Author: Csilla

How people celebrate Christmas in different countries

Every culture prepares for and celebrates Christmas in its own way, upholding customs that might be amusing or surprising for other nations.

I remember that during my childhood in Hungary my grandmother would go to the market a few days before Christmas to buy a live carp (which were kept in huge aquariums in the market). She then kept it live in the bathtub until the time came to cook it for dinner on Christmas Eve. When I told my international friends about this tradition many years later, they were quite taken aback.

However, I have also learned of some surprising traditions in other countries. For example, Christmas Eve (24 December) is a time to party in Greece. People go out with their friends instead of staying at home with their nearest and dearest.
Now that I live in Germany, I have learned that advent and Christmas markets are very important and the typical Christmas dinner is sausage with potato. I have also had the fortune to celebrate Christmas in countries where it is summer in December – Santa on the beach – and for me that is the best way of all.

As the owner of a translation agency, I have always been very interested in different cultures, so here are some examples of Christmas traditions from all over the world:

  • United Kingdom – Children hang stockings on their bedposts so they wake up to small gifts in the morning.

  • Singapore – The Christmas lights are among the most impressive in the world.
  • Japan – Many Japanese people order KFC food for Christmas dinner. Christmas was, and still is, a secular holiday in Japan – a country where less than 1% of the population identifies as Christian – and in the 1970s many people didn’t have established family Christmas traditions. In 1974 KFC launched a Christmas campaign and since that time many Japanese people have taken to buying KFC chicken for their Christmas meal.

  • Germany – One month before Christmas the main squares of German cities transform into Christmas markets where people meet for ‘Glühwein’ (mulled wine) and ‘Bratwurst’ (grilled sausage), as well as to shop for handmade products. There are 2,500-3,000 Christmas markets in Germany per year. If you live in Germany or are there for a visit, it’s a must to see at least one Christmas market.
  • Mexico – Las Posadas, a nine-night celebration from 16 to 24 December, is an important part of Christmas celebrations in Mexico. Each night, people go to a party at a different home. They commemorate Mary and Joseph’s search for an inn by forming a procession to that evening’s location and symbolically asking for shelter. For children, the highlight of the night is the breaking of the piñata, a brightly decorated paper (or pottery) container filled with candy and toys.
  • Austria – In Austria and Bavaria, St. Nicholas gives gifts to children who have been good, while Krampus, the half-man, half-goat, comes around to drag away those who have been bad. In some places, men dress up as Krampus for a ‘Krampuslauf’ (Krampus run) to give kids a fright.
  • Australia – Surfing Santa. It’s summer at Christmas time so you’re likely to see a surfer in a Santa hat. It may not be an official tradition, but it’s certainly fun.

Written by Kristina Bitvai-Aeberhard, Managing Director of Eurideas

Why spend time and money on back translation?

The translators of the following US marketing slogans most probably did not bother with back translation (or something else went wrong):

HSBC Bank: “Assume Nothing” translated to “Do Nothing” (in several European languages)

KFC: “Finger Lickin’ Good” translated to “Eat Your fingers Off” (in Chinese)

Braniff Airlines: “Fly in Leather” translated to “Fly Naked” (in Mexican Spanish)

Back translation and reconciliation services provide additional quality and accuracy assurance for your most sensitive translation and localisation projects.

Below is a simplified description of an English-to-French back translation and reconciliation process:

  1. A translator who is a native French speaker translates the English text into French. Next a native French proofreader reviews the translation, followed by the usual quality check performed by our in-house Quality Assurance team.
  2. Another translator who is a native French speaker translates the French text back into English. The back translation needs to be fairly literal, so that the reader understands the meaning precisely. It is important here that the French translator does not have access to the original English text and cannot refer to it.
  3. Our Quality Assurance team member compares the original and the back-translated English text to identify any instances where the meaning is confusing or slightly off. It should be noted that the back-translated text will never be exactly the same as the original text.
  4. Our Quality Assurance team member – working together with the translators – assesses the differences in order to determine whether or not they are due to errors in the translation and then prepares a reconciliation report based on the findings.
  5. Finally the English-to-French translator makes any adjustments to the French translation that may be needed.

