23 Official Languages of the EU
Have you ever wondered how many languages the European Union recognises as official spoken languages of Europe? Well the answer to that would be 23! There are 23 Official Languages in the European Union, these are made up of languages spoken the most in each member state.
There are more member states in the EU than there are official languages. This is because some member states share national languages such as Dutch in the Netherlands and Belgium, French in France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
The Official 23 languages of the EU are:
- Bulgarian (BG)
- Czech (CS)
- Danish (DA)
- German (DE)
- Greek (EL)
- English (EN)
- Spanish ES)
- Estonian (ET)
- Finnish (FI)
- French (FR)
- Irish (GA)
- Hungarian (HU)
- Italian (IT) (more…)
Ugaritic Symbols on Clay Sheets
Clay tablets containing strange dots and wedge type characters of the ancient Ugaritic language have baffled Translators and Archaeologists for several decades since they were discovered in the 1920’s in the port city of Ugarit.
The Ugaritic language was used in Ancient Israelite and neighbouring cultures of the time and has been extremely important in clarifying Biblical Hebrew texts. The ‘Lost Language’ was re-discovered in 1928 by French Archaeologists who found strange clay tablets containing dots and wedge shaped stylus signs, the language is thought to have been last used in 1200BC in Syria. (more…)
We have successfully completed our membership application to become a full member of the ATC (Association of Translation Companies). The ATC is a professional body that represents the interest of translation companies and translation purchasers.
Membership of the ATC requires meeting certain criteria when providing translation services, adhering to professional ethics and providing high quality translation services. Global Voices’ membership acceptance is just another indication of how serious we take our business, clients and quality of work.
Along with this membership, Global Voices has also been accepted into the EUATC (European Union Association of Translation Companies) and has recently been awarded the updated BSI quality standards accreditation – ISO 9001:2008.
Being able to express simple gratitude such as a simple “Thank You” in another language is an easy way to overcome cross-cultural barriers and show your polite intentions to your hosts.
Whether at a business meeting or dinner party you will probably at some point need to say Thank You, so here is a list of some common(and uncommon) languages and how to say thank you.
How to say Thank You in…
- Chamorro: Si yuus maasi
- Croatian: Hvala
- Danish (Denmark, Greenland): Tak
- Dutch (Netherlands, Belgium): Dank je
- Dutch (Netherlands): Bedankt
- Egyptian: Dua Netjer en ek
- Esperanto: Dankon
- Estonian: Tänan
- French : Merci beaucoup
- German: Danke schön
- Greek: Sas efharisto
- Hebrew: Toda
- Icelandic: Takk fyrir
- Indonesian: Terima Kasih
- Italian: Grazie
- Japanese: Arigato
- Korean: Komapsumnida
- Lao: Khwap jai (more…)
According to The Scotsman, the number of hours spent translating health information into Polish by the NHS has soared taking up nearly 13,000 hours of translation.
NHS Lothian Translation Services expenditure soars
Polish speakers are in fact now the largest minority group in Edinburgh with over 40,000 Poles living within the capital(1). The growing number of Polish residents and demand for public services provided in the Polish language has led to over £700,000 of expenditure on translation services by health chiefs. In contrast, only £500,000 was spent on Polish translation services in 2008 and NHS Lothian say the increase is due to the higher usage of health services amongst non-English speakers.
Specialised interpreters are often needed during health visits, even if the patient is competent in English. The complexity of a diagnosis and the language used means that many patients need interpreters present for reassurance and a solid understanding of what is going on. Global Voices is an experienced company when it comes to medical interpretation. It is the largest supplier of interpreters to NHS Forth Valley and surrounding areas. Global Voices has also noticed a trend developing in Central Scotland over the last couple of years where Polish interpreters are often the most in demand when it comes to interpreting for public and health services.
The Scotsman also states that of the 26,100 hours spent face-to-face interpreting in NHS Lothian, 12,490 were for Polish with Chinese second most popular and then Arabic, Turkish, Bengali, Portuguese and Russian interpreters also being well used.
(more…)
- Would you really want to visit this tourist destination?
In today’s multi-cultural society there is a growing demand to localise and provide translated versions for everything from road signs to menu’s, yet some people are still getting lost in translation!
Whether machine or human translated, care must be taken not to translate literally, yet many translators and translation companies are still failing to provide high quality translations.
Here are some of the most hilarious translation bloopers and mistranslations from around the web:
From an East African newspaper:
A new swimming pool is rapidly taking shape since the contractors have thrown in the bulk of their workers.
In a Zurich Hotel:
Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose.
Would you buy a coat from this Furrier in Sweden?
Fur coats made for ladies from their own skin.
(more…)
LANGUAGE experts based in Stirling say William Wallace would be embarrassed by the lack of foreign skills possessed by Scottish companies.
Translation and interpreting agency Global Voices are situated in the shadow of the Wallace Monument, a memorial to arguably Scotland’s greatest hero and a man who could speak two languages as well as his own. They are worried about Scottish firms’ ambivalence to the importance of foreign culture and language in business.
- Global Voices sits underneath the Wallace Monument (Stirling)
It is well known that Wallace was fluent in French and Latin as well as his mother tongue, but today more than 700 years on you would be lucky to find a Scottish firm conversant in more than one language.
Luigi Koechlin, who runs his agency from Stirling University’s Innovation Park, has interpreters and translators to cover all of the world’s languages, but he fears Scottish companies could lose out on millions of pounds of business if they do not address their language inequality soon.
William Wallace knew the value of understanding different cultures and tongues. The English underestimated him thinking he was a barbarian and he managed to win great victories over them.
“However, I think he would be a bit embarrassed that we expect everyone else to speak English instead of making the effort to train employees or call on agencies like ourselves to help out when it comes to breaking down the language barrier.”
And he adds:
“The world is getting smaller year by year in the business sense. It is turning into a United Nations of business and anyone not embracing the fact is going to struggle. It is unrealistic to rely on everyone speaking English.”
(more…)
Global Voices are proud to announce the launch of this online blog, covering everything to do with the world of translation and interpretation services.
If you didn’t know or have been living in a cave for five years, Global Voices are a leading translation and interpretation services company originally founded in Scotland. Dealing with translations into and from over 140 languages every day, Global Voices offers over 40 years combined translation experience which enable us to provide the highest quality translation projects at competitive rates.
We will be using this blog to keep you up to date with the latest developments in the translation world, new projects, language articles and all the latest news and gossip from Global Voices, so register with us and comment on our posts to let us know how we are doing.
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