There is a small, beautiful village in Greece called Parga, a meeting point for sun and beach lovers from all over the world. Walking the narrow cobblestone alleys or climbing the steps up to the Venetian castle is a multicultural experience with a wealth of languages being spoken as holidaymakers take snapshots of the dreamy coastline. The center of this multicultural buzz is Villa Rossa Area, a boutique beach resort.
I had the opportunity to spend a few days at this beautiful place last year and I was really astonished by the high quality and friendliness of this hotel and its people. An additional incentive, in a year when travel remains a challenge, is that Parga and the surrounding area have, according to EU figures, remained the ‘greenest’ – meaning covid-free- part of Europe.
Here are some more details: Standing on a beautiful sandy beach since the early 1900s and offering undisturbed sea views of crystal-clear blue waters, the historic Villa Rossa Area Boutique Beach Resort, can be an idyllic spot for meeting travelers and tourists from all over the world. It is also a great starting point for diving, snorkeling and Stand Up Paddle adventures.
The converted landmark seafront estate is symbol of multi-culturalism itself: it was originally built by a French architect in 1903 and combines old Greek world’s charm with modern comfort, and tailor made eco-sensitive design. Using many of the original materials, furniture and lights and masterfully blended with the Residence’s high ceilings, large French windows and undisturbed sea views the Villa Rossa Area is a one-of-a-kind Ionian Dream. The must-visit landmark villa has starred in international films and is home to several CNN productions. The Villa Rossa Area offers a historic journey to its origins through an innovative digital interactive museum accessible to both guests and virtual visitors.
The award-winning farm-to-table restaurant hosts al fresco group or private dining experiences in select locations within the grounds, while the private sandy beach area provides direct sea access and docking. The hotel is also reachable by car.
! A secret tip for our readers: The seafront seven-bedroom villa, which boasts a private hill with unbeatable sea views and a century-old olive grove, can also be rented in its entirety.
Get more information about the available accommodation and services by clicking here.
About Parga: Set in the idyllic region of Epirus on the western coast of mainland Greece, the exceptional natural beauty of the heart-shaped bay of Parga provides an ideal setting for those seeking a multilingual and multicultural experience… and a stunning coastline.
Inhabited since antiquity, Parga has featured on the sea routes of pirates, explorers from different countries, shipping tycoons and Hollywood legends cruising the Ionian. Aristotle Onassis famously fell in love with beautiful Parga prior to settling for the nearby island of Skorpios. The delightful fishing village nestled in the shadow of the Venetian castle looks out to an iconic islet and mesmerizing bay adorned with majestic sea rocks – a sea lover’s paradise waiting to be explored.
Kristina Bitvai, Managing Director of Eurideas Language Experts
Are you planning an online event with interpreters on Zoom?
But you’ve never done it and find it too challenging?
Eurideas Language Experts is now organising free webinars for its clients and other interested parties about the essentials of simultaneous online interpretation. Anyone who received this email or anyone else at your organisation can join.
Key topics:
How to set up a meeting with language interpretation in ZOOM Meetings
Step-by-step tutorial for configuring audio channels and other settings
Tips & tricks to coordinate interpreters during the meeting
Live testing possibility for all functions
Sign-up today and get all the answers from Eurideas Language Experts.
Available webinar dates: 2 March, 2021 10:00-11:00 CET 4 March, 2021 15:00-16:00 CET
Important details:
ZOOM licences needed will be provided for the participants for the duration of the webinar. We will inform you in advance about the minimal technical requirements for participation, and about any preparatory steps you need to take.
We can accept eight applicants per webinar date.
In case you sign up and you can’t join, please let us know a minimum 24 hours before the webinar, so someone else can join instead of you.
Would you like to join? Please send your registration to marketing@eurideastranslation.com mentioning your date preference and we will get back to you with confirmation and information on the next steps.
You can find more details about our interpretation services here, and an interesting case study on relay interpreting here.
