BCCH 2019

Douglas Arnott elected onto Council of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hungary

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At the 2019 Annual General Meeting held on 7 May 2019 the British Chamber of Commerce in Hungary elected a new Council.

We are proud to announce that our owner Douglas Arnott was elected onto the Council and will now be responsible with his fellow members for influencing the direction of the BCCH in the forthcoming period.

Douglas Arnott BCCH 2019

The BCCH is an independent non-profit organisation, which has been serving its members since its foundation in 1991 by British investors.

Their mission is to represent British, Hungarian and international companies with the overarching principles of British business values and promote trade and investment flows between the UK and Hungary.

“We provide our members with all kinds of opportunities to raise their company’s business profile and strengthen their competitiveness in the local and international market, such as various events, publications, areas of focus (such as knowledge transfer, SMEs, CR, etc.), international and regional partnerships, business services through the knowledge and long-term local business experience of BCCH members and the Chamber itself, as well as special offers and discounts.” (source: bcch.com)

For more information about the BCCH and its activities, please click here: https://www.bcch.com/

Proofreading

Why is proofreading important in business communication?

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The success and prestige of a business can frequently depend on sophisticated wording. A thorough review and correction of a text is crucial when concluding an important contract, but it can make a huge difference for websites, publications, articles, books and marketing materials as well.

Whatever your line of business, communication is everything, and well-composed texts, besides impacting on clients, can immediately form and convey an image of the company itself.

Proofreading may seem simple at first sight, but not everyone is cut out for the job. Professional expertise is not necessarily enough though, as minor errors, typing mistakes and missed words need to be spotted too. The fact the human mind automatically corrects errors that it detects while reading a text makes the task even more difficult. Generally speaking, after writing a long text it is worth having it read by someone else, who can read it with a fresh mind and spot the mistakes that the author simply overlooked.

A minor typo or an inappropriately used word may lend a totally different meaning to a sentence or even the entire text, which may cause misunderstandings.

Not to mention that overlooking such errors suggests that the author did not pay enough attention to the task, making it less appealing for existing or potential clients. Grammar and spelling mistakes divert attention from the content of the text, making it difficult to read and thus casting doubt on the authenticity and expertise of the author.

For business texts it is important to think ahead not only with regard to the content but also in terms of the format, so it is worth sending a contract to a proofreader for example to avoid possible financial losses in the future. With accurate and correct wording you can ensure your prospective client will consider your newly established partnership to be professional and focused, but also reliable

There are several types of proofreading, for example native or professional proofreading.

With native proofreading the reviewer corrects both the style and the language of the text. Sometimes there is a specific requirement to have a target text that is not a word-by-word translation of the original. Such is the case, for example, with slogans, marketing texts, literary texts, or texts that mediate between two different cultures.

Professional proofreading is carried out by a recognised professional, for instance a doctor, an engineer or a programmer, who is well-versed in the specialist field but is also a qualified translator. With documentation, tenders, professional publications, information leaflets, user manuals, financial, legal, medical and technical texts, it is extremely important to involve a proofreader.

Alongside grammar errors, style is of paramount importance too since you need to meet the requirements of the target audience and the communication context as well.

Ask for a free tailored quote for our proofreading services. Our native proofreaders are all highly trained professionals.

Interview with Iain Lindsay, the UK’s Ambassador to Hungary

Interview with Iain Lindsay, the UK’s Ambassador to Hungary

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We don’t think anyone really needs an introduction to Iain Lindsay, the UK’s Ambassador to Hungary. Thanks largely to his social media endeavours he is extremely well known in the country. We can find him on the street wearing his kilt to present memories of Hungarian-Scottish relationships, but also see him reciting Hungarian poems on YouTube.

A multilingual ambassador, we asked him about his personal background with languages, and delved into the complex, serious, and unknown world of diplomatic translation and interpreting.

Iain, how many languages do you speak, and what was your first encounter with a foreign language?

