Due to popular demand we would like to re-post a brilliant online service: Are you about to prepare Season’s Greetings in your company? Why not use the language database provided by the Federal Association of Translators and Interpreters in Germany (BDÜ). This database contains translations for the term “Merry Christmas” in more than 80 languages, including exotic ones like Afrikaans, Urdu, Mongolian or White-Russian. Even a sign language version can be found. Do you know how to say “Merry Christmas” in Luxemburg? Just write „Schéi Chrëschtdeeg“. If you want to send greetings to the Basque region (Spain/France) you should write „Eguberri on“.… [Continue reading]

IKEA recently released its new furniture catalog to the German market. This wouldn’t normally be newsworthy, but after only a few days, it’s already all over the German media. Why? There are two women at IKEA headquarters in Sweden who think up the names for all the items that can be purchased at IKEA worldwide. They named a new candelabrum “Armleuchter Söder.” In Swedish, “Söder” means “South.” Customers in Germany, however, immediately think of the Bavarian Minister of Finance, whose last name is “Söder.”

Furthermore, a special connotation is hidden in the word “Armleuchter:” it means both candelabra and bonehead. This language gaffe is a perfect example of the importance of localizing products when entering multi-national markets.… [Continue reading]

This publication is a bold and provocative study that presents language not as an innate component of the brain—as most linguists do—but as an essential tool unique to each culture worldwide.

For years, the prevailing opinion among academics has been that language is embedded in our genes, existing as an innate and instinctual part of us. But linguist Daniel Everett argues that, like other tools, language was invented by humans and can be reinvented or lost. He shows how the evolution of different language forms—that is, different grammar—reflects how language is influenced by human societies and experiences, and how it expresses their great variety.… [Continue reading]

French translator Josée Kamoun has translated novels by more than a dozen writers, among them works of Philip Roth and John Irving. In a recent article on worldcrunch she gives insight views into her professional life and explains what makes her work so adventurous. For Kamoun, translation is the combination of a mask to hide behind, the possibility of performance – she compares her work to that of an art restorer or actor – and a rare pleasure.

Read the whole article here

Read an interview with Josée Kamoun (French language)… [Continue reading]

Based in Princeton University’s Department of Comparative Literature, the publication “Inventory” finds and catalogues original translations of poetry and prose from any language into English, provides critical texts on the subject of translation, and offers suggestions by leaders in various fields of translation work left to be done. For their next issue, the publishers are seeking original translations of poetry and prose, as well as critical essays on translation.… [Continue reading]

Today we would like to draw your attention to another article written by MultiLing`s marketing expert Emmanuel Margetic. “Internationalizing and Localizing Training Materials” was published in the February issue of “Training” – a professional development magazine that has been advocating training and workforce development as a business tool for 46 years. … [Continue reading]

International Mother Language Day – first announced in 1999 by UNESCO —is held annually on Feb. 21 worldwide to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. … [Continue reading]

Emmanuel Margetic, director of marketing and sales for MultiLing Corporation recently wrote an article that was published in Sales and Marketing Magazine treating the important topic of finding the right words in international business communications. His key thesis: “Just as knowing how to say ‘I love you’ can be more complicated in relationships where barriers of culture and language exist, companies expanding into international markets need to carefully consider the way they communicate their appreciation and interest to customers and potential customers.”… [Continue reading]

In an interesting interview on the “Center for the art of translation” webpage, Michael Matto, co-author of the book “The Word Exchange” talks about the evolution of the English language from “Old English” to today’s standards.

“Old English is the language of the Anglo-Saxons. It derives from members of a larger family of Germanic languages. Their poetry would have originally been composed orally and memorized for oral performance. Presumably these performances could vary in exact content, much like a contemporary folk or blues player might alter a song with each concert. However, which extant Old English poems were composed orally and which were written by literate poets remains a mystery, as do the specific circumstances of performance.”

Read the whole article… [Continue reading]

Are you about to prepare Season’s Greetings in your company? Why not use the language database provided by the Federal Association of Translators and Interpreters in Germany (BDÜ). This database contains translations for the term “Merry Christmas” in more than 70 languages, including exotic ones like Afrikaans, Urdu, Mongolian or White-Russian. Even a Latin version “Leatum Festum Nativitatis” can be found. For languages that need specific character fonts, BDUE provides ready-to-use text and graphic files for download. The use of the BDÜ database is free of charge.

Please go to the German main page of BDÜ and use the link in red: “Frohe Weihnachten in über 70 Sprachen.”

The Federal Association of Interpreters and Translators (Bundesverband der Dolmetscher und Űbersetzer e.V.… [Continue reading]