Archive for July 31, 2009

Matthew Connaughton | July 31, 2009
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Lending figures add up to bad news for UK business

Gavin Wheeldon - CEO of Applied Language Solutions

Gavin Wheeldon: Concerned over business lending levels

Just read an interesting story on BBC News about the recent war of words between the Chancellor, Alistair Darling and the British Bankers Association (BBA) concerning the supposed (disputed) increase in business lending.

Following comments made by the Chancellor, that he was “Extremely concerned” about lending levels, the BBA promptly released figures that showed an increase in small business lending in June.

However, these latest figures are bound to cause further debate after it was revealed that the BBA classes a “small business” as one that has up to £1m annual turnover – effectively ‘fudging’ the stats, according to one blogger.

Applied Language CEO, Gavin Wheeldon commented:       “If business lending is down, and everything suggests that is the case, it puts increased pressure on the cash flow of small UK businesses. Most business borrowing tends to be for expansion related reinvestment, so this means that more companies will have their attempts at growth stifled – anything that does that, particularly during a recession, is extermely counterproductive for the economy.”

Read the full story here.

Category: Business Management | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Matthew Connaughton | July 22, 2009
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Export Box launch covered by Daily Express

This morning we woke up to the encouraging view of our new service, Export Box being featured in the Daily Express – always a pleasure!

EBLOGO

Partners include Google, HSBC, Royal Mail, Institute of Export and Search Laboratory.

Export Box is a dedicated exporting package that enables first time exporters to venture overseas with their goods or services – It’s pledge is “Helping you export – to anywhere”.

For under £3,000, Export Box includes in-country marketing with Google, dedicated Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign management and landing pages designed to maximise orders & enquiries from a dedicated PPC partner.

Applied Language Solutions (ALS) will provide additional translation for emails and marketing purposes, while HSBC and Royal Mail provide banking and shipping respectively. ALS will also be able to provide instant telephone interpreting for additional customer support for non-English speaking customers.

Applied Language Solutions CEO, Gavin Wheeldon said: “The package is a no-brainer for companies wanting to take the plunge into exporting. With Export Box we have included a years membership to the Institute of Export, as well as a free storefront with Alibaba.com and discounted membership. Other partners will be added over time with their services and benefits given retrospectively for customers.”

Speaking of the extras within the Export Box package, he added “Not stopping there, users of Export Box will also receive a free £200 Google Voucher to add to their PPC campaigns – so we really do make sure every Export Box customer will get everything they need to export, from the impartial advice of the IOE to marketing, communications, sales and transactional support.”

For more info on Export Box visit www.exportbox.co.uk.

Category: Translation | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Matthew Connaughton | July 21, 2009
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ALS boss reacts to Porsche payout

During the recession, the bonus culture which has (in part) helped to propel the global economy to  the dizzy heights from which it has recently plummeted (sic: and subsequently buried itself under its own terminal velocity), has come under fire from just about every possible angle.

From bank bosses to outgoing MP’s, public outcry against the endorsement of big bonuses and ‘golden parachutes’ has made proverbial mincemeat out of many a reputation (however well deserved said reputation may have seemed previously). With that in mind, it will come as no suprise to learn that outgoing Porsche chief, Wendelin Wiedeking may be in for similar treatment. Recent reports state he may receive a parting payout in excess of $100million after seventeen years at the helm of the German manufacturer. Couple that with the small factor of Porsche debts totalling some $10 billion and you might not find yourself surprised at such derision.

Beautiful! 740 of these - yours for $100m

If only! 740 of these - yours for just $100m

Speaking to Real Business, Applied Language Solultions CEO Gavin Wheeldon gave his reaction to the reports: “Wiedeking should be appropriately rewarded for the results he achieved earlier in his career at Porsche – but he shouldn’t be getting such a significant golden parachute at such a bad time for the business,” in reference to the company’s plummeting share price and €10bn debt added “any kind of exit bonus should be based on the current health of the business you are exiting.”

For the full story on Real Business, click here.

Category: Business Management | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
samp | July 10, 2009
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La Tribune in English (sort of)

Leading French newspaper La Tribune have launched English, Italian, German and Spanish versions of their website. The only downside is that they have used machine translation.

La Tribune in English

La Tribune in English

While machine translation is great for smaller businesses and hobby sites to help their users get the gist of a site, it is not what you would expect from such a media giant.