I’ve learnt four languages: French, Japanese, Romanian and Hungarian. I can still get by in the first three, but I find that I am very much a ‘one foreign language in the brain at any time’ linguist.  Two of my most embarrassing moments while learning Hungarian at the University of Debrecen were when I tried to hold conversations in Japanese and Romanian. I learnt French from an early age, probably 6 or 7 years old.

We need to ask you as a Scot, do you speak Gaelic?

No, I’m afraid to say that I don’t, although I have tried learning. I have a few Gaelic textbooks at home. It’s a lovely language and I am glad that there has been something of a Gaelic revival in recent years.

We understand learning foreign languages is compulsory for UK diplomatic staff. If it wasn’t would you still learn, and why? Which language would you most like to speak?

Learning languages is not compulsory as such, but it would be unusual to find a British diplomat who has not had to learn a foreign language. For jobs overseas in non-English speaking countries we decide whether the diplomat needs to speak the local language to do their job, so-called ‘speaker’ positions. If they do, then to what level? B1, C1, C2?

For example, among the several British diplomats at the British Embassy in Budapest only I and my deputy need Hungarian (to C1 level) for our jobs. So both of us have had intensive full-time pre-arrival Hungarian training, in my case 7 months, in my deputy’s case a year (the length of time it takes a full-time learner to get to C1 Hungarian).

However, we offer optional language training to all diplomats (and their spouses/partners) being posted overseas into ‘non-speaker’ jobs, which provides a basic level of language training intended to help with day to day living. The number of hours allocated will depend on the degree of difficulty of the language, but will range between 110 and 250 hours.  So we really take language training seriously.

If I didn’t have to learn languages I would still do so as it not only enables better communication but opens up a whole world of insights into another country, its history, its culture and its people.  The next language I would like to learn is Italian, but my greatest regret is that I did not learn Arabic when I was Ambassador in Bahrain, because it was not necessary for my job given that 95% of Bahrainis speak English and, as some of my friends pointed out, the Bahraini Royal family and government ministers speak better English than me!

How much do you use your languages in your working life?

Not as much as you might think.  In the Embassy I speak English and just occasional social Hungarian. External meetings are usually in English with some social Hungarian at the start and finish. When I give a speech some it will be in Hungarian, depending upon the event and the audience. Interviews are usually in English, with a few Hungarian sentences thrown in, although I have given some recent interviews in just Hungarian, like with Nők Lapja and RTL Klub for example. Social media interviews are usually in Hungarian, and I write bilingual Instagram stories.

For which occasions do you take an interpreter, and when do you manage alone?

Only very occasionally for meetings given that they are usually in English! All the TV stations will provide an interpreter, although I have promised ATV that I will give an interview once just in Hungarian.

Have you ever noticed your interpreter making a mistake and subtly corrected it?

No!  I have been very fortunate with my interpreters, most of whom I now know well.

What value does good quality translation and interpreting provide for you as Ambassador, and within the Embassy as a whole?

It’s essential! Without it I would be lost! All my Hungarian staff are bilingual so they provide me with excellent English language briefing for meetings and events. The only time they do produce work for me in Hungarian is writing speeches, parts of speeches or simple speaking notes. So it’s not really translation work as such, although some of the material they work with, e.g. lines to take from London, they will have translated into Hungarian.

Are you good at accents?

Yes, also I’m a reasonably good mimic, which I think helps. But it has taken me a long time to develop a Hungarian accent, and I’m still not there. By comparison, I think I picked up Japanese and Romanian accents reasonably quickly.

If you had to retire to a non-English-speaking country, which one would you choose and why?

I really, really like Hungary….but my wife and I have often talked about living in Italy. We love the place, the ambience and the people.  And the food and wine aren’t bad either!

