics from the infographic to see why:

• Only 26% of Asia’s population (3.5 billion) are online but account for a massive 45% of the world’s web users.  Languages: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Burmese and Chinese
• Whereas 61% of Europe’s population (816 million) are online and only account for 23% of users.  Languages: Belarusian, Czech, Danish, Dutch and English
• 78% of North America’s population (347 million) are online and account for 13% of users.  Languages: English, French and Spanish
• 39% of South America’s population (597 million) are online and account for 10% of users.  Languages: Dutch, French, Spanish and Portuguese
• 13% of Africa’s population (1 billion) are online and account for 6% of users.  Languages: Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, Berber and Chichewa

It would seem from these statistics that Chinese could easily surpass English as the number one language of the web in the very near future.  As the percentage of users in Asia increases, so will its current share of 45%.

The infographic also illustrates that:

• In 2000, English was the dominant language online by a 26% margin
• By 2005 English language online had shrunk by 7%
• By 2011 English was still the number 1 language online but only by a 3% margin
• Chinese has increased by 11% since 2005 and is the number 2 language online
• China added more internet users in 3 years than exist in the USA
• China, India, Nigeria, Russia, Iran added the most users from 2007-2010

The infographic also states that ‘Global e-commerce will grow 19.4% annually, reaching nearly $1T in 2013’, therefore doesn’t it makes sense to be part of that growth? 

This information makes a very persuasive argument as to why it’s time to shake off complacency, be proactive and make your website more accessible to the world’s web users.  The best way to achieve this is through Website Translation. 

At Enigma Translation we can translate your website content into as many languages as your business needs to ensure you reach a truly global audience.  Just think your company profile page in multiple languages, available to users worldwide and potential business or sales opportunities just around the digital corner.

Don’t let this global trend surpass you, contact Enigma Translation on +44 (01604) 750 799 or via email, our website or Facebook.

Children learn languages easily
Is it a myth or fact that children learn languages more easily than adults?  According to The Lingo Show children are very receptive to new sounds and happy to reproduce them.  The most effective way of learning a new language is when it is delivered frequently in small amounts in an engaging way.  Visual associations and games also help children to digest the new language too and this is what the show provides. 

Perhaps children find languages easier to learn than adults because they have not yet developed the self-consciousness that can affect adults when attempting to speak a new language?

Not for everyone?
Guardian columnist Zoe Williams recently wrote about her mother’s sceptical reaction and her 2 year old daughter’s reaction to The Lingo Show. 

When the show’s narrator asked the young viewers to say hello in Mandarin, “nee hao”, it was seen as a pointless exercise by Ms Williams’ mother because in her opinion her granddaughter could barely speak English as it was.  Ms Williams wrote that she protested this fact in her child’s defence only for the child to respond “Miaow” instead of “nee hao”!

Okay so maybe it will take some time for Ms Williams’ child to grasp Mandarin, but she did at least respond with a similar sound.  And surely being exposed to a language other than her mother tongue can’t be a bad thing.

Good exposure
Children being exposed to different languages through TV is a positive step and will hopefully aid their language education in school.  It will also assist interaction with peers whose mother tongue may not be the same as their own.

Parents need to keep up
However, parents need to stay on their toes if they don’t want to get left behind by their children in the language department.  The majority of parents will need to retrieve fragments of languages from their own school days or could perhaps benefit from watching The Lingo Show with their children.  After all it would be a shame if the children could only conduct conversations in Mandarin or other languages with inanimate objects such as the TV!  They’d be much more useful as translators or interpreters!

If you need translation help, get Enigma Translation on board now rather than waiting for your child to digest the next episode of The Lingo Show.  We are fluent in French, Spanish, German, Welsh, Mandarin, Polish, Punjabi, Urdu, Somali and many other languages – see our website for details.

Call us on +44 (0) 1604 750799, contact us via email or Facebook.

Native speakers of the English language are programmed from birth to insert ‘sorry’ or ‘excuse me’ before they interrupt somebody to ask a question.  And laughably when we request something we have to prefix it with a question such as ‘would you mind passing the salt?’  Our inability to say exactly what we mean for fear of being impolite often leaves other cultures baffled and reading something quite different into our requests and responses.

It’s not what we say, it’s how we say it
For instance, it’s acceptable for us to say ‘we must do lunch’ as a polite way of saying ‘it’s been great to bump into you, but we both know that neither of us has any intention of getting together in the foreseeable future – have a nice life’.  To our foreign counterparts we are effectively agreeing to meet again over lunch and it’s confusing when the invitation never materialises.