When do we recommend back translation?

  • For sensitive or high-risk texts (e.g. clinical trials, consent forms, medical devices);
  • For creative marketing content and transcreation (e.g. advertising slogans);
  • Any other cases when you would like to have an additional quality assurance process in addition to our usual quality check.

There are also some cases when back translation is required by law or prescribed by certain companies or organisations.

In conclusion, it is definitely worth spending more time and money on back translation and reconciliation processes, as you can save yourself a lot of trouble and huge sums in the future by making a small investment today.

Feel free to reach out if we can also assist you with our translation services. Contact us at translation@eurideastranslation.com, and we’ll be glad to send you a quote.

Aluminium translations in demand

After an intense “nickel” period at the end of 2019, during which we translated some one million words into 15 languages in six weeks for the Nickel Institute, now another chemical element is keeping us busy.

This spring, we started working on translations for two aluminium-related organisations almost simultaneously. The Sustainable Bauxite Mining Guidelines will soon be available online in Indonesian, Chinese and Brazilian Portuguese, while the Sustainable Bauxite Residue Management Guidance will be published in Arabic, French, Chinese and Brazilian Portuguese on the website of the International Aluminium Institute. We delivered over 210,000 words in the scope of these projects.

The sustainability NGO Aluminium Stewardship Initiative contacted us with a request to translate the Indigenous Peoples Advisory Forum brochures for them. The Brazilian Portuguese and Latin-American language versions are already available to be downloaded. Translations of the ASI Performance and Chain of Custody Standards into the same languages will follow shortly. The total wordcount of these translated documents amounts to some 345,000 words.

Given that we’ve also been translating articles, position papers, sustainability reports and other documents for the European Aluminium Association since 2014, it’s fair to say that when it comes to aluminium translations, we’re in our element.

Feel free to reach out if we can also assist you with our translation services. The topic doesn’t have to be related to the periodic table!
Contact me at anita@eurideastranslation.com, and I’ll be glad to send you a quote.

Transport, mobility and sustainability translations – topics close to our heart

transport_mobility_translations

This year has seen many changes in European public transport, with initiatives like Germany’s 9 Euro ticket experiment and completely free public transport in Malta from 1 October.
It comes therefore as no surprise that our customers have turned to us for numerous translation projects related to mobility, sustainability, urban development and public transport infrastructure.

European Mobility Week, the European Commission’s flagship awareness-raising campaign on sustainable urban mobility, is run every September by three city networks Eurocities, ICLEI and Polis, together with national coordinators and local campaigners from across Europe. We’ve been providing translation services to Eurocities since 2008 and to ICLEI and Polis since 2010. Moreover, for the third consecutive year we’ve translated the campaign’s Thematic Guidelines from English into all the official languages of the European Union.

The other large-scale mobility project we’ve been involved in is EfficienCE, a cooperation project funded by the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE programme that is aimed at reducing the carbon footprint in the region. The project is led by the City of Leipzig, and managed by Rupprecht Consult. We’ve translated five transnational handbooks for the deployment of energy-efficient public transport infrastructure technologies from English into German, Slovenian, Italian, Czech and Polish.
These publications were created in InDesign, so the services we provided also extended to multilingual typesetting. The versions in the various languages are to be published on the project website.

EU-funded projects and documents revolving around sustainability and innovation are always popular with our colleagues and translators.
If you’re looking for a reliable translation partner for a similar project of yours, we’d be delighted to hear from you.

Feel free to contact me at anita@eurideastranslation.com so we can discuss the details for a quote.

What’s a translation agency doing at Chemspec Europe 2022?

Business without live events is possible, but it’s not much fun.

