Planet Languages

Deciding between in-house and external translation? Here’s a cost perspective. 🤔   With an in-house team, you’re covering salaries, benefits, workspace, and even the initial hiring and training investments. These expenses remain constant. Even if your translation needs fluctuate.   On the flip side, partnering with a specialist translation provider can offer financial flexibility. 🔄 Compare the average hourly rate of your in-house team to that of an external agency. Many external experts offer competitive rates and flexible pricing models. The best part? You only pay for the services you need, when you need them.   Read more about the hidden costs of in-house translation and the benefits of working with a specialist provider here: https://bit.ly/3tCw0lP   #TranslationServices #CostEfficiency #BusinessDecisions  

Are you spending hours fine-tuning AI-generated voiceover? You’re not alone. AI voice generation is powerful, but it’s not perfect. We have 3 quick tips to help you right now: 1. Are you finding that the intonation is off? 💡 Use punctuation strategically. A comma will create a natural pause. A question mark will create a rising intonation pattern. 2. Having pronunciation problems? 💡 Check whether your tool offers custom pronunciation. If it doesn’t, try spelling words how you’d say them.   3. Trouble with timing? 💡 Try adjusting the speed of your audio clip(s). Stay within a range of +/-30%. Bigger variations will sound odd. Want to know more about how you can make AI dubbing a bit easier? And why we’ve partnered with Voiseed to make AI dubbing effortless? Take a look at our latest blog post: https://lnkd.in/ejKATycX

What are the biggest misconceptions about transcreation? Here are 12 of the most common ones we’ve come across. 1. Transcreation is just translation with a bit of flair While translation focuses on conveying meaning accurately, transcreation goes beyond that. It often entails rewriting content to make sure it’s culturally relevant. 2. Anyone who translates can transcreate Transcreation requires a specialised skill set. Not all translators have the creativity to produce an effective transcreation. 3. Transcreation ignores the source text With transcreation, the source text serves as a foundation. Transcreation experts will transform your message in a way that retains the core idea while making it culturally appropriate. 4. Transcreation is only necessary for high-profile content like adverts Yes, transcreation is the right approach for adverts. But it’s also perfect for any content that has an impact on your brand’s image. 5. Transcreation is less accurate than translation The aim of transcreation is to make sure that the intended message resonates with the target audience. It’s more about being faithful to the intent and emotional impact of your copy rather than to the exact wording. 6. Transcreation doesn’t require a brief A detailed transcreation brief is essential. It helps the transcreation expert understand your brand, audience, tone of voice and key messaging. This way, they can make sure that the adaptation matches the intent of the original. 7. Transcreation is always more expensive than translation Transcreation doesn’t always have to be significantly more expensive than translation. Especially if you compare it with translation for a highly specialised field. What’s more, the added value that transcreation brings often far outweighs the initial cost. 8. Machine translation tools can handle transcreation Transcreation demands a level of creativity and understanding that goes beyond what machines can do. And genAI tools are no match for the insight of a transcreation expert. 9. Transcreation is the same as localization Localization involves adapting content to meet the needs of a specific market. Converting currencies, date formats and the like. Transcreation is about reimagining the content to elicit the same emotional response. They’re not synonymous. 10. Transcreation is not necessary if the original content is well written Even the best content needs adaptation for different markets. What works in one culture might not resonate in another. 11. Transcreation is just for large companies with global reach Smaller companies can benefit from transcreation, too. Transcreation can help any company communicate with diverse audiences in a more impactful way. 12. You can measure the success of transcreation by linguistic quality When it comes to measuring success, it’s better to go by your audience’s response. Did the transcreation achieve the intended effect? What would you add?

We know that it’s easier than ever to get translation for free or for a very low cost. But what are the benefits of professional translation for your business? Let’s start with eight good reasons: 1. Peace of mind Mistakes make your business look bad. Every professional translator is committed to delivering work that accurately reflects your message. The great ones will even point out flaws in your source text. Those disclaimers on AI tools don’t offer quite the same reassurance. 2. Industry expertise Professional translators are specialists. They focus on specific industries and often draw on previous experience in that area. If you’ve chosen a translator who specialises in your industry, you’ll benefit from their subject matter expertise. 3. Results Professional translators are adept at using language that speaks to your target audience. The results? Web pages that rank higher in search engine results pages. More organic traffic to your website. More opens and clicks on your email marketing campaigns. More sales. 4. Confidentiality Professional translators understand the need to keep your content away from prying eyes and ears. They also have the systems in place to make sure that happens. 5. A great user experience Shoppers prefer to buy in their own language. Providing clear and accurate content in your customers’ own language increases overall satisfaction. This leads to greater customer loyalty and repeat business. 6. Consistency Think about how much effort it took to define your brand’s tone of voice. Skilled translators will be able to help you convey your brand personality to your target markets. They will also maintain consistency in terminology and style throughout your translated content. 7. Enhanced brand reputation Professional translation helps you to build a positive brand image in new markets. Speaking to your customers in their own language demonstrates cultural sensitivity and inclusiveness. 8. A global presence With professional translation, you can expand your business into new markets and reach a wider audience. What else would you add?

