This guide outlines a practical localisation strategy, including workflow, language tips, help centre best practice, QA, and measurement. You will learn what to localise first, how to avoid rework, and where business translation and interpretation services fit. London Translations is a trusted partner for complex projects and live interpreting across product, marketing, and support.

Why localising your SaaS UI and help centre for France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands pays off

Localisation is not only about words; it is about enhancing user experience (UX). When users see their language, their number formats, and familiar tone, they act faster and ask fewer questions. That drives activation, lowers ticket volume, raises NPS, and protects renewals. Effective SaaS localisation delivers these benefits by tailoring content to cultural nuances, boosting efficiency across your operations.

• Familiar formats reduce friction. Show dates, times, numbers, and currencies as users expect in each market. A German invoice with a decimal comma, proper currency formats, and DD.MM.YYYY date feels normal and safe.
• Local help content cuts confusion. When users search your knowledge base in their own words, they find answers faster. Search success goes up, and tickets go down.
• Privacy and consent need careful localisation. EU users expect clear wording on cookies, consent, and data processing. Clumsy language causes drop-offs and complaints.
• Business translation and interpretation services matter across the journey. Product copy, help articles, sales demos, onboarding webinars, and research interviews all rely on accurate messages and consistent terms.

Quick wins in localisation usually come from core UI strings and top help articles. Start with buttons, menus, onboarding flows, error messages, and system emails. In the help centre, localise the top 20 articles by traffic and tickets. You can expand from there, with localisation streamlining future updates for greater efficiency.

For larger product scopes or multi-team alignment, explore our SaaS localisation services to plan an efficient rollout.

What to localise first for fast wins

Prioritise the UI (User Interface) elements your users touch every day:

• Navigation labels and menu items
• Buttons, CTAs, and tooltips
• Error and empty-state messages
• Onboarding screens and checklists
• System messages: password reset, 2FA prompts, billing notices
• Transactional and onboarding emails

In your help centre, start with:

• The top 20 articles by page views and ticket volume
• Core setup, billing, and account management guides
• Feature adoption articles that teach key workflows

Match visuals to the language. Localise screenshots, diagram labels, and alt text. A Spanish article with English screenshots confuses users, so keep UI and images in sync.

Compliance and privacy basics for EU users

To ensure regulatory compliance, GDPR-related texts must be clear and correct in each language. Translate cookie consent, data processing notices, privacy policy links, and legal footers. Localise consent buttons and cookie categories so users understand their choices. Run a legal review after translation, and adapt payment methods to local expectations for seamless transactions.

Common formatting needs:

• Dates: day first is common, for example DD/MM/YYYY or DD.MM.YYYY
• Numbers: decimal comma in many markets, dot as thousands separator
• Time: 24-hour time improves clarity in most EU markets

How business translation and interpretation services support product and sales

Expert linguists support product localisation to keep product copy, sales decks, and help articles aligned. They maintain tone and terminology across touchpoints. Live interpreting supports sales calls, onboarding workshops, and user research interviews, so teams gather accurate insights and close deals without confusion.

London Translations can provide a single team across product, marketing, and support. Terms stay consistent, users feel confident, and teams move faster with fewer rewrites. For software-heavy projects, our software localisation solutions keep your UI, docs, and help content aligned.

Build a localisation-ready SaaS workflow that ships on time

Localisation slips when the workflow is vague. A clear flow helps teams ship high-quality updates in every sprint.

• Prepare for i18n first to avoid rework later.
• Set style guides and a term base for tone and key terms.
• Write source content that is easy to translate.
• Use tools and QA loops to catch errors early.
• Design for text expansion and readability across devices.

Internationalisation basics engineers should ship first

• Externalise all strings in resource files.
• Use stable, descriptive keys.
• Support UTF-8 and right-to-left readiness, even if not needed yet.
• Handle plural forms properly with locale-aware rules.
• Avoid hard-coded dates, times, and currencies. Use locale libraries.
• Keep placeholders clear and protected, for example {count}, {name}.
• Do not concatenate strings. Keep variables separate to preserve grammar.

Style guides and term bases that keep brand voice consistent

Define tone, formality, and glossary entries per language. This guides translators and speeds reviews, while ensuring brand consistency across markets.

• Formality: vous or tu in French, Sie or du in German, usted or tú in Spanish, Lei or tu in Italian, u or je in Dutch.
• Keep product and feature names consistent. Decide what stays in English and what gets localised.
• Set preferred verbs for CTAs, for example “Start trial” vs “Begin trial”.
• Use inclusive language. Avoid gendered terms when not needed.
• Agree error tone: direct, polite, solution-first.

Source text hygiene that speeds up translation

• Write short sentences in active voice.
• Avoid idioms and jokes that do not travel.
• Put one idea per string. Avoid multi-sentence blocks where possible.
• Add context notes and screenshots for tricky UI.
• Mark variables clearly, for example {count}, and explain what they hold.
• Keep punctuation and spacing consistent so translators can match local rules.