Another example is our standard response of ‘very interesting’ to something that we don’t agree with, want to commit to or give an opinion on.  It’s generally understood – possibly by the tone – by the other party that it’s been deemed anything but ‘very interesting’ and probably dismissed.  But to our foreign counterparts we are saying we’re impressed and it’s open for consideration.

Say what you mean and mean what you say
Yes the British are very good at giving what sounds like a positive response all in the name of politeness, when they are actually giving a negative response…no wonder we are considered deceitful and insincere by others.  But our intentions are honourable, really, because it’s a given in our culture that we all know ‘the code’.

It’s the same with any culture; you’ve just got to know ‘the code’.  In many other languages, German, Russian and Italian for instance, requests are generally more direct i.e. ‘pass the salt’ and are not interpreted as rude.  There’s no pussy-footing around the issue for 10 minutes like us Brits and little room for misinterpretation.  Of course to us this can seem abrupt, brusque and even discourteous when delivered in English.

The cultural influence
Therefore it’s important with translation to take into account culture as well as words when translating to and from languages.  A document translated word by word from another language into English would stand out like a sore thumb and probably appear amateurish without the polite nuances we are accustomed too.  Reading it would induce a face similar to the response of fingernails being dragged down a blackboard.

Equally so, a document translated word for word from English into another language would eventually end up half the size once the waffle and politeness has been extracted.  It would also get to the point sooner.

That’s why at Enigma Translation we use translators who are fluent speakers of the source language and native speakers of the target language and take into account both cultures.  This ensures that the translation is true to both languages and is acceptable and familiar to the target audience.

To find out more about our services, get in touch on +44 (01604) 750 799, email us or visit our website or Facebook page.

An Athens’ hotel efficiently informs guests: Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11 a.m. daily.  Please form an orderly queue.

A sign in a lift in a Paris hotel asks guests to: Please leave your values at the front desk.  Obviously you’d check out toute suite.

A Bucharest hotel is perhaps too honest with its signage: The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.  The translation may be poor but the information is undoubtedly correct.

Both a Yugoslavian and Japanese hotel go above and beyond with hospitality according to their signage.  In Yugoslavia: The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid.  And in Japan: You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.  We’re not sure if this is ‘all inclusive’ though…

Whereas in one particular hotel in Zurich guests are asked to keep it clean in the bedrooms: Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose.  But it would seem it’s okay to get amorous at reception.

However, pregnant ladies should be aware that Norway has a strict policy when it comes to childbirth, but luckily this is signed in a Norwegian cocktail lounge for those who are unfamiliar with it: Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.

Hotel and restaurant menus can be tricky to navigate in a foreign country if there is no translation available, but fortunately a hotel in Acapulco goes that extra mile: The manager has personally passed all the water served here.  Stick to the beer.

And a Swiss restaurant is more than happy to give a truthful review on their wine menu: Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.  Head to a nearby bar instead.

After that downer guests will need to head out to enjoy the local attractions…how about this recommendation from a hotel in Moscow about a nearby Russian Orthodox monastery: You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists, and writers are buried daily except Thursdays.  We dread to think what happens on Thursdays.

When it comes to medical translations, we can certainly guarantee not to offend half of the world’s population unlike this claim in a doctor’s office in Rome: Specialist in women and other diseases.  Or send a confusing message about dental care like this dentist in Hong Kong: Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists.  Good to know.

You’ll be relieved to know that Enigma Translation can provide you with accurate translations in over 114 languages.  Give us a call on +44 (01604) 750 799 or contact us via email or Facebook.

The importance of having a company profile
A company profile is a well written and concise document outlining your company’s mission and includes information on your achievements, performance, services and products.  It enhances your credibility and authenticity and provides an insight to your business for customers or clients.

Effectively it tells them everything they want to know about your company before engaging in a business relationship with you.

Don’t forget to utilise it
It’s a little ‘refresher’ to leave with customers or clients after a meeting ensuring your vital information is easily to hand, long after you have left the building.  It could also be a ‘foot in the door’ when pitching for new business…

Digitally speaking
In keeping with the 21st century you will naturally have a website promoting your company, services and products.  Obviously you will have a page dedicated to your company profile too…

In email communication with new clients you should ideally be able to send just the first paragraph of your company profile instead of the entire document.  This of course depends on how well written it is and if it conveys enough of your company’s information.  If not, consider re-writing or prepare an edited concise version of your existing profile for this purpose.

Expanding your business globally
So the company profile is ready and available in both digital and printed format for those new business opportunities, but what about international business opportunities?