At the end of May, I’ll put on my smart clothes again, step into high heels and hop on a train to attend Chemspec Europe 2022 in Frankfurt. It’s been a while since my last face-to-face event and I’m looking forward to it (even if we’ll be chatting about SDSs and REACH!).

Life hasn’t stopped, especially in the chemical sector, in the last couple of years. During the last 12 months we translated over 1 million words of SDSs, SPCs and labels, not including other regulatory documents and sworn translations required for, say, a product registration. Most of these files were needed in all the official languages of the EU, which means that we delivered well over 20 million words of SDSs, SPCs and labels to our clients in a year.

This pretty much explains what I’ll be doing at Chemspec Europe 2022, one of the biggest chemical events of the year. Finally, I’m going to meet the people behind the email addresses: familiar faces and new ones alike. You can find the Eurideas Language Experts booth in the regulatory affairs section (Stand RS-J118), surrounded by some of our long-term partners like ReachLaw and Arkema, as well as more recent ones like Neogen Chemicals.

Come and say hello if you’re attending or get in touch at anita@eurideastranslation.com if we can assist you with translation services.

Written by Anita Salát, Business Development Manager

We know everything about chemical translations

Case studies related to chemicals

Chemicals is one of the main fields in which Eurideas specialises. We translate and edit chemical documents daily – during the last 3 years we have translated more than 5 million words for clients in the chemical sector from all over the world.

Through years of translating chemical texts we have learnt a lot about the challenges and concerns clients usually have. It must be stressful to ensure that safety data sheets, SPCs, labels and other documents are translated in several languages, at the highest quality, by a strict deadline.

We do this every day, and we are happy to share our expertise with you.
Read our collection of case studies to learn more about our working method:

Great expectations: 1 million words, 15 languages, 6 weeks >>>

What if you have lots of files into lots of languages, and you need help in planning the entire project? This is a real case study for The Nickel Institute.

Our solution for seemingly impossible translation deadlines – SPCs in the spotlight >>>

From English into 25 European languages in 5 days – submission deadlines of authorities are frightening but feasible with our work method.

Do you speak “agro”? Challenges of translation in agriculture and in agro-industry >>>

Chemical translations for the agriculture sector require a complex knowledge of different fields.
What are these?

Questions I heard at ABIM 2021 Basel – Here are the answers >>>

Our Managing Director visited the Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting in Basel last October. This is her summary about the FAQ regarding translations.

Do you have translatable documents related to chemicals or the legislation of chemicals? 
Ask for a detailed cost-optimized price offer from our project managers at translation@eurideastranslation.com or click and contact us for your customized quote.

Get a first-hand experience on how our experienced translation experts can contribute to your success! 
Check our offer for new clients* and try our services!

Medical: when translation is a matter of life or death

We talk a lot about how to save translations costs and how to meet the seemingly impossible translation deadlines of authorities. However, there are certain fields where neither price nor turnaround time is more important than accuracy. With translations for the medical and pharmaceutical industry, whether they are intended for the health authorities, professionals or patients, there is no room for errors.

How to achieve this

  • Qualified translators with relevant medical, pharma, or bio-sciences background and experience: Eurideas has strict selection criteria and processes that enable us to work with the best translators in each field.
  • Extensive quality control: Each document is translated by a native speaker translator, checked by another translator, and then goes through a two-step quality check. This means the watchful eye of at least three separate persons.
  • Top-notch technology: Translation memory tools, terminology databases and glossaries are crucial for effective and consistent work, and there are plenty of other software solutions that allow us to provide additional services like multilingual typesetting or digitisation.

Typical documents we can help you with are labels, packaging, product information, manuals, patient brochures, summaries of product characteristics (SmPC), regulatory submission dossiers, toxicology reports, data sheets, instructions for use (IFUs), informed consent forms, clinical research, scientific papers, certificates, and veterinary documents.
Beyond standard translation, we also offer certified translation of these files.

Most of our medical projects are translations from English into some or all the official languages of the European Union, plus Icelandic and Norwegian, but we can cover a lot more languages: in 2021 we delivered translations to clients in 194 language pairs.