Providing translation services for a complex sector like agriculture might be tricky and difficult for agencies without specialised translators and proper terminology databases. Before joining the language services industry, for many years I had worked for agricultural companies.
Challenges of translation in agriculture and in agro-industry
Providing translation services for a complex sector like agriculture might be tricky and difficult for agencies without specialised translators and proper terminology databases. Before joining the language services industry, for many years I had worked for agricultural companies. Recently I’ve contacted my old colleagues and managers to get to know more about their personal experiences about translation and interpretation services: what challenges they have to face and what expectations they have in terms of agro-translations. Here is a summary of what I have learned about their insights, needs and expectations:
Translating agriculture-related texts is not only about perfect language knowledge, it requires complex knowledge of different fields
“We have to comply with all legal and registration standards – follow strict timelines, use digital forms in different file formats in different languages.” EMEA registration manager of a crop protection company
“Mutual recognition, REACH, ECHA, DG SANCO (DG SANTE), BVL, CTGB, ANSES, bio-dossiers, ANNEX1, trial reports, SDS, label, SPC. I’m responsible for 23 countries… this means almost two dozen languages. Give me someone who can simplify my work.” Registration and field trial coordinator, EMEA
“Authorisation documents for placing products on the market and using them, product labels, safety data sheets, product leaflets, or online product databases, etc. should follow a common jargon that complies with all the rules and should follow the local professional vocabulary…when the translation of these docs are split between different translation agencies, it usually ends up in ‘word-chaos’.” Product manager for field crop pesticides
Translating agricultural-related documents encompasses a specialised language combining biology, chemicals, or life sciences, as well as the registration information needed for trading in different countries, and legislation knowledge required for the contracts, statements and permits necessary to move products to market. Materials are provided in different file formats and are handed-in/provided on different platforms.
Local translators specialised in agriculture – is it a myth?
“It’s crucial to choose competent interpreters when you organise an international conference or multilingual field events in the agriculture industry. I wish I could work with a specialised language service agency that can provide us with translation experts for all EMEA languages…Native agro translation professionals wanted. “ Regional PR and Event manager at an market-leading agro-machinery company
“If our promotional texts in brochures or our websites uses the wrong local terminology, the farmers think we don’t understand the market and their needs…we make them laugh instead of make them believe our messages and buy.” Communication expert at a seed breeding company
Field crops and horticulture, animal nutrition, fertilisers and pesticides production, pest control, chemical or biological crop protection, seed and plant breeding – so many fields, so many special terms. Translators or interpreters should have the know-how in each particular field and they have to be experts in the terminology of the sector as there is no room for translation error.
Some of my former colleagues have highlighted that long-term cooperation with a specialised translation partner allows them to build a terminology database for technical jargon for processes, weeds, diseases, species, machine parts, and accessories, – it’s a huge help. When they can find a confident interpreter for a language pair, they call him/her regularly for onsite or online meetings or events.
In global or regional positions the key challenge is to find a trustworthy and professional service provider with multilingual solutions – it’s a lot easier to find an agro-translation expert for traditional language pairs like English-German, or English-French, than someone (a native speaker!) who translates from Croatian to Spanish, or Polish to Chinese.
Translation or adaptation?
“Product presentations, landing pages or brand videos are usually created in English by our global marketing team. The local versions (text translations, subtitles, voiceovers) are passed to global advertising agencies…when I get the translated version for a final check I usually have to re-translate every fifth sentence because end-users might misunderstand the messages due to the wrong expressions or non-agro-related wording.” Marketing coordinator at a fertiliser distribution company
In the case of sales or marketing texts, translation may not be the right service. Messages need to be adapted not only to the language but also to the social needs of local customers. Cultural context, local agro traditions and practices and associations can be the key to local business success.
When it comes to translation in the agricultural sector, it’s best to surround yourself with specialists. Working with a specialised agency means that you do not need to find one single translator who knows all these fields like the back of his or her hand. You can have your pool of local translators with language experts in each field and for all target languages. Long-term cooperation with the right translation partner allows you to build a terminology database to make your communication more consistent, whether it is translated documents or interpretation at an online event.