*Iain Lindsay joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1980 and has spent much of his career in Asia Pacific, serving in Tokyo (twice), Hong Kong and Canberra. He was Deputy Head of Mission and Political Counsellor in Bucharest from 2003-2007, working on Romania’s accession to NATO and the EU. Prior to that he served as a foreign policy adviser to the Romanian Foreign Minister. He was Deputy Head of Mission and Director, Trade and Investment at the British Consulate General in Hong Kong from 2007-2011. The Queen awarded him an OBE in 2002.

He was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Hungary from 30 March 2016.

EDMF-Translation-Interpreting - GDPR

15% discount on privacy policies and other GDPR-related translations

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The looming deadline for GDPR compliance, 25 May, has come and gone.

Judging by the flood of emails we have received in recent days and weeks it seems that everyone has been focusing on making sure they are as ready as they can be for the new European data protection law. We hope you made it through unscathed.

Does that signal the end of your preparations? Possibly. It really depends on your business. If you focus only on companies and clients in your own country then the likelihood is you can sit back and relax, you’re finished.

If, however, your clients, partners and employees come from different countries, the chances are you now need to get your privacy policy and many other GDPR-related documents translated. This will make sure that everyone understands exactly what data you use and for what purposes, regardless of where they are or what language they speak.

If we can help you with the languages you now need to complete your preparations, please send us a mail at contact@edmf.com.

Refer to this short article and we’ll give you a 15% summer discount as well until the end of August.

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Business translations: a client’s perspective…

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In our new series of interviews we ask company owners, senior executives and leaders how foreign language, translation and interpreting affect their daily lives and work.

Globalisation means that working with international clients, customers and partners is more common than ever before. But is it possible to work in a foreign market without the right tools? Are professional translation services important to businesses?

We sat down for a chat with Stuart McAlister, Managing Director of Inter Relocation, one of Hungary’s leading providers of relocation destination services, to find out what it’s like coming to a new country where you don’t understand a thing the locals are saying, and how knowledge of the language can impact on a business.

When you came to Hungary 23 years ago, can you remember your first impressions of the country?

Business Translation-Interview with Stuart McAlister owner of Inter Relocation

1995 and 2016 in Hungary

I moved to Hungary in the summer of 1995. My first impressions were a mix of amazement, excitement and probably a little fear as well. It was my first time living away from the north of England and to say that Hungary came as a shock is an understatement. Of course a shock to any system can have a positive influence and I think that is true in my case.

I think I know what you’re getting at, Hungarian has a reputation for being a difficult language to learn? How did you find it?

I certainly struggled at first. Back in those days it was far more difficult to be an expat without speaking Hungarian at least at a reasonable level. Nowadays almost every shop and business and certainly every restaurant and bar, has English speaking staff, but back in the mid-90s there were only limited and usually expensive options if one wanted to live an expat life without learning the language.

My good fortune was having a flatmate for 4 years who did not speak English. My American flatmate and I had a spare room and ended up letting it to a friend of a friend who only spoke Hungarian. Being forced to attempt communication with someone every day was an incredible experience and gave me the boost so that I could at least have conversations. Once I had the foundations of language knowledge, building on top of that was far easier.

Many people no doubt have had similar experiences to you. In your business you deal a lot with expats coming to Hungary from all round the world. How daunting can a lack of Hungarian be when living and working in Hungary?

I think it’s far easier now. Many or perhaps even most of our customers join international workplaces, so communication at work is easy. Likewise it is possible to shop, eat, drink and get a wide range of services in Budapest, without the need to speak Hungarian.

However, that also makes it far harder to learn Hungarian because there is far less motivation and frankly far fewer opportunities where an expat is forced to build a basic knowledge and then develop that.

I actually like to meet expats living in other parts of Hungary. They remind me of the struggles I went through in the early years and I admire their efforts to learn the language.

What about translation in your business? What kind of translations do you regularly need? Why is it important that these are done professionally?

Business Translation-Interview with Stuart McAlister owner of Inter Relocation

“This requires a far more complex set of skills and we know we can rely on EDMF for this kind of support.”