If this is something that sounds relevant or intriguing to you, feel free to reach out to me at anita@eurideastranslation.com for a quote or for further information.
The beginning of the year is always a good time to have a look around and try new translation partners. Check our Welcome Offer here.

Written by Anita Salát, Business Development Manager

Be prepared – 5 crucial business tasks we undertake at the beginning of the New Year

As the owner of a small business, the beginning of the year is always very busy. It’s not only that we need to check last year’s figures and results, but also there are several tasks we have to complete together with the project team in order to set the foundation for continued growth for the year ahead.
Here are some of the crucial tasks that need to be undertaken at Eurideas every January.

We check what’s trending
We sit down with the business development team and analyse last years’ assignments and try to make conclusions on possible trends. If we find something interesting or new, we carry out further research into it, and focus more on that field in the coming year.

We define company goals for the New Year
We define what we consider to be success this year and what key performance indicators the team must accomplish to achieve our goals. We also decide who is responsible for what and by when certain jobs need to be done.

We plan the annual budget
It’s mainly my task to forecast the revenue we should achieve in the New Year. I also draw up the operational budget, meaning how much we should spend on human resources, IT, marketing, etc.

We look for ways to optimise operations
As we’re growing every year, our operations and processes need to be adjusted continuously. The start of the year is a great time to sit down with the team and examine the processes with a fresh eye and optimise them if needed.

Establish infrastructure for growth
Based on previous experience, our scarcest resource is time. This year we will allocate more resources and focus on growth, besides delivering value. The infrastructure for this needs to be set up now.

If you have a similar to do list at the beginning of each year, and you have realised that one of your objectives is to enter new markets this year, you might also need translation services.
Instead of assigning the job to several freelance translators, you might consider optimising the work and select an experienced language services provider.

If you would like to save costs as well, I would say that it’s a must to work with one translation partner in the long term.

In 2022 we welcome new clients with a special offer, and we build a translation memory with all our partners in order to optimise costs and to ensure quality.

Written by Kristina Bitvai-Aeberhard, Managing Director of Eurideas Language Experts

Spotlight on health translations

Actually the last two years have seemed like one long health awareness period. Our health is something we’ve started to look at differently. No wonder that health-related translations now represent a larger share of our projects than before.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, November is Men’s Health Awareness Month, and you could go on with the list… actually the last few years have seemed like one long health awareness period. Our health is something we’ve started to look at differently.

No wonder that health-related translations now represent a larger share of our projects than before.
Beyond COVID-related documents, here are four examples of recent assignments:

  • For years we’ve translated various materials into 11 languages for the Personalised Medicine Awareness Month campaign of ECPC, the largest European non-profit cancer patients’ association.

  • We continuously assist Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) Europe, an international non-profit association, with translation and typesetting services to lead the global movement for environmentally-responsible health care. Measuring and reducing plastic in the healthcare sector, and sustainable food contact materials in the European healthcare system, are just two of the recently published papers we worked on.

  • Translations for the VAC-PACT project (Vaccination Confidence – Patients’ and Professionals’ Awareness, Communication and Trust) kept us busy last August and September. This EU-funded project is designed to improve vaccine uptake and confidence, and provides patients with chronic diseases, health professionals, and supporting communities, with tailored information in all the official languages of the European Union. Factsheets, quick guides, e-learning materials, videos, and the project website are all translated and published in local languages.

  • The Health Policy Partnership, a specialist health policy research organisation, has been working with us since mid-2020. As a result of our cooperation, a policy toolkit and a clinical toolkit on fragility fractures, a handbook on heart failure care, and a leaflet on heart valve disease, have all been translated into several languages. Beyond translation, we also took care of the layouting of these informative publications in InDesign.

If you have similar translation or multilingual typesetting needs, feel free to contact us.
We are always happy to welcome new clients and interesting projects – not only in the health field!
Check out our Welcome Offer here, or contact me directly at anita@eurideastranslation.com.