Maybe you have your regular translator for English-to-German label translations. But what about the remaining 22 languages of the European Union? What if it’s a sales brochure, and requires layout work as well? And how about less common language pairs like Croatian-to-Spanish or Polish-to-Chinese? Challenges for you, regular business for us… A professional translation agency with many satisfied partners from the agro-sector can make your daily work easier and can contribute to your business success.
Finding one agency to cover all the countries your organisation operates in is not a myth! 😊 Feel free to contact us via our website form or at translation@eurideastranslation.com and our colleagues will be happy to assist you.
Written by Csilla Dömötör, marketing communication manager, Eurideas Language Experts
Spoiler alert: I don’t own the Sorcerer’s Stone, so this post isn’t about magical nonsence.
There are only 30 days until Christmas Eve. This usually means that the year-end rush has already started in business (and at home), or it will start soon. 2020 has been an extraordinary year: planning – reorganizing, budgeting – recalculating, run-stop-restart, home office – back to the office. I’m sure that the end of this crazy 2020 still holds some surprises, so it’s good to have some extra ideas (and energy) to battle the challenges.
In the past more than twelve years I have worked for different multinational companies as a marketing expert. The year end meant final budget reports, campaign summaries, presentations with strict deadlines, closing contracts. While our team also had to prepare the next year’s sales-supporting documents, videos, campaign plans, brochures. It meant that we had to have contributed to the legal department, registration and EHS colleagues and external stakeholders in different languages – translating from English to local languages, transcreating the technical terminology to adapt messages.
The days before the winter holiday had been more than challenging until my business coach helped me to learn small tricks* to help to master the chaos in my head and in the tasks.
A goal without a plan is just a wish
Stop for an hour (you will still have 239 left) and create a task list with the deadlines, time, budget, teammates needed, then prioritise. Yes, it takes a long time and you have so much to dooooo now, but this is the key. After prioritising you can decide what can be postponed or what can be solved within the company by other colleagues. You will also see that
if you don’t have the internal resources for tasks or projects, you can outsource them to external experts.
If I could travel back in time, in 2019 I would suggest to myself to find a professional language service agency before starting to create the whole local marketing and sales toolbox for a new marketing campaign on my own. From the translation of product data sheets, package labels, brochure and leaflet contents, up to the typesetting of PowerPoints, transcribing and localisation of product and event videos, the an agency with services beyond translation could have helped me with its expert team. Now I know that
outsourcing is a superpower in order to clone yourself during challenging projects.
With this superpower I could have the possibility, not only to stop work, but finally to finish all the tasks on that list before the holiday starts. No more files in the in-tray like a ‘bête noire’ waiting for re-opening in January…
There are 240 working hours until the winter holidays. I dream about a peaceful preparation time and a really relaxing holiday, so in 2020 I will use my superpower.
Eurideas Language Experts is a professional translation agency. But there is so much more to it! If you think that all we do is translate documents, you are quite mistaken.
Sure, we do translate texts in over 50 language pairs, in various fields from chemicals, environment and life sciences to EU affairs, law and human rights, however, this is not the only service we provide, not by a long shot.
Here are 4 things you probably didn’t know we can help you with:
1. Consultancy
If you feel lost planning a complex project where the translation of numerous documents into a dozen languages is involved, why not reach out to us? You haven’t done this before – but us? We do this on a daily basis. Spare yourself the headache (and the time and money), and let’s join forces to organize the work and translate 1 million words into 15 languages in 6 weeks!
When you are about to submit your first SPC (summary of product characteristics) for Union authorisation, and you realize that you need to translate this chemical document into all the official languages of the EU, that could be frightening. However, what is even more shocking is that you have 5 business days for the job. Worry not, we have developed our own method for SPC translations to meet strict deadlines. Planning is key, so let’s talk in due time.
The more details you share with us, the more we can help in optimizing your budget, suggesting alternative timelines and delivery options.