Translation workflow and quality checks that scale

Use a lean, repeatable flow to support effective localisation:

1. Prepare strings with context.
2. Translate and edit with terminology and translation memory in a translation management system (TMS).
3. Run automated QA for missing variables, double spaces, and length checks, even when incorporating machine translation (MT) for initial drafts.
4. Review in context in a staging build.
5. Sign off with a checklist before release.

Keep a feedback loop for continuous localisation. Feed support tickets and analytics back into the glossary and style guide. Over time, this removes repeat issues and speeds up delivery, enhancing overall localisation quality. For high-stakes content, our Professional business translation services add expert editors to protect tone and accuracy, ensuring polished localisation outcomes.

Design for text expansion, layout, and accessibility

• Use responsive UI elements that wrap text and allow resizing.
• Avoid truncation in mobile views and tight tab labels.
• Plan for text expansion, especially for long German compounds and longer French phrases.
• Respect French spacing before ; : ! ?
• Meet WCAG standards. Keep colour contrast strong and fonts readable.
• Localise aria-labels, titles, and form hints.
• Keep line length comfortable across all five languages.

Language-specific tips for French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch

These quick rules for local language localization help writers and reviewers ship clean, localised UI copy that accounts for cultural differences in formality levels, such as vous/tu in French or Sie/du in German.

French (fr-FR): formality, spacing, and decimal comma

• Prefer vous in business UI. Use tu only for very casual brands.
• Add a thin space before ; : ! ?
• Use a decimal comma and a space as thousands separator.
• Dates often DD/MM/YYYY, time usually 24-hour.
• Translate common tech terms, for example logiciel for software.
• Watch false friends like librairie vs bibliothèque.
• Keep button labels short and polite.

German (de-DE): long compounds and formal Sie

• Use Sie in formal UI. Use du only for brands with a clear casual voice.
• Capitalise all nouns.
• Expect longer words. Give buttons and tabs more space.
• Decimal comma and dot as thousands separator. Dates often DD.MM.YYYY. 24-hour time.
• Avoid splitting verbs across lines.
• Write direct, polite, solution-focused error messages.

Spanish (es-ES): accents, inverted punctuation, and neutral style

• Use neutral European Spanish. Choose usted or tú based on brand voice, many B2B products use usted.
• Include accent marks and inverted ¿ and ¡.
• Decimal comma and dot as thousands separator. Dates often DD/MM/YYYY.
• Prefer simple, clear phrasing over Anglicisms.
• Translate common tech terms where users expect them. Keep brand terms consistent across UI and help.

Italian (it-IT): polite Lei and readable phrasing

• Use Lei for respectful UI unless your brand is very casual.
• Dates often DD/MM/YYYY, time usually 24-hour.
• Check doubled consonants and elisions, for example l’app.
• Keep sentences short and friendly.
• Use common Italian UI terms. Avoid stiff calques from English.

Dutch (nl-NL): clear tone and compact wording

• Use u for formal or je for informal, based on brand voice. Many SaaS brands use friendly but direct language.
• Dates often DD-MM-YYYY, 24-hour time.
• Favour short sentences and active voice.
• Expect compound words. Allow more space for labels.
• Keep punctuation simple. Do not add accents that Dutch does not use.

Localising your help centre and support experience

A localised help centre earns trust and deflects tickets. It shows users you are committed to their success, and it gives them answers at any hour. Effective localisation in your help centre builds confidence, while thoughtful structure ensures users find what they need quickly.

Structure and search that reduce tickets

• Organise articles by user tasks, not internal teams, to enhance the overall user experience (UX).
• Use short, clear titles that match how users search.
• Add local keywords and synonyms to headings and summaries for better SEO and localisation.
• Keep steps numbered and screenshots current.
• Link related articles so users complete tasks without opening a ticket.

Localisation here means tailoring content to reflect regional nuances, which further reduces support volume by making resources more relevant.

Screenshots, diagrams, and alt text in the right language

• Localise UI labels inside screenshots and diagrams.
• Translate callouts and annotations.
• Provide alt text in the target language for accessibility and search.
• Store layered source files so editors can update text fast.
• Update visuals whenever the UI changes to avoid mismatched guidance.

Video, subtitles, and voiceover that users can follow

• Provide subtitles in all five languages.
• Keep on-screen text short and readable.
• Use clear, neutral narration if you add voiceover.
• Provide a transcript for search and accessibility.
• Adjust timings for longer phrases, especially in German and French.

Chatbots, AI answers, and handover to humans

• Train intents per language. Do not rely on raw AI translation for training data.
• Add local synonyms and common misspellings.
• Offer a quick route to a human when confidence is low.
• For complex calls, plan interpretation so issues are resolved first time.