We have two types of translation requirement. Firstly, we are obliged to request official translations for any immigration application we make for a client.

Secondly, we generally need editorial content or marketing texts, some of which we commission for our sister publication, Expat Press Hungary. For this kind of work we turn to EDMF and for a very good reason. Any article that is written for Expat Press in Hungary must read as if it were originally written in English and for that to be possible, we need far more than a simple translation and copy editing service. The translator must actually feel what is trying to be communicated in the source language and change the editorial text in English so the message is the same but the words sound like they were originally written in English. This requires a far more complex set of skills and we know we can rely on EDMF for this kind of support.

That’s good to hear! Translation can be a tricky business, especially when you don’t understand the target language. Before working with EDMF did you ever have any bad experiences with translation for Inter Relocation, can you tell us what impact this had?

Absolutely. Several years ago, we decided that a German language version of our website would be good for business. We had an agency translate the text into German and I was told this had been copy edited as well. No one on our team spoke German at the time so I could not check it.

Whilst I trusted the agency I decided to get a second opinion on the text and asked a German friend to review the translation for me. That friend completed a quite extensive round of copy editing, which certainly raised concerns in my mind about how “German” the German language version of the site sounded.

My fears were confirmed when some time later a partner and friend from the relocation industry in Germany called to tell me that he had read through the German version of our site and to say the least, it needed a lot of work.

Biography:

Business Translation-Interview with Stuart McAlister owner of Inter RelocationStuart McAlister is a British citizen who has been based in Hungary for around 20 years. Stuart studied business at Sheffield Hallam University and worked as a government administrator, TEFL teacher and IT trainer/manager before discovering the world of relocation in 2001.

He founded his company, Inter Relocation in 2002 as a small destination services and immigration compliance provider in Budapest. From humble beginnings with a staff of 3 the company grew both locally in Hungary and then outbound over the following years to the point where Inter Relocation now delivers relocation services in 23 countries across Central and Eastern Europe.

In 2017 he was elected for the Vice-President of the European Relocation Association.

One of the cornerstones of Inter Relocation’s business model is the provision of in-house immigration compliance and over the last 16 years, Stuart has gained a broad knowledge of the immigration process and challenges across a diverse region encompassing both EU and non-EU states.

Between 2002-2012 he worked with the Robert Burns International Foundation to manage the annual Budapest Robert Burns Supper. This is a major charity event, run by volunteer business people. They have raised over EUR 500,000 in the 12 years the Supper has been running in Budapest.

EDMF-Translation-Interpreting-Language-Services-Lokalisation and SEO-3 Flags

How to improve your international SEO strategy? – Part 3

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As promised in our earlier articles, we now continue our analysis of the importance and benefits of localisation and SEO translation.

A company that is growing around the world has an increasing number of international requirements to satisfy. How can it create a global website for this? Should it keep an existing one, or create localised versions?

Here are a few tips to improving your international SEO strategy.

Know your target audience

The majority of web users do not speak English. The quality of your translation, localisation and international SEO strategy determines whether or not you will win business.  Know your audience’s language, slang, concerns and everything they prioritise.

Quality translation

Improving international SEO depends heavily on the quality of the translated web pages. Despite dedicating a lot of time to planning and reviewing translations, leaving the actual job to machines will likely result in localisation errors. Efficient and quality translation requires more than just loading words into a software programme, which focuses just on their literal sense.  Involving human expertise in the translation process is very important. This is the only way to ensure proper syntax, meaning and consistency in your translated content.

Optimising keywords

Anyone visiting your website does so via regional search engines (Facebook pages, Twitter hashtags, etc.). Different audiences find your company in different ways, so you are best advised to use the most appropriate keywords and expressions. After compiling your list of keywords and expressions, you can integrate them into your online content, and use them in the meta data.