2. Multilingual typesetting
Those times are long gone when translating a nicely designed brochure required a translation team and a graphic design agency. Once the original artwork is prepared by the graphic designer, we can translate the text directly in the InDesign file, and then we do the typesetting, fixing the formatting so that the final layout of the publication will perfectly correspond to the original.
No more copy-pasting, no more errors. Instead, you save time and costs, and will receive a ready-to-print publication in Arabic, Chinese, Spanish or whatever language you require.
3. Monolingual copy-editing
Sometimes a translation agency does not translate at all.
A lot of non-native authors publish articles, studies or papers which need to be edited before going public or before being translated into other languages.
Final reports on EU-funded projects are also required to go through a thorough copy-editing process.
When a team of people with diverse backgrounds, cultures and mother tongues works on one single presentation, an editor is a must to ensure a coherent format and content.
And then there are cases when editing has a specific purpose, for example it makes the text accessible to people with intellectual disabilities.
Since we work with a large pool of native linguists, we can help you eliminate any grammar, spelling or punctuation issues, improve the style, make the text more coherent, or meet a special requirement.
4. Testing, layout checking
Delivering a translated document does not necessarily mark the end of an assignment.
Survey translations could be tricky, since they pose technical and linguistic challenges. Before they go live, it is strongly recommended to run both functional and linguistic testing.
The same goes for printed brochures, leaflets or factsheets: in cases where multilingual typesetting is part of our assignment, a last layout check is included in the process. In all other cases, we are happy to assist you with the layout check for various language versions of a publication.
Written by Anita Salát, Business Development Manager
Get a first-hand experience on how our language services can contribute to your success! Get in touch with us for a quote if you need translation or any relevant services.
Chemicals, medical, pharma, biosciences, biotechnology or research are challenging and complex fields, with some very specific documents. Translating such documents are not for any translation agencies.
If your translation partner is not specialized in these domains, the outcome could be not only disappointing, but costly and dangerous too. On the other hand, the right service provider helps your business with more than just accurate translations: you can unlock in-house resources, reduce costs, avoid double work, and keep strict submission deadlines.
How do you know that you work with a professional and specialized translation agency?
We have collected 5+1 clear signs:
1. Experienced translators with chemical/technical background
Whether the translatable files are reports, brochures, SDSs, Exposure Scenarios or registration documents, translators should have chemical and regulatory background, and they should be familiar with legislation and formal requirements.
Check the translation agency’s website for a list of references, blogposts and case studies – these all are proofs of experience in the chemical field.
2. Project managers ask relevant questions
Project managers of a specialized agency will know what you talk about when you say REACH, BPR, SDS, MSDS, Exposure Scenario, SPC or CLP in your translation request. Yet, they will ask relevant questions about your submission deadline or your product.
They help you set up a timing for the project, suggesting options to meet even the most pressing deadlines. Since they are aware of EC requirements and ECHA processes, and they are familiar with special file formats (e.g: XML) and software (e.g: SPC Editor), communication is effective and easy.
3. Large collection of terms, glossaries, guidelines, procedures
The involvement of clients in terminology work is indispensable as nobody wants misunderstandings and double work. But with a specialized translation agency you can reduce your task to the minimum because your translation partner already has a comprehensive knowledge of the field, with a long list of technical expressions, relevant legislation, guidelines and glossaries.
4. No translation without proofreading
For the best service, each translation has to be proofread by a second translator who is also a native speaker of the target language and expert of the given field.
The proofreader checks the translation against the source document, ensures that the translation is free of errors and complies with the expected terminology and regulations. Proofreading is a must – especially when a client has no in-house native speakers to check files translated into several languages.
5. Quality control procedure
Quality assurance is the very final step to make sure your translated documents are of the highest standards. QA team members are “invisible guards” behind the scenes for translation excellence. They check terminology, ensure consistency, secure coherence and they are a fresh pair of eyes to spot various issues. With the translator and the proofreader this makes it three people to work on each document.
