Branding and Naming: Critical Mistakes

Avoid Naming “Moo”stakes Your Brand is Worth the Small Investment Expanding firms at some point launch a product, service or their own company name in another country. And that process can cause huge gaffes if those names or logos are not screened properly in key target cultures. What sounds or looks fine in one country… Continue reading Branding and Naming: Critical Mistakes

Machine Translation: When to use and NOT to use

MACHINE TRANSLATION: WHEN TO USE AND WHEN NOT TO USE The most common MT systems are Babelfish and Google Translate. They remain excellent to get the “gist” of what a text means, either from or into English (or any other language combination). But at best they still are only 70-80% accurate. The issue becomes which… Continue reading Machine Translation: When to use and NOT to use

Bloopers #2

Useful TipWhen you are launching a new product, new service or new company, it takes just a small investment in time and money to ensure that the name works overseas. Even if you are not planning to go global now, you probably will later. And why risk your entire investment? If your name sounds like… Continue reading Bloopers #2

Chinese: Why you can’t translate into Mandarin

Understanding How Politics Divides the Chinese Markets Why You Can’t Translate into Mandarin Unlike alphabetic languages whose letters represent distinct sounds, Chinese is written in characters. Foreigners must learn the writing, the meaning and the pronunciation of each character individually. Mandarin, Cantonese, Fukienese, Shanghaiese and hundreds of other dialects are spoken pronunciations of individual characters.… Continue reading Chinese: Why you can’t translate into Mandarin

6 Common Myths about Interpreters

Six Common Myths Debunked Interpreters are not all the same! Since most people from the President to the Media confuse the terms, let’s start at the beginning. When rendering concepts from one language to another, Translation deals with written communication; and Interpreting deals with spoken communication, whether for presentations, depositions, or personal or public meetings… Continue reading 6 Common Myths about Interpreters

Bloopers #1

NEW! Auerbach International is pleased to introduce a new series, Bi-weekly Bloopers, to brighten up your day. These are humorous mistranslations into English done by amateurs or software instead of professional linguists. Miscommunication can make your entire global venture fail. Your whole investment and reputation are at stake. Why would you risk it? Post Bloopers… Continue reading Bloopers #1

What NOT to do in Global Marketing – Part 2

WHAT NOT TO DO IN GLOBAL MARKETING – PART 2 Translating, interpreting, dubbing and other language services are just one aspect of your outreach to international markets. Whether you are a part of a startup or a well-established company, and whether your firm is large or small, firms of all sizes have made major gaffes… Continue reading What NOT to do in Global Marketing – Part 2

Why Your Native Speakers Should Not Translate

Why Your Native Speakers Should Not Translate (But they can still help save you money!) Myth: Anyone who speaks a language can translate or interpret it. Reality: Translation is a very difficult skill requiring many years of training, usually at the college and/or grad school level. ——————————————– Your organization may have two kinds of people who speak… Continue reading Why Your Native Speakers Should Not Translate