Multilingual support and interpretation on live calls

• Staff core hours with native-speaking agents for reliable local support.
• Use on-demand interpreters for peaks, demos, and onboarding.
• This mix helps users feel heard and reduces repeat contacts.
• London Translations provides interpreters who learn your product. Accuracy goes up, and users feel confident they are understood.

QA, rollout, and measuring success across five languages

A simple plan keeps quality high and releases on track. Focus on the checks that protect the user experience.

Linguistic and functional testing that catches issues early

• Run in-context reviews in a staging build to ensure localisation accuracy.
• Use pseudo-localisation to find hard-coded strings and layout risks.
• Test forms, validation, emails, and error states in each locale as part of the localisation process.
• Check links and search behaviour inside the help centre.
• Log issues in a shared tracker and feed patterns back into the glossary to refine ongoing localisation efforts.

Pilot by market, then expand with confidence

• Start with one or two target markets where you already have traffic.
• Measure activation, feature adoption, and help centre search success.
• Gather user feedback from surveys and support.
• Apply lessons to the next markets.
• Keep release notes localised so users see steady progress.

Metrics that show the value of localisation

Track outcomes by locale, including in the European market:

• Sign-up to activation rate and time to value, incorporating checks for local payment systems in billing notices
• CSAT and NPS
• Ticket deflection and help centre search success
• Churn, renewal, and upgrade rates
• Article views against ticket volume for the same topics

Use these results to plan the next set of articles and UI updates, demonstrating the impact of localisation. Share wins with product and leadership to sustain momentum.

Budget, timing, and roles

Costs depend on word count, update cadence, multimedia needs, and reviewer time. Plan roles:

• Localisation PM
• Engineers with i18n skills
• Product writers
• Translators and editors
• In-market reviewers

A simple 90-day plan for SaaS localisation:

• Weeks 1 to 3: i18n readiness, style guides, term base
• Weeks 4 to 7: localise core UI, system emails, top 20 help articles
• Weeks 8 to 10: in-context review, functional QA, visual updates
• Weeks 11 to 13: launch to pilot markets, measure, iterate

When to partner with London Translations

Consider a partner when you have high-impact UI changes requiring product localisation, legal or compliance texts, live customer events, or tight timelines. London Translations provides business translation and interpretation services that keep your product copy, help content, and live conversations aligned. If you want tailored support for software, apps, and help centres, speak with our team to plan a rollout that hits your dates and protects quality.

Conclusion

Here is the simple plan. Prepare your product for i18n, define voice and key terms, handle localization for core UI and top help content, test in context, then measure and improve. Based on market research, focus on French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch to unlock real growth across Europe through effective SaaS localization. With expert business translation and interpretation services, your rollout will be faster and smoother. London Translations is a dependable partner for quality localization, speed, and a consistent user experience across every touchpoint, including localizing marketing efforts. Ready to ship a local experience your users will trust, one that supports your broader marketing strategy? Reach out and let’s build it together.

The post SaaS Localisation Europe: Localising a SaaS UI and Help Centre: A Practical Playbook for French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch appeared first on London Translations.

In the crisp January of 1996, Bill Gates penned an essay that resonates even today: “Content is King.” Back then, Gates envisioned the Internet as a bustling marketplace of ideas and information.

The Untapped Potential of Multilingual Content

Fast forward to our digital age, and businesses on a quest for innovation and expansion recognise the untapped potential residing within the realm of content. Within this realm, multilingual content emerges as a formidable force, capable of not only cementing your brand’s presence but also elevating user engagement, fortifying Google rankings, driving quality traffic and leads, and igniting conversion rates across diverse markets. Furthermore, content serves as the compass guiding your audience towards informed purchasing decisions.

Breaking Down Barriers: Language Matters

Imagine for a moment that you’re sharing your message with international audiences exclusively in a single language, perhaps English. By limiting your communication to a solitary tongue, you inadvertently erect barriers, diminishing your reach and forfeiting potential customers. Did you know that 90% of Internet users in non-English-speaking countries are more inclined to purchase products or services from websites offering information in their native language? (Source: CSA Research) Surely, you wouldn’t want to cultivate an unmistakable chasm of communication between your business and your global audience. After all, when your customers struggle to grasp your message, meaningful interaction and transactions become elusive.

Competition in the Global Marketplace

Moreover, in today’s global marketplace, businesses continually vie for the precious currency of consumer attention. If your competitors are serving up multilingual content while you remain tethered to a single linguistic group, you risk fading into obscurity, relinquishing your share of the market.

Personalisation in the Digital Age

As the curtain falls on the era of content creation democratisation, the spotlight shifts towards content consumption and personalisation. In the contemporary landscape, consumers enjoy unparalleled access to a cornucopia of content spanning countless platforms. This abundance underscores the heightened significance of personalisation and relevance. Bill Gates himself acknowledges the pivotal role of content tailored to individual preferences and needs. Hence, the luminance of multilingual content shines brighter than ever.