+1. The more you order, the less the job costs you
Thanks to an advanced software environment and in order to foster long-term cooperation, a professional translation agency offers discounts for repetitions in the translatable document, volume discounts for large orders, and also additional special discounts in some cases.
With the brilliant invention of translation memories, all your previous translations are stored and can be used again in the future. This makes work quicker, more efficient and significantly more cost-effective on the long run.
If your current translator calculates prices without analyzing the document, it is time to find a new translation partner.
If you would like to see how our specialized services can contribute to your success, feel free to get in touch.
Get a first-hand experience on how our language services can contribute to your success! Get in touch with us for a quote if you need translation or any relevant services.
Nickel REACH Consortia, created by the Nickel Institute to help companies manage their EU REACH and CLP obligations, contacted us with a translation assignment at the end of last year. They had a long list of English chemical documents (exposure scenarios in particular) their members needed in 15 different European languages. The consortia were planning to coordinate the translation activity for their member companies to avoid double work and to ensure the translation quality meets the professional requirements of relevant authorities.
This was a classic chemical project, with far more files and a shorter deadline than usual: almost 1 million words had to be translated into a total of 15 languages in 6 weeks.
What does the client think of this project?
„We worked with Eurideas to provide translations of technical documents into several EU languages. These documents inform downstream users of chemicals in the EU how to handle them safely. Translations were required to be of very high quality, in a well-structured format, and delivered within short timeframes.
Eurideas met the brief, with professional translation skills, expertise in dealing with such technical documentation, and provided a very competitive offer. They also demonstrated good customer service by creating a memory bank of translated phrases to reduce future translation costs for us or members of our organisation. We were very happy with the level of efficient cooperation and the excellent standard of work.”
Pablo Rodríguez Domínguez, Regulatory Affairs Specialist, Nickel Institute
And how do we see it?
“In case of a complex translation project into several languages, organising is key. With Nickel Institute we were lucky to be able to discuss the needs of the project thoroughly, and received clear instructions from the very beginning. Project planning needs understanding and flexibility from both sides to be able to meet halfway. We have achieved this with Pablo and his colleagues, and the cooperation resulted in a successful project.”
Zsanett Kórik Operations Supervisor, Eurideas Language Experts
No project can be successful
without an efficient dialogue between the partners. We need to know the
requirements and expectations of the client in order to meet them, and to get
the job done as efficiently as possible. Let’s see what main concerns
clients usually have in complex projects like this, and how we address
them:
Client: This is a very specific field, and I need a translator who has chemical knowledge, and knows the regulations. We need to hand in this document to the authorities, and they have strict rules.
Eurideas: Our translators are not only native speakers in the language they translate into, but they have chemical or regulatory background too. They are aware of the legal regulations, the REACH terminology and the authorities’ guidelines.
Client: I don’t speak all these languages so I will not be able to check if the quality is good.
Eurideas: The translations are always revised by
another translator, and then they go through a thorough in-house quality
check, so you don’t need to worry about quality issues. We translate SDSs,
SPCs, labels and other chemical documents on a daily basis.
Client: I have so many files… I don’t even know how to arrange the files and languages, and there might be additional documents later.
Eurideas: We can help you prepare a matrix of
translatable documents and languages, and we’ll tell you what input we need.
You will have a dedicated project manager to keep you updated anytime,
in a few hours. If anything changes on your side, we will adjust the work
process.
Client: I have a deadline in mind for the translations, but we need some of the translations earlier.
Eurideas: We prepare a timeline in advance, and we can give priority to certain files. The project is transparent: you know exactly what and when you will receive. Translations can land in your mailbox or in a shared folder in several batches, or one by one, if that is your preference.
Why would you care about mentoring amid a global crisis?
For the same reasons as at any other time: to help you develop in a way so that you can steer your career in the right direction and make confident professional decisions. It works for the home office, too.
I have been working from home for many years now, so the first struggles are already distant memories. But for many professionals, maybe even yourself, it is a new situation to adjust to, similar to starting a new job or finding yourself at the next step of your career. And those are precisely the scenarios mentoring comes into consideration.