Written by Anita Salát, Business Development Manager

Questions I heard at ABIM 2021 Basel – Here are the answers

It`s always very useful for me to attend industry-related conferences, not only to meet business partners in person, but also to learn about the regulatory requirements and relevant updates that affect the industry.

Translation needs and challenges of the biocontrol sector

Translation needs and challenges of the biocontrol sector

It`s always very useful for me to attend industry-related conferences, not only to meet existing and potential business partners in person, but also to learn about the regulatory requirements and relevant updates that affect the industry.

Recently I was in Basel at ABIM2021, the Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting. The agenda and the set-up of the event offered a great opportunity for networking and I could talk to many participants about their translation needs and challenges. I’ve made a short summary about the three most common concerns I heard from companies and the possible solutions we offer.

  1. Quality issues: This was the number one concern I heard. My overall impression was that companies are quite reluctant to outsource their translation tasks due to their bad experience with translation agencies. However, in many cases it’s not possible to do this task inhouse, so they are trying out different language service suppliers.

    Our solution: With a solid client base of 700 companies from the chemical industry and with more than 5 million translated words in the last two years, we make sure that the translations that we do comply with EU and international regulatory requirements.

  2. Short deadlines: The final versions of SPCs need to be translated within five working days. In the case of 24 languages this is almost mission impossible and most translation agencies can’t cope with this task. The issue is the same in the case of registration dossiers.

    Our solution: Over the years we have developed a method that makes it possible to deliver translations of the highest quality into 24 languages, regardless of the length of the document. We have a huge translator pool specialised in chemicals and regulatory affairs. In addition, we can generate the translations in .xml format, so our partners can also save time and they don’t need to upload the language versions manually.

  3. High costs: Companies spend huge amounts on chemical translations, and they may even often have to retranslate the same documents due to quality issues.

    Our solution: We try to motivate our partners to work with us in the long term. We build a translation memory for every partner and give a 60-80% discount on the repetitions and TM matches. This way not only will the translations be cheaper as time goes on but also the quality will be more consistent.

Written by Kristina Bitvai-Aeberhard, Managing Director of Eurideas

What do you gain from having a steady translation partner?

In 2020, 75 new companies decided to start working with us. Chemical companies, regulatory affairs and health policy consultancies, United Nations agencies, European associations, international NGOs and several other companies.
Some of them just popped up, ordered, received the translations, paid the bill and said goodbye, while others have become regular clients.

Why does it benefit you to have one established translation partner, instead of commissioning translation services from different providers each time?

Right from the first project, we draw our client’s attention to the importance of context and background information. We request any special instructions or background documents that the client might like to share with us. If, rather than receiving a single translatable document, we also have access to previous translations, instructions for special terminology to use or a website to consult, the results will be considerably closer to the client’s expectations. These background materials help the translation team to get to know the client’s work and product range better.
It is sufficient to let us know your requirements in terms of format, style or terminology just once, sparing you the trouble of repeating them next time.

A dedicated translation team, consisting of a project manager, one or several translators and one or several proofreaders, is at your service. The team is familiar with your previous translations, requirements and terminology, and our quality assurance experts make sure that you always receive translations of the highest quality.

The more you work with a translation partner, the richer your Translation Memory becomes. We not only store your translations in a Translation Memory, but also reuse them, making your projects cost-effective and your texts consistent. If you work with repetitive texts such as Safety Data Sheets, SPCs, exposure scenarios, labels, annual reports, contracts or legal documents, this is a crucial factor to consider.

It is beneficial to have a tried-and-tested service provider when the authorities suddenly request that you submit a 34,000-word chemical document in Irish, in 5 business days (that is a real-life example that occurred in April 2021). Specific fields, less common languages and short turnaround times will not pose a problem for a translation agency that works with a large pool of translators.