Supercharging Sales with Multilingual Content

     A. Speak the Language of Your Audience

Bill Gates foresaw the need for content localisation back in 1996. By conversing in the language of your target audience, you not only bridge divides but also nurture trust in potential customers. This approach enriches engagement, elevates the customer experience, and ultimately fuels sales. Take, for instance, Microsoft, which recognises the importance of tailoring its products and services to specific cultural contexts. The company has crafted localised versions of Windows and Office to offer interfaces and language support attuned to users across diverse regions.

     B. Expand Your Global Footprint

Multilingual content serves as the key unlocking new markets and expanding your customer base. Localising your marketing messages empowers you to communicate effectively with potential customers in their preferred language, cultivating a deeper sense of familiarity with your products or services.

     C. Enhance the Customer Experience

When customers find product information, user manuals, and customer support in their native tongue, they are more likely to make confident purchasing decisions. This positive experience fosters satisfaction and loyalty, ultimately propelling sales.

     D. Craft Culturally Relevant Narratives

Language intertwines intricately with culture. By infusing cultural nuances into your marketing and sales endeavours, you forge a profound connection with your target audience. This showcases your respect for customers’ culture and values, rendering your brand relatable and trustworthy. Microsoft’s marketing campaigns frequently exemplify a commitment to inclusivity and diversity, spotlighting the cultural context of individuals and experiences from a tapestry of communities.

Content’s Evolution in a Digital World

In today’s digital epoch, content reigns supreme. Bill Gates’ insights, as expressed in his 1996 essay, have evolved alongside rapid technological advances and a dynamic digital landscape. While the call for high-quality content persists, today’s perspective places a premium on the empowering nature of content and the imperative of personalisation. Additionally, Gates acknowledges the pivotal role of content creation as a revenue source. As our digital world continues its transformation, multilingual content emerges as an indispensable asset for businesses, ushering in audiences, nurturing relationships, and stoking the flames of sales in the modern age.

Take Action: Embrace Multilingual Content

Now that the spellbinding potential of multilingual content has been unveiled, it’s time for you to take action. Embrace the kaleidoscope of linguistic diversity, tailor your content to resonate with diverse hearts, and witness your sales soar. Come, join hands with London Translations, your trusted companion in the realm of translation and interpretation, as we embark on a journey to connect the world. Your international audience eagerly awaits this connection.

The post Unlocking the Power of Multilingual Content: Boosting Sales in a Global Marketplace appeared first on London Translations.

Dominating the language of a potential new market is key for business expansion. Today, we have a look at future emerging economies and countries with growth potential.

Future Largest Economies

PwC’s The World in 2050 report reveals that six of the seven largest economies in the world are projected to be emerging economies in 2050 led by China (1st), India (2nd), Indonesia (4th) and Brazil (5th). The US could fall from second to third place while the EU27’s share of world GDP could fall below 10%. Even smaller economies such as Vietnam, the Philippines and Nigeria will see huge leaps in their rankings, according to the report.

Other reports expect China to continue to grow, as well as Guyana, South Sudan, Egypt, Benin and Bangladesh to strongly emerge.

Additionally, we have seen Brexit force many businesses to move to the Netherlands, as Reuter reports. The Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency has seen 78 companies move to the country due to Brexit, as brands look to secure their European operations.

The economy is ever-changing, yes, but there are strong signs that give us a glimpse of what the future holds. All these emerging economies have a common denominator: foreign languages.

The Importance of Translations

We are here to help you reach greater audiences and expand to growing economies. At London Translations, we provide translation services worldwide, having a pool of over 9000 linguists who work in more than 140 languages, including those dominant in projected top economies.

Our translation services can be tailored to adapt to any of your needs. To tell us about your project and find out how London Translations can help you, get in touch for a consultation.

The post Growing Economies – Predictions and Language Opportunities appeared first on London Translations.

Be mindful of small variations between your localised sites

If you’ve already had your website translated professionally, you might think your content is up to standard, internationally speaking. However, even if the message your brand is putting into the world can now be understood by multiple audiences, there are still some small but important refinements you will need to make.

Be sure each of your localised sites have the correct contact information, as well as making sure legal considerations (such as the terms and conditions page and cookies agreement) adhere to the requirements of each territory. Likewise, ensure that details on any of your site’s product or event listings, such as sizes, measurements, dates or currency, all conform to the standard units or formats in your target country.

Adapt the design and media content of your website

While the majority of languages will require little to no alterations to the design of your website, localisation to some territories might lead to some vital tweaks being made. According to IBM, translating paragraphs from English into other European languages requires around 30% more space on the page, so a localised website will need to accommodate this additional space in its design.

Images and videos will also need to be altered and optimised. Including subtitles on video content, or reworking text-based images into your target language is a given, and will again inform how your localised website will be designed. However, you should also ensure that the images and videos themselves are culturally sensitive to your target international audience.