Use country-specific domains (hu, co.uk, fr). As you would like to expand your company on an international scale, it is worth buying the upper-level domain names for the individual regions where your web pages will run. This is probably the most effective way of being able to optimise a website for an international audience, whilst making sure that the target audience can actually find it. The audience understands the suffixes of the given country, and the domain conveys the information that the website will be understandable for them. The search engines rank these websites in higher positions for the audiences in these countries.

Of course, this not a one size fits all scenario, multilingual websites can be created in many different ways, and what you ultimately choose depends on your given situation.

Localisation and multilingual SEO are not easy to blend either, and if you take the wrong path this can cost you time and money. That said it is important that you know all of the options out there in order to make an informed choice.

Fact is that multilingual online content helps companies grow and be competitive. Optimising and localising websites as well as SEO are key parts of this. This is all impossible without quality translation.

An experienced translation agency saves you the hassle of addressing these problems as it is capable of blending these aspects into the translation process for your website.

CONTACT

EDMF-Translation-Interpreting-Language-Services-Lokalisation and SEO-2

Localisation and SEO translation Why do you need a bilingual website? Part 2

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As promised in our earlier article, we now continue our analysis of the importance and benefits of localisation and SEO translation.

A company that is growing around the world has an increasing number of international requirements to satisfy. How can it create a global website for this? Should it keep an existing one, or create localised versions?

Localisation and SEO translation: how to improve your global web presence

The success of every company’s website is determined by its SEO. Namely, where it appears in the list of search results. Regardless whether we are talking about a local or an international website. The higher you appear in the search engine listing, the better chance you stand of people reaching your website. The main challenge with international SEO is selecting the SEO strategies that suit the given regions, cultural norms and and languages.

Many surprisingly believe that localisation and SEO translation are one and the same thing. While they complement each other, the difference between localisation and SEO is not as nuanced as you may think.

Both are types of translation, but they have completely different objectives.

A good translator should of course be capable of blending both approaches, but most just focus on localisation

Localisation and SEO translation: what’s the difference?

Localisation translates web pages for a different culture, aligning them to the linguistic and cultural norms of the target audience in the other society.

The mistranslation of a slogan can even be quite damaging…

Many of you will certainly have heard of HSBC, the global financial institution. In 2009, HSBC had to launch a rebranding campaign worth an estimated USD 10 million to repair the damage from a previous campaign. This was due to its catchphrase “Assume Nothing” being mistakenly translated as “Do Nothing” in some countries where the bank operated.

 

And of course there are cases when a brand is a huge success in one language, but a catastrophe in the other…

One awkward example was when Colgate launched one of its popular brands in France under the name Cue. Regrettably, they disregarded a small but important detail. In France, Cue was the name of a widely known and extremely popular porn magazine.

 

A good translator avoids these pitfalls because they not only know the target language well, but also the target culture, and they can immediately identify expressions and situations that are entertaining in the target language, or simply awkward. So localisation means translating a text in a way that also makes it appealing and enjoyable for readers in the foreign language.

Localisation vs SEO translation: different genre, different goal

SEO translation is a completely different genre. This is because the main objective here is not to find readers, but to catch the attention of the search engines. All of the key words, expressions, titles, labels, anchors, script messages and attributes have to be translated in a way that makes the page appealing for the search engines in the target language too. This means if someone is searching in a foreign language for a product or service that your website offers, then it will appear at the top of all the search engines. If it does well on a market in a given language, then a good SEO translation means it will do well on another market too.

Of course, a SEO translation alone is not enough. If the localisation is poor, visitors will quickly find the page, but will be just as quick in leaving it again. It’s possible readers will get a good laugh if they see a funny translation, but it’s unlikely you will get a lot of customers this way.

So an excellent website translator has to be good at both localisation and SEO translation, since they have to be able to blend effective sales with human customers, and thus sell your product or service to potential customers by means of the search engine optimisation. Few translators are able to strike this delicate balance. This is why web designers very often ask for translations from those who are localisation professionals, before finding SEO specialists in the target language who optimise the translated pages. Of course this can be considerably more expensive than an average translation, but it opens up new markets that previously were inaccessible, and you avoid customers coming across mistakes on your website like inactive banks or pornographic toothpaste.