Translation buyers, do you need your translated content to be placed and formatted in a layout?   Planet Languages only employs expert foreign-language typesetting teams and we will be happy support your multilingual projects.   Take a look at our guide for keeping the localization process smooth and efficient, and your costs to a minimum.

If you’ve ever wondered whether the ISO 17100 and ISO 18587 standards are relevant to your translation projects, then this post is for you.   We’ve just achieved recertification to both ISO standards for another three years. 🎉   Both standards set out minimum requirements for the people who handle your work.   Why not take a look at the document below and see what both levels of service include?   #ISO #TranslationQuality

Looking forward to a break this July or August? Our office is open as usual throughout the summer. In fact, we’re working with our clients on their December campaigns. With a little careful planning, you can achieve a lot. What are your plans for the next few weeks? Why not check in with your localization team to find out about their availability?

Last-minute source text changes are a major culprit in driving up translation costs. 💲📈 We know. Sometimes source text changes are unavoidable. But they can wreak havoc on your budget and project timelines. There is a better way: 🔴 Take a critical look at your source text before sending it for translation. 🟠 Or ask your language service provider to proofread it for you. 🟢 If they suggest proofreading your source text beforehand, take them up on their offer. (Congratulations, by the way! You’ve found yourself a keeper.) Recently, we advised a client to have their 6,000-word document edited before translating it into six languages. The document contained email templates for their customer service team to use. What did we find? ❓ Contradictory information about warranty duration ❓ Hyperlinks leading to 404 error pages ❓ Duplicated content ❓ References to customer loyalty programmes that have since been renamed ❓ Incorrect tone of voice ❓ Obsolete information We worked with our client to correct these. The result? ✅ A shorter, clearer source text: the word count came down from 6,000 to 5,700 ➡️ Reduced translation cost ✅ Smoother translation process as a result of handling fewer queries ✅ A happy client: “Your suggestions are highly appreciated, thank you.” Here’s one example of how we offer our clients value for money. Translation buyers, what have your experiences with source text changes been like?

Throwback Thursday!   1994. The year that…   …the Channel Tunnel opened   …Love Is All Around by Wet Wet Wet was number one on the UK singles chart for 15 consecutive weeks   …LIDL opened its first stores in the UK   …Belle Époque was named Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards   …Ireland won the Eurovision Song Contest   …the Winter Olympics were held in Lillehammer, Norway   …Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s first Black president   Oh, and the year that Planet Languages was founded! Happy 30th birthday, PL! 🎉   #TBT Image description: A photo collage of notable events from 1994, set against a filmstrip backdrop with orange, red and purple hues. The Planet Languages logo is at the top left corner. The year 1994 appears in white in the centre. Top left photo: The opening of the first LIDL store in the UK. Top right photo: A sepia-tone image of Nelson Mandela. Bottom left photo: A ski jump in Lillehammer, the location of the 1994 Winter Olympics. Bottom centre photo: A Eurostar train. Bottom right photo: A music store with shelves filled with CDs and records. Each photo has handwritten text beneath it, giving brief descriptions in a nostalgic, personal style.

Client: Can you subtitle this video in x languages? Here’s an English SRT file that you can use. Us: Yes, we can help with that. But where did you get this SRT file? Client: They’re automatically generated captions. Cool, huh? Us: 😬 Don’t get us wrong. We love technology that makes life easier. But automated English captions are hardly ever suitable for translation. In fact, they’re rarely good enough for English viewers. Here’s why. Automated captions often have: ❌ Clumsy segmentation and poor line breaks. This adds extra cognitive load for your viewers. As a basis for translation? Different languages have different syntax rules. What looks bad in English will look even worse in another language. ❌ Punctuation errors that distort the meaning. English viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing will be scratching their heads. So will viewers who watch your video with the sound off. These errors could be replicated in other languages. ❌ Difficulty handling acronyms and proper names. Did your brand name get mangled? ❌ No regard for shot changes. Awkward timings over shot changes create an uncomfortable viewing experience. ❌ Reduced accuracy when there is background noise or overlapping speech. Do your captions really match the audio? Can you see the difference that editing makes?