Make your technical instructional imagery as easily-comprehensible as possible, and be sure to adapt any step-by-step graphics for any territories reading from right to left. You should also make sure that any gestures and scenarios in the photos on your site which may register as inoffensive to Western audiences (such as drinking alcohol) are altered or replaced in order to avoid upsetting users in other cultures.

Keep local SEO in mind

As with the text and layout of your pages, the overall structure of your site will need to be revised in order to adhere to localised customs in your target markets. Researching how your local competitors organise the navigation of their sites will give you a better idea of how companies in your sector structure their websites, particularly when it comes to organising products and services.

Beyond this, developing a local SEO strategy to these new markets is also essential, making sure that any link building campaigns target locally-relevant websites. As well as translating your onsite content, revising elements in the back end of your website, such as your title tags and meta descriptions, allows you to accommodate localised keywords, and set canonical tags on any pages which could be flagged up as duplicate content. Hosting these versions of sites at different local domains has also been recognised as a positive ranking factor, so investing in a .co.uk, .ru or .de website alongside your primary global domain will help your site’s visibility. You should also keep your Google My Business profiles updated with all information for any local offices you might have in these other territories.

Website localisation may seem daunting, but it can easily be informed by your market research and the collective knowledge of the staff in the territories to which you are expanding. Depending on the number of countries for which you will need to localise, the process will likely become easier the more frequently you do it, with only the cultural nuances of each country needing to give you pause. Regardless, by employing the advice above, your business is sure to see international success.

The post Website localisation best practices: 3 points to remember appeared first on London Translations.

Imperfect machine translations will highlight the need for professionals

Machine translation may have grown in popularity for being far quicker and more convenient than the professional alternative, but with lists of ‘Google translate fails’ frequently cropping up online, it’s clear that users are far from convinced of its accuracy.

These widely publicised, imperfect translations have done nothing to boost faith in machine translation. In fact, they only serve to shine a light on just how far machine translation has to go before it can produce accurate results. Naturally, this will lead many to search for a superior quality of translation, which professional human translators can happily provide.

Complex materials will need more human translators

New technological developments from outside the area of machine translation will also increase the need for translators. The worldwide spread of internet connectivity has led to increased demand for software translation for tech businesses localising their products for international audiences.

Here at London Translations, we’ve handled software translation for everything from the original Tomb Raider video game to cutting edge point-of-sale applications in the present, working with programming environments from DOS to iOS.

Localising software has more to it than simply translating any written or spoken words. Related materials such as user and technical reference manuals also need translations, as do any symbols or images that have different meanings around the world.

Technology is changing language, opening up new translation jobs

The modern world is already home to at least one professional emoji translator. Though the job may sound superfluous, it is in fact an important part of the changing linguistic scene. With emojis, memes and internet slang becoming increasingly important to brands everywhere, translating these phenomena for local audiences is crucial to businesses success. Thanks to changing technology and the trends that follow suit, new, exciting and bizarre translation roles will open up for those with the right skills.

Humans will always be better at translating tone

No matter how complex machine learning algorithms become, AI translation tools will lack the perceptiveness of human translators, especially when it comes to tone and intent. Communication is about more than just words; human translators can tell if speakers are joking, being sarcastic, rude, pleading, scolding, all by listening to how words are said, not just which words are said.

Machine translations can bring people around the world closer together by bridging the language barrier for free. However, the professional and political connections these people make will no doubt require skilled human translation to ensure that high-stakes communication is conveyed accurately and without interruption.

Machine translation could lead to a ‘two-tier’ system

One of the most positive ways to look at the advent of machine translation is this: It will act as a gateway to more businesses using professional translation. Smaller and medium-sized businesses, who may not have considered expanding abroad in the pre-machine translation era, now have the opportunity to test the international waters with free translation tools. If they find that their Google Translated website is bringing in some traffic, they might then decide that foreign territories present serious opportunities, and thus seek out the ‘higher tier’ of translation. This presents a big change for the translation industry as a whole, but it’s a far more welcome scenario than the worrying prospect of mass redundancies.

Far from decrease the workload of professional translators, this two-tier system will bring in new customers who would never have needed, or known they needed, to use translation and localisation services in the first place. In this instance, and the others detailed above, machine translation will truly create more demand for skilled professional translators and localisation experts from all over the globe.

The post Why technology will broaden linguistic opportunities, not limit them appeared first on London Translations.

There are two common kinds of faux amis; false cognates, where two words in two different languages are spelt identically but have different meanings, and semi-false cognates, which are words that are not identical but look deceptively similar. Both of these can cause issues when translating French to English.

The French and English languages share an alphabet, and due to the close geographical proximity and tangled history of the two nations, the two languages have a lot of similarities. In fact, it has been estimated that nearly 45% of English words may be of French origin.

Here’s some of the most common false cognates and semi-false cognates and their English translation for you to look out for.

