Archive for July, 2010

Europe’s 23 Official Languages

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

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…)
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Computer Program decodes ‘Lost Language’

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

Lost language translated by technology

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…)

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Global Voices Joins the ATC

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Global Voices is a full member of the ATCWe 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.

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How to say Thank You in…

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

How to say thank you in French, Italian, German, English and more...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…)
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