Are you looking for this kind of business model?

A good translation agency spares you these problems, as it is capable of combining all these aspects during a website translation.

CONTACT

Court document translations no longer need certification

CHANGE IN LEGISLATION! – Court document translations no longer need certification

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The new Act CXXX of 2016 on the Code of Civil Procedure entered into force on 1 January 2018. In accordance with the new legislation it is enough to provide “simple”, i.e. not “certified”, translations of documents pertaining to newly launched civil lawsuits.

Procedures have been simplified based on the new legislation and there is no longer any need to use the services of the OFFI (Hungarian Office for Translation and Attestation Ltd.) for certified translations of documents created in civil lawsuits. It is now enough if you use the services of reliable legal translators or translation agencies. Of course, only those that comply with the provisions of Decree 24/1986 (VI. 26) MT on translation and interpretation.

Wording of the new legislation:

Section 62 [Need for translation in lawsuits]

For lack of any law, binding European Union legal act or provisions of an international agreement to the contrary, if translation is needed then a simple translation may be used. If there are any doubts regarding the accuracy or completeness of the translated text, a certified translation shall be necessary.

The intention to establish a system that curtails OFFI’s monopoly and which is in harmony with the European translation market is thus reflected not only by a European Union regulation but also by this Hungarian law.

The rules for paying translation and interpreting fees in advance have also been amended.

Section 79 [Advance payment of costs]

(2) Unless otherwise provided for by law or in a binding European Union legal act or in an international agreement, the fee of an interpreter assigned for purposes other than evidentiary procedures shall be paid in advance by the party creating the need for the interpreter.

(3) The expenses of a translator assigned for purposes other than evidentiary procedures shall be paid in advance by the claimant.

Further provisions of the new law related to translation and interpretation:

Section 67 [Formal elements of authorisation]

(5) A Hungarian translation of authorisation issued in a foreign language shall only be presented if required by the court.

Section 171 [Appendices to petitions]

(2) At least a simple Hungarian translation shall be enclosed with any document compiled in a foreign language.

Section 320 [Provision of documents]

(1) If a party wishes to prove a factual statement with a document, the document shall be enclosed to the submission or presented at the court hearing. At least a simple Hungarian translation must be enclosed for any foreign-language document. If there are any doubts regarding the accuracy and completeness of the translated text, a certified translation shall be necessary; failure to do so means the court will disregard the document.

Section 600 [Launching legal action]

(5) The court may only oblige a party to present a certified translation of any enclosed document if facts cannot be clarified in any other way.

All the legal translations we do are carried out by professionals with experience in the given field.

Do you have any questions about legal translations? Get in touch with us.

EDMF Translations - multilingual websites

Why does your company need a multilingual website?

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 Sixty-three percent of global brands reach more clients after increasing the number of languages available on their website

Facts – Most of the world’s largest websites offer more than one language, generally two, but some even have a hundred languages. Sixty-three percent of global brands reach more clients after increasing the number of languages available on their website. Why? Because investing in languages helps enterprises to grow and enhances their competitiveness (as confirmed by CSA Research). Unfortunately, this is a message still to reach 37% of the world’s leading brands.

Has it reached you yet?

EDMF Translations - multilingual websites

Multilingual online content: English and Russian the leading languages

Demand for online content in more than one language has risen dramatically nowadays. Currently, 53.6% of websites are in English. The next most popular language is Russian, at 6.4%.
This leaves millions of web users on the outside, unable to read a large part of online content because they don’t understand the language. This of course is exploited to the full by those who speak English.
And even if someone does speak English, there are many different levels of fluency. Most people prefer to handle their business activities in their native tongue. The demand for translated content is only going to grow in future with the rise in online users, especially in China and India.