False cognates

1: Bras

In the French language, votre bras means your arm and not the female undergarment. The French word for a bra is un soutien-gorge. Interestingly, brasserie is also a faux amis, meaning a brewery or a bar that serves food.

2: Location

This is a faux amis that has the potential to be very confusing for British homeowners looking to buy property in France, because location in French means rent.

3: Prune

The next time you’re walking around a French supermarché, you might want to bear in mind that prune in French actually means plum.

4: Raisin

You won’t even have to leave the supermarket aisle to find your next faux amis. Grape in French is actually grain de raisin.

5: Affluence

Affluence in French actually means crowded, rather than wealthy. Although if you use the word to refer to your wallet, it could still mean wealthy.

Semi-false cognates

1: Envie/Envy

The verb envier can be used to convey envy, but envie means to wish for or desire something. A subtle but important difference.

2: Grappe/Grape

Grappe means bunch. You could have a grappe of any sort of fruit, including grain de raisin, which are, of course, grapes.

3: Journée/Journey

Une journée is a day, so if somebody wishes you “Bonne journée,” they are saying “Have a nice day.” This could easily lead to miss understandings for British people working or travelling through France.

4: Librairie/Library

Confusingly, librairie is a bookshop and not, as many may be led to believe, a library. Don’t try taking books out of a librairie without paying!

False friends in French translation

Although these faux amis are common, and may lead to potentially embarrassing, if not purely humorous misunderstandings, they can prove problematic during French translation. With London Translations, you can rest assured that your translation or interpretation will be second to none, regardless of these false friends.

The post False-friend English to French translation: 10 common faux amis appeared first on London Translations.

Despite the UK’s pivotal role on the global stage, the country remains largely a nation of monoglots. You’d be forgiven for thinking your office is no exception. But you could be wrong.

Here are five reasons why your colleagues may speak more languages than you think.

They studied languages

For the past decade, the number of students studying for A Levels in modern foreign languages has been in steady decline, and the number of undergraduates accepted for a degree in languages fell to its lowest level in 2013 – 14.

But it’s not all bad news: primary schools are leading the way in Mandarin teaching, with the government providing £10 million in funding to give the study a significant boost. Meanwhile, 70% of students ages 14 – 17 said they would be interested in learning a language in the future. The number taking language GCSEs has also begun to recover since the introduction of the EBacc, a measure of school performance across core academic subjects including a language.

And university language graduates can end up in a wide variety of roles, and do not always make full use of their language skills. In short, the person sitting next to you may be fluent in a couple of languages they studied at school or university, but may not have an opportunity to use their French, Mandarin, Spanish or Russian in their current role.

Your colleagues may also be learning a language in their spare time. With approximately 4% of adults learning a language in the UK, and a further 42% saying they’d like to revisit a language they studied at school, language learning is looking up among the adult population. Whether your colleague opts for a language book, online programme, or weekly language classes, estimates suggest that £16 million is spent on language materials in the UK each year.

They had an international education

In a world where international careers in banking, business or even the military are becoming commonplace, the phenomenon of so-called Third Culture Kids — children who spend their developmental years in a culture outside that given on their passport (or where they are legally considered native) — is increasing exponentially.

It is estimated that there are over four and a half million pupils studying at as many as 8000 English-medium international schools around the world. With over 3,700 these being British ‘expat’ schools — schools with a British national orientation, and/or using elements of the UK national curriculum — it might not be immediately obvious that your globe-trotting colleague had an upbringing any different to your own.

Furthermore, research found that international schools in the UK are also catering for increasing numbers of local students. Eighty per cent of students at international schools included in a 2012 poll were found to be local children, as families look to the linguistically diverse culture and curricula of international schools as a means of advancing to some of the world’s best universities.

And finally, as many as 25,000 UK students undertake higher education abroad each year, whether that be through the ever-popular Erasmus scheme, international exchange or even undertaking their whole degree study at a foreign-language university.

The number of those committing to language qualifications may have dropped, but other exposure to a variety of cultures and languages at home and in the classroom can make language learning a necessity.

They took a teaching gap year

These days, the ‘gap year’ is almost considered a rite of passage — the obligatory next step for college or university graduates before they settle into full time employment.

Teaching English abroad is now the preferred option for an increasing number of gap year students, since the hike in university tuition fees has left many a little strapped for cash. TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) provides a way to gain travel experience and a earn money at the same time. Language Assistant roles with the British Council offer 6-month and year long placements in a foreign country too.

And there’s also the option of working abroad as an Au Pair. Living rent-free in a comfortable family home with flexible working hours seems like the perfect working holiday for many young adults, and it’s no wonder the number of 18 – 30 year olds working abroad as au pairs is on the rise.

Depending on their travels, your colleagues could impress you with linguistic abilities they picked up working in a whole plethora of countries around the world.

If you’ve recently discovered the multilingual landscape of your office, it might be time to put those skills to use.

The post Why your office may speak more languages than you think appeared first on London Translations.

