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Marketing channels and translation
Thread poster: Freeman Weems
Freeman Weems
Freeman Weems  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 23:40
Chinese to English
Dec 2, 2009

Its 10:30 Monday morning and Corporate VP Jane Doe has just received a supply contract by FedEx. She opens it and puffs out disappointment. The vendor sent it in a language she can't understand. Jane passes it off to the executive assistant and asks him to get it translated from whatever into English.

This is where my question(s) come(s) into play. What does Jane's assistant do next? Does he pick up the phone book and call the closest agency or google search for one? What do you th... See more
Its 10:30 Monday morning and Corporate VP Jane Doe has just received a supply contract by FedEx. She opens it and puffs out disappointment. The vendor sent it in a language she can't understand. Jane passes it off to the executive assistant and asks him to get it translated from whatever into English.

This is where my question(s) come(s) into play. What does Jane's assistant do next? Does he pick up the phone book and call the closest agency or google search for one? What do you think he would seach for on the internet, 'Whatever to English translation', 'Document translation'? ▲ Collapse
 
Andy Lemminger
Andy Lemminger  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 22:40
Member (2002)
English to German
They stay local Dec 2, 2009

Sad but true and for reasons I cannot explain: Yes, it is either the yellow pages or a search string like "Translation London" or where-ever the assistant happens to live.

They will neither look for "English to German" nor for specializations such as "financial translations" or "translations of annual reports" because that doesn't matter in their opinion. The most frequent question I hear is: "How many languages do you translate?", as if a translator can just pull them out of his be... See more
Sad but true and for reasons I cannot explain: Yes, it is either the yellow pages or a search string like "Translation London" or where-ever the assistant happens to live.

They will neither look for "English to German" nor for specializations such as "financial translations" or "translations of annual reports" because that doesn't matter in their opinion. The most frequent question I hear is: "How many languages do you translate?", as if a translator can just pull them out of his belt. Nobody outside of the language industry has ever asked me: "Which industries do you specialize in?".

In the end the assistant will contact a local agency. The PM there might check ProZ.

Best regards

Andy
www.interlations.com ▲ Collapse
 


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Marketing channels and translation







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