Multilingual SEO – the Google example

And there’s more. Translating online content is a great thing to do, but what is it worth if people cannot find it? Does it matter if your website appears on Google’s first search page in English if you are targeting other languages? This is where multilingual SEO comes into play, which is more than just keywords. Multilingual SEO is vital nowadays for people to find your company.

Mobile optimisation

Alongside improving your website it is vital to optimise the content for mobile devices. Today it is often true that more people browse sites on their mobile phones. This goes beyond even multilingual websites. According to the International Data Corporation, 3.2 billion people will be able to access the internet this year, and more than 2 billion of these online users will be on mobile devices. This is why it is worthwhile ensuring your website can be accessed properly on mobile devices and tablets.

 

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Native-speaker translation for business success – think globally, act locally

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“If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen.”
Willy Brandt, former West-German Chancellor

Why is it worthwhile working with native translators who are well-versed in the customs and traditions of the given people? 

EDMF Fordítóiroda-Anyanyelvi fordításLet’s take a look at some sobering figures

A recent survey showed that the price of linguistic shortcomings, in the EU alone, was huge*:

  • 200 companies indicated that they had missed out on contracts because of language deficits,
  • the estimated aggregate value of the lost deals: 54 companies lost between 16.5 and 25.3 million euros, 37 companies lost between 8 and 13.5 million euros and 10 companies more than 1 million euros

One of the reasons for the business failures is the lack of cultural belonging or similarities.

Is it really worth missing out on so many millions of euros by not sacrificing a fraction of this on professional translation? Especially when your company is expanding abroad or you are planning to establish a fruitful business relationship in another culture?

The solution to these important issues is “glocalism”.

Consciously realising this and understanding its crucial importance lead to international success.

[sf_button colour=”orange” type=”standard” size=”large” link=”https://edmf.com/en/contact-edmf-translations/” target=”_self” icon=”” dropshadow=”no” extraclass=””]Are you expanding abroad or competing for international funding?
We will gladly reply to your questions on native-speaker translation HERE.[/sf_button]

Glocal is a new expression coined from the words “global” and “local”.

The objective of the “think globally, act locally” approach is for the globalised world to be a stable and integrated place, but at the same time protect the cultural heritage of local areas as well.

So what does glocal mean?

  1. Global events take on local significance by influencing the local economy, and local events also have a global impact.

This resembles the butterfly effect, where the wind created by a butterfly flapping its wings can cause hurricanes on the other side of the planet. Glocalism creates smaller events in the local economy which have an effect on the global economy. Parallel to this, every global event can potentially influence the local economy too. Everything is connected.

  1. Adapting your product or service in another culture.

This means that when you position your own products and brands on a target market, you need to take cultural relevance into account.

  1. Glocal helps products and services be global and local at the same time.

International organisations pursuing their business activities all across the world have to take cultural requirements into consideration much in the same way as the local grocer, who knows everything about his local customers. People are not interested in whether a given business can address the masses, what they want to know is whether the company can live up to local needs and demands.

  1. Glocal influences society

The renowned business strategist Dion Hinchcliffe said the following in an article (FORRÁS?): “Glocalism is an emerging trend that will be amplified by social media – and many companies won’t be prepared.”**

With the help of glocalism, local consumers, economies and cultures have much more power in the international economy. They now want products or services not just to be translated into their language, but that they “speak” to them properly.

  1. Glocal impacts on translation and localisation

Based on glocalism guidelines it will no longer be enough for companies just to translate their documents into the local language. Materials have to be culturally relevant at the target destination as well.

Alongside translation and localisation, organisations need to ensure that they not only address their target audience in the local language, but that they are also relevant to them in a cultural context as well. It is no longer enough just to ask a translation agency to translate product specifications into however many languages.

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*Source: 21 November 2011 Egy nyelvet beszélünk? Konferencia a nyelvoktatás és foglalkoztathatóság összefüggéseiről
**Source: https://www.enterpriseirregulars.com/58013/social-media-marketing-predictions-for-2013-part-1/