Entrepreneurship isn’t simply about technical skills. It’s about understanding people, markets and trends. Taking the time to learn another language not only helps businesses source international opportunities but maintain lucrative global relationships too.

While we recommend professional translation should be reserved for the experts, here are several benefits to business owners of learning another language.

Building a network is essential to a company’s success

The more languages you command, the more doors you open to global communication. As a monolingual, you’re cutting off 62% of potential global business exchanges.

Being able to conduct business in multiple languages also adds a key personal touch that’s proving ever more important in competitive industries. “Many businesses will rely on the help of translators, but we have found that investing in a dedicated service has led to stronger relationships with clients”, says Ciaran McCabe, partner at solicitors Moore Blatch. “[T]he majority of work the firm receives under this service is through personal recommendations,” he adds.

Globalization is now seen as the foundation for a successful business. Therefore, learning a second or even a third language gives you the communication skills you will need to create the global business deals your company needs to gain success over your competitors.

Your listening and decision-making skills will be greatly improved

We don’t just mean ‘listening’ in the basic sense of the word, but our ability to ‘listen’ to other linguistic and cultural perspectives.

Having a multilingual staff base can help SMEs and startups pick up on international market trends, conduct linguistically-relevant research and target local needs to create relevant and specific business and marketing strategies.

A study by Scientific American found that thinking in languages other than our mother-tongue makes us better decision makers. This relates to a psychological study that shows we conceive of subjects with less emotion in a secondary language than we do in our native tongue.

In practical terms, this makes us more resistant to conditioning, bias and prejudice, which makes us more rational when it comes to weighing our business options.

You can avoid finding yourself on a list of ‘Top ten translation fails’

Because they often involve a play on words or a reference to culture-specific concepts, corporate slogans have become especially treacherous for businesses in the global marketplace. Even the creators of Google Translate have conceded their application is imperfect when it comes to rendering the nuances of discourse, and it’s not just SMEs who fall victim.

When Mercedes-Benz entered the Chinese market, it did so under the brand name Benzi, which translates locally as ‘rush to die’. When KFC followed suit, its slogan ‘finger-lickin’ good’ became downright cannibalistic. Taking your business global thus presents the challenge of how to achieve the same objectives with different cultural idiom.

Others have had more success: the phonetic translation of ‘ke-kou-ke-la’, which is how Coca-Cola first attempted to brand itself in mandarin, is ‘bite the wax tadpole’. With just a little bit of tweaking, mandarin-speaking advisors at Coca-Cola were able to find the close equivalent of “ko-kou-ko-le”, which has the more appropriate sense of “happiness in the mouth.”

Multilingual copywriters can identify key brand qualities and portray them in a way that perfectly resonates with your target audience.

You’ll reap the benefits of multilingual digital marketing

Tech experts at Mashable say that communicating online in multiple languages can boost a company’s page rankings and SEO. They assert that “the saturation of key search terms on non-English language websites hasn’t reached anywhere near the level of the English-language web.” This means that businesses can attain lucrative positions on search engines far easier on the foreign language Internet.

Search Engine Journal also asserts that “establishing a global presence across all social media platforms will help increase your brand awareness”, helping companies meet their marketing goals nation by nation.

There’s a hugely lucrative opportunity out there ready to be explored if you can command multiple languages.

So, which languages should we be learning?

According to Entrepreneur, the six top languages for all global-minded entrepreneurs are Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Arabic and German. Latin America and Central Asia are among the globe’s fastest emerging markets, while Germany remains a major centre for finance and manufacturing in Europe.

French is also up there as a useful bridging language for businesses that operate both in the EU and globally, and Japanese is in the mix for those trading in the asiatic world.

But it doesn’t stop there. Forbes counts Computer Programming among its ‘3 Languages Needed By The Next Generation Of Entrepreneurs’!

London Translations provides a customised service through our Business Language School.

The post Four reasons entrepreneurs should learn a second language appeared first on London Translations.

Here are three areas of London where translating your marketing campaign could really benefit your business.

Barnet: Polish

One of the most difficult languages to learn, Polish, is the second most spoken language in the London borough of Barnet, and in six other boroughs in London (Bromley, Ealing, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond and Wandsworth). Home to nearly 370,000 people, the London borough of Barnet is also the second largest borough by population in London.

There are more than 10,000 residents with Polish nationality in the borough. The majority of people in the borough work within education.

Migration history

The Polish community in London has it roots in the Second World War, after Britain came to the aid of its ally, in 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. From the exiled Polish government to the Polish officers who served with the British Army, many Polish people went on to establish a home in the UK.

After Poland joined the EU in 2004, there were successive waves of Polish people immigrating to Britain as part of the EU policy of free movement. According to data from the last census, Polish is now the second most spoken language in the UK.

