Translation services: a luxury or a necessity?
Translation services are not cheap in the West. O.C. Tanner Co., described as one of the largest American software companies, spends around US$40,000 a month on translation. Intel...
Translation services are not cheap in the West. One of the largest American software companies, O.C. Tanner Co., spends around US$40,000 a month on translation.
Microprocessor giant Intel Corp. invests 2–3% of all profits in translation, yet this is only half what its competitors spend. Major companies translate their websites alone into 19 or more languages.
Translators note that their work is not immediately noticeable, while joking that theirs is the world’s second-oldest profession. Experts estimate that at least 3,000 major translation companies operate in the sector, with combined annual budgets of US$9.5–13 billion.
English, considered the universal business language, is no panacea: websites increasingly offer multiple languages because people prefer information in their native tongue. In France, for example, failure to translate official documents into French can even result in a fine.
Microprocessor giant Intel Corp. invests 2–3% of all profits in translation, yet this is only half what its competitors spend. Major companies translate their websites alone into 19 or more languages.
Translators note that their work is not immediately noticeable, while joking that theirs is the world’s second-oldest profession. Experts estimate that at least 3,000 major translation companies operate in the sector, with combined annual budgets of US$9.5–13 billion.
English, considered the universal business language, is no panacea: websites increasingly offer multiple languages because people prefer information in their native tongue. In France, for example, failure to translate official documents into French can even result in a fine.
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