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: , , , , , ,
samp | June 30, 2009
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How Businesses Can Embrace Free Technology

Applied Language CEO Gavin Wheeldon spoke recently at the Future Focus Event in Edinburgh.

Here he shares his thoughts on how businesses can use technology (especially free technology!) to become more efficient and more effective.

Category: Technology, Translation | Tags: , , , , ,
admin | June 29, 2009
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Gazprom Highlight Need for Brand Checks

Russian energy giant Gazprom recently announced a joint venture with the state run Nigerian energy company NNPC. Unfortunately they didn’t think it wise to get their chosen brand checked for inappropriate or culturally offensive meanings throughout the world.

The new brand name for the venture must have been decided last thing on a Friday afternoon; it’s the only way to explain the amount of creativity taken to come up with “Nigaz”.

“Hmm, a gaz company in Nigeria…I’ve got it Nigaz!!”

Such branding schoolboy errors come around far more often than they should, and it’s the big boys that are often the biggest culprits.

When Kentucky Fried Chicken translated their slogan “Finger lickin’ good” into Chinese, it came out as “Eat your fingers off”.

In Italy, a campaign for “Schweppes Tonic Water” translated the name into “Schweppes Toilet Water”.

When General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware that “no va” in Spanish means “it won’t go”.

Perhaps next time Gazprom launch a new brand in a foreign country they will use our international brand check service.

We get 10 linguists per language to answer a series of 20 questions relating to the brand, to make sure:

  • Your chosen name is not already in use
  • Your chosen brand name doesn’t have an offensive meaning in your target country
  • The colours you have chosen are not considered unlucky in the county of your launch
  • The brand name you’ve picked translates well and the meaning is maintained
  • Your product is not culturally offensive

So next time you launch a product in a new country make sure you keep a small bit of budget for your brand check and avoid yourself a costly re-brand.

Category: Translation Mistakes | Tags: , , ,
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