Turkish: Enfield

Turkish is the second most spoken language in Enfield and in three other London boroughs (Hackney, Haringey and Islington). The London Borough of Enfield has more than 320,000 residents with more than 8% of residents identifying as Turkish or Turkish Cypriot. As a result of the large Turkish community, the council has twinning arrangements in Turkey. The majority of residents work within retail.

Migration history

After Cyprus got its independence from Britain in 1960, Turkish Cypriots migrated to the UK for work. The 70s and 80s specifically saw significant migration from Turkey to the UK as citizens looked to escape the violence and social unrest of the 70s and later the military coup in 1980.

Bengali: Tower Hamlets

Bangla or Bengali as it is also known, is the second most spoken language in India. Not only is it the official language of Bangladesh, but it is also an official language of Sierra Leone. Bengali is the second most spoken language in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, as well in the London Boroughs of Newham and Camden. A borough of eight square miles, Tower Hamlets has just under 300,000 people with 59% aged between 15 – 44, higher than the national average which sits at 42%. The majority of residents in the borough work within business and finance associated professions.

Migration history

Records show the presence of Sylheti lascars (Bangladeshi sailors) from the 1850s onwards at London ports. But migration from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) began on a large scale in the 50s and 60s as migrants came to meet the labour shortage in the UK. The Commonwealth Immigrants Act in 1962, restricted the levels of immigration from the Commonwealth but those already resident in the UK, helped others to come forming a chain of migration. In 1961, there were approximately 6,000 Bangladeshis in the UK, by 1971 the population had risen to 22,000.

In 1971 the Liberation War was fought between West Pakistan (Pakistan) and East Pakistan (Bangladesh). The war was short but brutal, and led to further immigration to the UK and the formation of present day Bangladesh.

The post The “real” London Translations: A little more about the foreign audiences on your doorstep appeared first on London Translations.

So how have these languages declined so drastically, and what do we stand to lose if they do die out?

What it means when a language is endangered

A dying or endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling completely out of use.

In a document entitled ‘Language Vitality and Endangerment’, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) outlines 9 characteristics of endangered languages:

1. Intergenerational language transmission
2. Absolute number of speakers
3. Proportion of speakers existing within the total population
4. Trends in existing language domains
5. Response to new domains and media
6. Materials for language education and literacy
7. Governmental and institutional language attitudes and policies, including official status and use
8. Community members’ attitudes toward their own language
9. Amount and quality of documentation

Why languages become endangered

There are many different factors that can lead to a decline in a language’s use.

The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages identifies four primary causes of language endangerment: natural catastrophes; war and genocide; overt repression; and cultural/political/economic dominance.

For example, Gaelic was banned by the crown in the 1600s, and continued to be suppressed following the Jacobite rebellion. According to the Guardian, children were still “being beaten into speaking English” less than 100 years ago, while the use of Welsh was “actively discouraged” in 19th century schools.

Indeed, the status of Welsh as an endangered language was firmly established 5 years ago, when the UK Census found that 73% of residents of Wales had no Welsh language skills.

For years it was feared that the Gaelic language too may be beyond saving, until 2014 when the under 20 age group finally saw a rise in the number of speakers as a result of Gaelic’s reintroduction in schools. The drive to promote the usage of Gaelic continues, in compliance with the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act of 2005. Meanwhile there has also been a significant government funded effort to promote the Welsh language, which is showing promising signs of resuscitation.

Whilst the prognosis for British minority languages is looking better, further afield the picture is bleaker. The internet and particularly the prominence of English on it is accused of marginalising other languages. This “western bias” is difficult to ignore given that 55% of the 10 million most popular websites are written in English.

But it’s not just English’s stranglehold that is to blame. In the UK Brexit may rock the Welsh and Gaelic revival, if funding which the EU currently provides for minority language promotion schemes in Britain is no longer be available.

What can these languages offer business?

Just because they’re a minority language doesn’t make them unprofitable. Companies who do business in Wales, Ireland and/or Scotland, will know that in many industries having someone in your company with Welsh and/or Gaelic language skills can set you apart from other businesses which do not.

In fact, in 2011, businesses began “increasingly” using the Gaelic language for marketing purposes. In 2014, Neil Ross, Head of Community Growth at Highlands and Islands Enterprise said that the use of Gaelic is “an asset as already contributing, and having huge potential to generate further economic and social impacts”.

While in 2013, the Welsh Language Commissioner Meri Huws wrote that businesses ranging from retailers to service providers were “realising that using the Welsh language is part of good customer care.” Use of the language can also strengthen your brand and attract new customers and clients by showing your respect for Welsh culture.

So if your business is looking into breaking into Welsh, Irish, and or Scottish markets, making use of their native languages can give you a leg up on the competition.

Professional translation agencies can offer your business access to these languages on an ad hoc basis. This way you won’t have to invest the time and money it would take to either train existing staff, or to hire someone new full time. London Translations covers all languages, so we have you covered for minority British languages like Welsh, Gaelic and even Cornish.

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