We do much more than just translations. You may have come across us because you needed documents to be translated, but soon you will discover that we can also help typeset your multilingual publications in InDesign – saving you the need to search for a separate graphic designer who can handle Chinese characters or Arabic layout.
You might ask us to translate an agenda and presentations for a meeting and then realise that we can assist you with simultaneous interpreting via ZOOM at the same meeting. You can easily meet several needs with one translation partner if you choose that partner well.

We strive for long-term relationships with our partners and usually have special offers for our new clients. If you place your first order with us before the end of June, we will give you a 7% special discount on all your projects up to the end of summer. That means you have plenty of opportunities to make the most of our services and enjoy a relaxed summer!

If you are looking for a steady translation partner, feel free to contact us via our in-website-form or at translation@eurideastranslation.com and our colleagues will be happy to assist you.

Written by Anita Salát, Business Development Manager

“This is where we can help!”-webinars on how to host a Zoom event with simultaneous interpretation confidently

We could all talk for hours about the challenges we’ve faced since the pandemic struck in 2020. However, new opportunities have also opened up, so why not focus on them instead? Online or remote simultaneous interpretation is one of the good things that have come into our lives.

In the old days interpretation meant that you met the interpreters in person; they were present at the event, working from a booth or sitting next to you and whispering into your ear, depending on what type of interpretation you required.
Beside the numerous benefits of such personal meetings and onsite events, simultaneous interpretation used to impose a huge financial burden on the organiser company due to the high cost of technical equipment (booths, headsets, microphones), the travel and accommodation cost of speakers and interpreters, catering, room rental, and many other fees.

Under the present circumstances we’re compelled to meet virtually.
Is it better than a face-to-face event? No.
Can you do it in a professional way? Yes.
Can you save money on your events with interpretation? Definitely.

With online interpretation you not only save on travel (both time and expense), but online platforms enabling simultaneous interpretation are also available at a significantly lower cost than technical equipment for a traditional event.
On the other hand, you’re on your own here, you have no technician to help you, and you will need someone at your organisation to learn how to host online events with simultaneous interpretation.

We’ve noticed that our clients are not comfortable in this situation. Smaller organisations have no dedicated staff to deal with the technical aspects of online meetings, so the Office Manager or someone from the Communications Department need to learn these new skills. The majority of these meetings are held on the ZOOM Meetings platform, which we’re familiar with, so we thought “This is where we can help!”, and organised a series of webinars for our partners.

Initially we planned two webinars – and in the end we held four due to high demand. During this webinar we discussed what type of licence you need to host a ZOOM event with simultaneous interpretation, what the technical requirements are, and what settings you need to pay attention to.
Through a simulated event the participants could experience what it’s like to be in the role of an interpreter, how audio channels work, and why relay interpretation is still a challenge in ZOOM Meetings.

We have compiled a guidebook and collected tips and tricks that could be useful for our partners when they organise online simultaneous interpreting in ZOOM Meetings. To those wishing to practise, we provided a licence for 24 hours so they had a chance to practise what we had covered in the webinar.

The feedback we received was amazing! New and long-term partners alike were grateful for the initiative and confirmed that the knowledge we had shared would be invaluable for their work in the future.

“Thank you so much for this very clear and useful presentation!” (Independent Retail Europe)
“Many thanks for an excellent webinar.” (Teagasc Ashtown Food Research Centre)

Special thanks to Kata Miklós (DTP and IT Manager) for introducing the webinar participants to the essentials of ZOOM interpretation, to our marketing communications manager, Csilla Dömötör, for the idea of the webinar, and to all our partners attending and contributing with great questions.

When you’re planning an online event with interpreters on Zoom, but you’ve never done it before and find it too challenging, feel free to contact our project managers.

Our interpreters have experience in remote simultaneous interpreting (RSI), so they can support all your online meetings and conferences in more than 50 languages. They are familiar with the most common online platforms that are used for online events (not only with Zoom but also with others, like MS Teams). You can find more details about our interpretation services here.

If you are a new client, we are pleased to offer a 7% discount on all interpretation and translation services until 30 April. Click and check the details of our SPRING2021 special offer here.