Browsing the English version today I came across a few confusing headlines:

“Oil puts end to six consecutive meetings of fall”

“Terminus carries of Auteuil for Fabrice Santoro grateful”

“Tsonga is ready! “OJ-Wilfried very wants to make this turn…”

“The Bank of England leaves its directing rate to its low historical”

See for yourself here and let us know if you find any funny headlines.

Category: Machine Translation, Translation, Translation Mistakes | Tags: , , ,
Matthew Connaughton | July 9, 2009
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Monkeys recognise ‘bad grammar’

Studies on monkeys have revealed clues about the evolution of language.

In the journal Biology Letters, researchers said that cotton-top tamarins (like the one pictured) are able to spot if the order of syllables in a word is “wrong”.

Hear no evil? Not quite, according to new findings!

Hear no evil? Not according to new findings!

They familiarised the monkeys with two-syllable terms, and recorded their reaction to words that were not consistent with that syllable pattern.

The team says the work illustrates how many animals use patterns that have become intrinsic to human language.

Applied language Solutions have dedicated professional language courses – maybe zookeepers need to brush up on their English language skills!   View the full story here.

Category: Translation | Tags: , , , ,
samp | July 7, 2009
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Pedestrians Puzzled by Welsh Road Sign

Pedestrians in Cardiff, Wales have been left in a state of confusion by a wrongly translated road sign. The sign with an

Don't forget to look both ways!

Don't forget to look both ways!

English and Welsh translation tells English readers to look left and Welsh readers to look right “cerddwyr edrychwch i’r dde”.

The sign was made by a traffic management company and was removed soon after the mistake was realised.

Fortunately the mistake did not lead to a spate of accidents but it is easy to see how such an error or a poor quality translation could have grave consequences.

Full report available from bbc news.

Category: Translation, Translation Mistakes | Tags: ,
samp | July 2, 2009
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Hayden Panettiere’s Misspelt Tattoo

Sould've gone to ALS!

Should've gone to ALS!

Yet another celebrity has made the mistake of having the wrong translation permanently inked on to their body.

Hayden Panettiere, the 19 year old star of Heroes, has joined the growing list of celebs including David Beckham and Rihanna who have had a misspelt translated tattoo.

The actress meant to have “to live without regret” translated into Italian for her tattoo. It was meant to read “vivere senza rimipianto” but instead the translation had an extra ‘i’.

Make Sure It’s Right

For something so permanent its a good idea to make sure your translation is correct before you get inked.

We’ll translate the text for your tattoo in to a choice of 71 different languages (including Italian Hayden!!) for only $11 or £6.

All our tattoo translations are completed by the same professional human translators that work for us on projects for some of the world’s biggest companies.

So if you’re thinking of getting a tattoo in a language you don’t speak, make sure you get it translated professionally.

Category: Translation, Translation Mistakes | Tags: , , ,
Matthew Connaughton | July 2, 2009
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Google helping firms take over the world…

You’ve heard the remarks before, no doubt, that “Google is on a mission to take over the world”. You may have even agreed from time to time, however one thing is certain – they definitely are, but not as you would (like to) think!!

Much has been said about Google (good and bad) since its meteoric rise to fame, fortune and household-namedom, however there is one thing you certainly won’t have heard from the paranoia brigade. I speak of Google UK’s recent launch of its Export Advisor website – a free tool that guides business managers through the various barriers to entry to overseas markets and thus helps them to export with relative ease.

The overarching aim of Export Advisor is to encourage small firms and first-time exporters trade overseas by giving free impartial advice and ‘how to’ guides for all things exporting. They’ve even come up with a nifty (dare I say nifty?) market sizing tool for certain geographic regions based on your market (screenshot below).

Google Market Sizing Tool

Google's market sizing tool gives potential opportunities for your products/services abroad.

Sticking to what they clearly know best, Google have also impressively drafted in a number of suppliers to cope with all the non-web based elements of exporting. These include HSBC, Royal Mail, the Institute of Export and Applied Language Solutions.

In keeping with the exporting theme, Applied Language has also teamed up with Google and the other partners to launch Export  Box. Combining translation, shipping, banking, in-country Pay Per Click and Google advertising for a one off fee, Export Box is the first ever ‘out of the box’ exporting package.

Anyone reading this is encouraged to take a look at the Export Advisor website and try out the (beta) tools for themselves. Oh and try not to reach the conclusion that Google are trying to help you take over the world…

Happy exporting!

Category: Translation | Tags: , , , , , ,