Visit with our Arabic team at Saint Joseph University

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While on a personal visit to Lebanon, our Marketing Manager visited the School of Translators and Interpreters of Beirut (ETIB) at Saint Joseph University last month. In response to an increasing demand for English to Arabic translations over the last few years, our firm started a partnership in 2017 with this prestigious institution. This collaboration has allowed us to produce a greater volume of high-quality Arabic translation in our areas of specialization while diversifying our pool of Arabic translators.

Interested in learning more about our Arabic language services? Contact us for a quote!

Mitigating Translation Budgetary Constraints With Strategic Content Selection

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While international development actors are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of multilingual communication, budgetary constraints often prevent them from making all the content they produce available multiple languages. 

In addition, civil society organizations are playing a greater role in achieving Sustainable Development Goals, which is driving the demand for translation.

In this context, a strategic selection of content for translation can help international development actors increase the impact of their communication in an effective way.
Our agency offers five criteria to take into consideration from all actors producing and consuming this content while making a strategic selection for translation:

1. Offering abridged versions of documents that signal a paradigmatic shift or present innovative ideas;
2. Producing (in a set of pre-determined languages) meta-reviews of critical documents published in specific thematic by different organizations;
3. Favoring the translation of executive summaries, talking points and other shorter formats instead of systematically translating full reports;
4. Encouraging the production of short videos with subtitles, infographics and other visually appealing material.
5. Focusing on content that can empower local actors and improve interaction between stakeholders involved in the project or campaign.

In addition to considering the criteria listed above, allowing time to consult with a linguist before launching the project will help save time and money down the road. To encourage this collaboration, all our quotes include a free consultation on strategic content selection for organizations working with a limited budget.
Interested in learning more? Contact us via our website to schedule your consultation!

Linguistic Debate Brings Different Meaning to International Women’s Day in France

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Celebrated every year on March 8, International Women’s Day commemorates the movement for women’s rights. While this day is observed in a great number of countries worldwide, its meaning has been subject to interpretation in France, where a linguistic debate over its official name has sparked controversy over the last few years.

International Women’s Day is translated both as “Journée internationale de la femme” and « Journée internationale des femmes” on official UN websites. While both are grammatically correct, the first version is often associated with the celebration of the feminine beauty ideal “la femme” while the latter with a plural noun “des femmes” connotates a day in defense of women’s rights.

Originally created as a day for women’s rights and equality by socialist movements in the United States and Europe, March 8 has increasingly become an advertising opportunity for retailers in a similar fashion as Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day. This trend has led prominent political figures and activists to offer different versions of the name to bring the attention back to its original intent. For example, in 2013, the former French Minister for Women’s rights, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem called for the celebration of ‘la journée internationale des droits des femmes, associating this version with the French left.

Similarly, a French Slate article quotes the political communication expert Simone Bonnafous, who believes the lack of consensus regarding the official name of March 8 “allows NGOs and political parties to use the meaning they prefer to advance their political agenda”. The article lists different names and their political connotation with humor: “’ ‘la journée de la femme’ is the sexist version while ‘la journée des femmes’ sounds feminist and ‘la journée des droits de la femme’ is for someone who just cannot make up his mind” explains the author while listing all the names used.

While this debate might seem frivolous to an English speaker, it does highlight the importance of translation when dealing with a politically sensitive subject. In this case, the use of a different article changes the meaning completely and can cause strong disapproval from your target audience.

On a lighter note, if you encounter a woman who is a French speaker today, you might want to use a partial translation and say “Joyeux international women’s day” just to keep it safe!