The Rosetta Blog is a collection of material relating to translation and language in a wider sense. Some of it discusses aspects of the translation business, of client issues, of common pitfalls. Some of it touches on general difficulties in translation (such as the lack of exact equivalents for concepts in other languages), and there is also a running discussion of ongoing changes in the language industry (AI, of course, but also for example the usefulness of Simplified Technical English for translation).
If you are interested in discussing any of these topics (whether directly in relation to a translation need, or out of general interest) or if you want to suggest new topics, feel free to add a comment and start a discussion. Alternatively, you can contact the two main current custodians of the blog directly: our head of the London office, Rossella Mastropietro, at rmastropietro@rosettatranslation.com and/or our founder and managing director Eric Fixmer, at efixmer@rosettatranslation.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Top 10 interesting facts about translation With all the doom and gloom we’ve been experiencing in recent times with an uncertain political and economic climate
What is the Moses machine translation system? Recently, I was talking with a translator friend of mine about machine-assisted translation (Google Translate in particular) and
Latin language …. And other things the Romans did for us On a recent trip to Italy and having visited several Roman historical sites
Language: it’s child’s play! Part one At university, for my degree in languages, I studied language acquisition and how this differs depending on whether
Aboriginal languages: Maori Think of New Zealand and you’ll probably picture beautiful landscapes, outdoor adventures, the All Blacks rugby team and perhaps a nice
In our past 2 posts we’ve looked at the good and bad points of Google Translate. 10 years down the line it is undoubtedly helping
Believe it or not Google Translation was born in 2006, and so celebrates its 10th birthday this year. From its original 2 languages the
Outside the translation and language industry little is really known (understandably perhaps) about translation technology. Machine translation is a type of this technology, for
In this series so far we have looked at the difficulties of the fields of medical and legal translation. Translating within the fields of
Translations of a medical or pharmaceutical nature can be highly sensitive, and the implications of an incorrect translation for dosage, for example, could prove
Translation in and of itself is never a straightforward case of taking one word and translating it into its equivalent form in another
Interpreting is a skill. Just because you speak more than one language does not mean that you are an interpreter. Training to be a
What is translation? The Oxford dictionary defines the term as: “A written rendering of the meaning of a word or text in another language”. I
Rosetta Translation offers many language services to people all over the world: translating and interpreting in to and out of many foreign languages. We
The apostrophe, that little hovering punctuation mark, is widely misused and misunderstood. Yet, it is so important that it has been given its own day
Editing and subtitling videos has always been a hobby of mine. In a world where teenagers can build a career by posting Youtube videos and
You can learn the Korean alphabet in 1 day or less The Korean alphabet, or 한글 (Hangeul), was created during the 15th century by
While the umbrella term ‘project manager’ can be heard in almost all sectors in the professional world, from construction to IT, project management as a
It is always fascinating to my mum how I – a native French speaker living in London – am able to understand and speak a
Technology is making our lives easier and more productive each day, and the translation industry is no exception! Two concepts that are often bundled together
Rosetta Translation officially started its Shanghai operations in 2008. That’s 7 long years already, and I thought it would be interesting to sit back and
Well, the short answer is: the Chinese language isn’t so difficult to learn, and here is why. Ease of learning depends on (linguistic) distance
I have been instrumental in setting up, developing and running the Shanghai office of Rosetta Translation since we first planned a China office in 2007.
If you aren’t lucky enough to be multilingual, then chances are you’ve at least tried to learn a foreign language at some point in your
Here are some tips on how to produce a document that will be easy to translate into another language. If you’ve never used the services
There are 33 European languages that are on the verge of extinction, according to new research – but what are these least common languages, and
Brits abroad – two words that are enough to make any respectable English person cringe. However, aside from the lager lout behaviour and general debauchery
When moving into a foreign market, it’s important that you do as much background work as possible before your ‘launch’ to ensure you hit the
Can you ever imagine the English language no longer existing? It seems like an unlikely thought, but that is what has happened to an estimated
Learning a new language can do wonders for your brain – regardless of age. ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’, or so
It was quite close in the end, wasn’t it? However – as many predicted – Scotland voted in favour of staying in the United Kingdom,
Translating – if it’s not done right – can be a risky business. As well as words that have multiple meanings, there are also cultural
If you are already trading overseas or have ambitions to move into a foreign market, it’s likely that at some point you will have to
Despite it being almost literally a world away from English, it’s not impossible to understand the Thai language. However, you’ll have undoubtedly noticed that learning
It’s no secret that translation is a difficult process at the best of times, with those doing the work needing to possess a number of
As the tenth most widely-spoken language in the world, Punjabi – the official language of the Indian state of Punjab – is used primarily in
Whether you need help with interpreting to facilitate conversation between a group, during a conference or similar event, or on a one-to-one basis, at Rosetta
It is often the case that translating a piece of text from one language to another is never as straightforward as it seems to someone
For those who just speak English, or any other Western language for that matter, understanding the Chinese language – both in written and verbal forms
When it comes to receiving a good service from an interpreter, there are probably two key elements you’ll be looking out for – accuracy and
When localising your brand for any market, you should never presume this can be something done easily. It’s never as simple as translating from X
When you need translation work done, it’s vital that you employ the right person for the job. Not only will you require your translation to
The British are known for many things – tea, scones, roast dinners and a passion for sarcasm, to name just a few of our great
Recent years have seen an explosion of online translation tools there to help us. They pop up when a page is in an unfamiliar language,
We understand that confidentiality and data security is very important for our clients and naturally it is for us too. Confidential material comes in all
Research has shown that bilingual people have brains that are able to deal with ambiguities faster, are able to distinguish sounds even against a noisy
As a linguist I am sometimes asked what I think is the most difficult language to learn. Having studied German, French, Japanese and Spanish at
Having studied languages at various stages in my life, school, university (under and post graduate) it has always been evident that languages were more of
It is estimated that there are approximately 7000 languages spoken in the world today, although about 1000 of these only have a few hundred speakers.
The trend of using machine translations has made its mark in recent times. It’s a service that is free and available online anytime. Nothing really
What is the UN French Language Day? On 20 March, we once again celebrate UN French Language Day, a global celebration of linguistic diversity and cultural exchange. Created by the United Nations in 2010, this day is to remind us …
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