Dave Williams, our in-house production specialist works with Adobe InDesign on a daily basis; here he looks at the advantages of creating documents for translation in this format.

InDesign has been around for 10 years and is one of the most popular Desktop Publishing packages on the market today. Adobe constantly updates and upgrades its software in order to keep up-to-date with the demands of today’s electronic publishing industry. They have recently released the 6th version.

InDesign is compatible with fonts for nearly all languages, which is really helpful to production specialists working with translated text. The Translation People have the latest version, many earlier versions and also the Middle Eastern version of InDesign. The Middle Eastern version allows us to typeset many of the languages spoken in the Middle East including Arabic and Hebrew; InDesign ME enables the typesetter to flip the text so that it runs right to left, to reflect the flow of languages such as Arabic, Urdu and Hebrew. This facility ensures that the client’s end Arabic/Urdu/Hebrew document looks as professional as the original in spite of the change in text direction.

The Trados plug-in is another cost and time-saving advantage of using InDesign for any documentation you hope to have translated. This plug-in allows text to be exported from the InDesign file into a Trados friendly format. Once the translation process is complete, the translated file can be imported back into the InDesign document and a foreign language version of the same layout is created. This speeds up the whole document translation process reducing time and cost for the client. The imported translation file still does require some typesetting as different languages have different text length, so some manipulation of the text, to retain the aesthetics of the original language document, is required.

At The Translation People if we are asked to create new documents with a view to having them translated into numerous languages, we would strongly suggest the use of InDesign as it lends itself well to translations, whatever the language.

In Scotland the Whisky industry is big business, distilleries are one of the busiest tourist attractions in the country and last year the Whisky Industry brought over a million visitors to Scotland, generating a massive £25 million in revenue. Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of that?

So how are distilleries reaching out to tourists and whisky fanatics alike? The Translation People may provide the answer. Over the years we have translated websites, leaflets, brochures and visitor guides into a multitude of languages for many distilleries all over Scotland. This is an excellent way of attracting more foreign visitors and introducing them to Scotland’s National Drink!

Arriving in a country where you don’t speak the language can be daunting, but finding information in your language offering drams of whisky and a little Scottish heritage can only be a welcome thing. The best ‘Welcome to Scotland’ we can think of!

So, how will this benefit the various Scottish distilleries? For starters they get a share of that £25 million pie tourists are bringing to the country every year, not to mention the fact that the Food and Drink industry is worth over £950 million per annum to Scotland. In the current economical climate businesses can’t turn down this kind of business, so publicising your business as a tourist friendly operation can only enhance sales and visits, even in this economic downturn people are still coming to Scotland on holiday and are still spending money!

But it’s not just information for tourists that can be translated. It is just as important to translate essential documents related to whisky production; whether this is export legislation, spirit/whisky evaluations, brand management presentations, press releases or even internal staff documentation. Facilitating communication and ensuring complete understanding by clients, suppliers and employees is an excellent way of improving profitability and efficiency within your company.

Many distilleries have already realised the importance of translation in order to maximise profits and are already benefitting from working with more people through translation and reaping the rewards at the same time.

Telephone interpreting is a 24/7 service involving a “conference call” between an interpreter and two individuals who do not speak the same language. The interpreter works on a consecutive level to ensure clear communication between the parties. This service is generally required when short but important pieces of information need to be communicated immediately. It is a relatively new service but technology is already moving forward to facilitate the process. For example, in the recent past when two of the parties were in the same location, conversations would be carried out via speakerphone but dual handsets are now available.

Bodies such as the Police, Primary Care Trusts, the Health & Safety Executive and the Immigration Service are the types of organisation which benefit from telephone interpreting.

The prospect of making a telephone call can be nerve-wracking for a non-native speaker and the experience can be equally difficult for the telephone operator on the receiving end. The first obstacle to overcome is identification of the language required by the caller and for this help sheets are available to assist with language recognition. Additionally, phonetic translations in the relevant language for “Please hold the line while I locate an interpreter” can also be found to let the caller know what is happening.

Telephone interpreting can bring substantial savings both in terms of cost and time when compared to those required for traditional interpreting (where the two parties are brought to the same physical location). Interpreters can carry out several assignments in one day so their rates are often lower and can be broken down into shorter “chunks” than the usual half- or full-day. The charges are normally based on the time spent on the call. Also, in the case of sensitive discussions, some individuals would rather that the third person (i.e. the interpreter) were not physically present (this may particularly be the case for individuals from particular religious or cultural backgrounds). Finally, telephone interpreters can be called upon almost instantaneously to help with urgent discussions.

However, telephone interpreting has its drawbacks. Some individuals may only feel confident about the interpreting process if the interpreter is physically present and experts estimate that anything up to 70% of meaning is conveyed by body language which is inherently missing from telephone conversations.

As a basic rule, the more complex the communication, the more likely the need for face-to-face interpreting. Likewise, if the interview is going to be long, if the caller is vulnerable or if sensitive information or bad news is going to be disclosed.

Effective communication can be made difficult for a telephone interpreter particularly if the line is bad, or if a speaker’s non verbal cues help to further convey the intended meaning of their speech. However, a qualified telephone interpreter is trained to pick up on non verbal language such as voice intonation, emphasis, breathing and tone. For this reason, it is essential to use qualified telephone interpreters which The Translation People can provide.

Telephone interpreting should certainly be avoided if children or individuals with hearing difficulties are involved in the conversation. The Translation People would recommend that face to face interpreting be given preference in such situations.