Well having your company profile available in several different languages is going to open the door to more business around the world.  Potential new customers or clients will be able to fully understand what your business is all about thus instilling trust in the services or products you provide.  Importantly they are more likely to make the next all important move.

We have the skills to assist you
Enigma Translation’s team of over 2,000 professional translators can translate your company profile into whichever language or languages you need to open those doors.  We cover over 114 languages, so all you have to do is select the most relevant and we’ll ensure an accurate translation of your company’s merits.

But why stop there…
…when you could also engage our website translation service and make your website available in several languages and reach a broader audience?  And how about your marketing materials and campaigns?  Our marketing translation service can translate these too.

We don’t hang around
That’s right we offer a same day translation service or completion within 24 hours – just let us know what suits you and we’ll provide a fast turnaround.

We’re at the end of the telephone on +44 (01604) 750 799 to discuss your requirements or email us if you prefer.  Of course you can also visit our website for details and see what we’re up to on Facebook.

Cultural know how
It not only makes good business sense to research your counterpart’s business but also their culture and the expected business etiquette too.  Familiarise yourself with the appropriate business greeting and a few words of the language.  Also consider how your business approach could be interpreted and make adjustments where necessary to make sure you get off on the right foot.

When in Rome…
For instance a firm handshake and maintaining eye contact is deemed a sign of trustworthiness by Russian business associates.  And the Japanese will be impressed if you master a bow on greeting, although they will accept a nod of the head or handshake from a foreign counterpart.

A good understanding of what is and isn’t acceptable will ensure longevity of your business relationship.

Engaging the services of a translator and interpreter
Unless you are fluent in the language of your new business associate it is a good idea to get both a professional translator and interpreter on board to help with written and spoken communication. 

At Enigma Translation we pair you with a translator who is qualified in the source language and a native speaker of the target language.  And importantly they will also have expertise in the area that you require translation support as well as cultural and business understanding.

Our team of translators are 2,000 strong across the globe and cover over 114 languages.  They are fully qualified professionals with at least five year’s experience and only translate into their native mother tongue.  They are available when you need them, often at short notice, which is why we can offer a same day service or completion within 24 hours.

Enigma Translation interpreters can support you in telephone communication and meetings ensuring that everyone involved is ‘on the same page’ thus aiding smooth business running.  They are also invaluable for corporate events and networking events.

And finally…
As the exchanging of business cards is still commonplace in the world of business, it’s a good idea and nice touch to have your details translated into the relevant language or languages of your new business associates on the reverse of your card.  And yes we can help with that too.

If you would like to benefit from the help of our translators or interpreters, just give us a call at the office on +44 (0) 1604 750799, on our mobile on +44 07930326698 or send us an email to: enquiries@enigmatranslation.co.uk.  You can also use our free instant quote facility on our website and contact us through our Facebook page.

Hospitality and tourism is an international business. Promoting your destination to not only local traffic, but to international marketplaces is essential to a successful business model. By enabling your website, hotel information and company information to be translated into any one of the multiple languages on offer, you literally open your hotel doors to a plethora of new business opportunities.

 
Enigma Translation provides an expert translation service from professionals around the globe, around the clock. You can even have results within 24hrs.

Here we look at why using a professional language translation service is good for your business.

Why translate?
Using professional translation service, Enigma Translation, is good for you if you’re thinking about expanding your company. Or if you’re already an international organisation, think how many more captive tourist markets you can reach by appealing to a wider audience through their own language.

Why use a professional service?
Using a professional translation service like Enigma Translation ensures that the job is done professionally and correctly. There is no room for error in business and you need to make the right impression first time, every time. Using native speaking professionals, Enigma Translation ensures your company is properly represented and presented. When marketing your company to international clientele such as in the hospitality and tourism industry, you need to ensure that culturally sensitive issues, correct tenses and formal addresses ensures customs and cultural formalities are adhered to. While it is tempting to save money having a friend of colleague translate your text, you are not always guaranteed the right context is used for your information and how it in turn, reflects on your business.

How a professional translation service can help your hospitality and tourism business
The recent global recession has led many businesses to reassess their business models. Every customer is key and missing the mark because of poor translation is not an issue you need to take into consideration when using Enigma Translation. You can appeal directly to a target audience, capturing their attention to you rather than on your competitors. Go the extra mile for your guests as your conversion rates between website visits and bookings increase as the ease of booking for clients and customers is seamless.

Using a professional language translation service is good for your hospitality and tourism business through providing proficient experts to translate your business into a company that has worldwide appeal. Click to view your translation options from Enigma Translation.