Yes, you can use books and courses for your development. However, a mentor is a human being who has “been there, done that.” Someone who can answer your questions and offer their perspective throughout your journey.
Mentoring is an information highway to where you want to go:
it provides you with a steeper learning curve by sharing their insights;
it saves you the dead ends you inevitably run into when developing yourself alone.
But the benefits go even beyond all that. Communication skills are developing on both sides. Generation gaps are closing. New networks are being built. Through the long-term support of a fellow professional, your confidence is growing. Not least because the achievements are products of hard work and not merely luck.
So how do you make it work in the first place? Let’s say
your goal is to become a successful leader of a remote team — now that every
one of your subordinates works from home. You can then look around in
your network and search for someone, for example, in a managerial role at a
tech company where remote teams have been around for a while and have best
practices in place.
But it’s not only the professional qualities
that count. Take time to get to know your “candidate” before you even ask for
mentoring. Discuss your backgrounds, goals, communication routines, common
interests. If it looks like a good match, agree on a regular
consultation schedule and make sure you bring a lot of questions to your
meetings! And, besides the plan, flexibility will be essential to make
the most of this relationship.
If you are considering mentoring, you might also find that you need help in areas other than business. I bet many of us would now like to have someone like a health mentor to coach us through the current pandemic so that we can confidently navigate the fake news and the anxiety, adjust to new routines, and have emotional support at all times. What an invaluable contribution to societal development it would be!
We have created a simple but useful checklist that can help you identify tasks that you wanted to complete long ago. Now is the time to kick off these projects!
These days, while working from home, your daily routine – both business and personal – is very different from what it used to be. Priority of certain tasks has changed; projects have become obsolete or they have been put on hold. However, there are tasks worth dealing with now – you have enough time at your hand, and more importantly, these will pay off when business life gets back on track.
1. Launch the translations of project reports, studies, guides and presentations
It’s time to get these reports done – don’t let them lie in your drawer until the very last minute before the submission deadline. We are here to assist you with the translations, and you could receive the requested language versions by the time business gets back to normal. Sounds good?
2. Prepare your multilingual regulatory documents earlier
In chemical, agricultural or pharmacy industry the preparation for a product-registration requires many documents in several languages. Use this opportunity to get everything ready by the future submission dates. We have great experience in translating SDS, SPC and other technical sheets, so ask for our professional support.
3. Localize your sales and marketing communication toolkit
Product brochures, company introductions, promotional leaflets, pricelists, sales presentations or annual reports. It’s good to have them in English, but talking to your customers in their mother tongue makes miracles. Collect your sales kit and ask for a package translation price offer. We can do the translation directly in your design file and deliver you the foreign language version in ready-to-print pdf format. Be ahead of your competitors by the time business restarts.
4. Check your company’s online availability – in different languages!
Update the content of your organization’s website, web shop, interesting blog pages, useful e-learning materials and social media profiles, and then make them available in your partners’ languages. We can work with several file formats from XML to HTML.
5. Update your multilingual HR or legal docs
Open those old folders with the long-forgotten but important Terms&Conditions, GDPR or privacy statements, ISO-related workflow descriptions, contracts or similar files. They might need an update; however, your key partners definitely deserve to have a version in their own language. Have these files translated from scratch, or simply ask for an update on the different language versions. We can help in both.
6. Podcasts, audio or video recorded events, webinars with subtitles
Check your folders, USB sticks, external HDDs and re-discover the audio/video recording of your latest successful event, business conference or workshop. You might need the script of these recordings – in the original language, or some other. Are you forced to held a webinar instead of your event? You can make the webinar available later to the participants, with different subtitles or a translated script or summary.
+1 Adapt your strategy to new circumstances
Even if you have ticked the above points, you might still need to adapt your business strategy to the current situation and most importantly for the restart. Act fast! We can assist you in reaching your multilingual audience.
Get a first-hand experience on how our language services can contribute to your success! Get in touch with us for a quote if you need translation or any relevant services.
