STAR TS Translation Services Blog

When it comes to communication in any language – context is really important. For good translation it is important to always let your translators know the context of the text you have provided for translation. When I talk about “arms” are the connected to people or bullets?

The Two Ronnies where masters in understanding English usage and context in comedy. The famous 4 candles sketch is simply about context.  It is a clear illustration of how the context is important when translating. Machine translation (free translation on the internet) still delivers bad translations because of its inability to identify context; this is the reason why most mistakes made by machine translation are so funny.

Why is the context important?

Context- The context influences the meaning of a phrase or a sentence. It is linked to the environment in which the communication takes place. In translation the context is very important. One word may mean a different thing depending the context in which it is used.

Understanding- To translate you need to understand the text. A good understanding is the key to an efficient translation. A sentence or a text is composed of words and phrases  – but it requires thought, comparing the sentences around it to fully understand its meaning.

Translation- Translation has to take into account the industry or field the document is used and with what it deals with. Translation/language can be different related to specific fields. The context can be technical, medical, legislative etc.

Specialization- Being able to translate specialized documentation means the translator has to have specific skills in order to understand the context and how to phrase a translation. That means that translators need to be specialized in a specific field to translate correctly. You need to understand engines for example to describe them. Knowing an engine is power by combustion and a motor by electrical power – would mean you would automatically use different words to describe how power is supplied to them.

STAR Translation Services

A recent survey reveals that smartphones are having a real impact on Irish way of life. The use of basic mobiles phones have already changed Irish daily behavior. As they are handy and easy to carry people use them everywhere: at home, on the go or even at a social gathering. Some figures show that:

• 49% of the Irish population own a smartphone
• A increase of 71% by the end of 2012
• 95% of the users use their smartphone at home whereas 26% use it at school.
• 25% are not addicted to smartphones since 75% can’t leave the house without it.
• 67% think that smartphones are good to pass the time away while waiting. I may be part of the 33% that prefer Sudoku or magazines for they are far cheaper.
• 50% think they are a modern person and feel that they should have the Internet on their mobile. So does it mean that the remaining 50% should consider themselves out out-dated.
• 77% use their smartphone to take photography. So are professional photographers becoming an endangered species right now?

Irish smartphone users are multitasking. Indeed, they use it while listening to music, watching TV or browsing on the internet.

They mainly use it to communicate (83%), to stay informed (61%) or for entertainment (89%)

Obviously networking is one of the most popular activities since 86% of users update and visit their social networks on their phone.

Regarding apps, people have about 29 of them installed on their smartphones with about 9 paid apps installed. 43% will use more apps in the future.

Are you using any Irish apps?

See the full report

Cá Bhfuil an Obair? WDAR Radio-96fm: Launches new radio series highlighting job opportunites in Irish interviewing STAR Translation. Tuesday 29th May on 96fm
Co. Dublin, Ireland — May 2012 — Cá Bhfuil an Obair?  is a four-part bi-lingual radio series exploring career possibilities available through the Irish language.

News Release
For Immediate Release
Friday – 25th May 2012
Produced and presented by 4th and 5th year students from gaelscoil Coláiste Chilliain, Clondalkin and St. Dominic’s Girls’ Secondary School, Ballyfermot, each half-hour programme will focus on a different area of work where the ability to use the Irish language is a major advantage.  The areas covered are; Translation; Education; Communications and Media; and promotion of the Irish language.  The series is aimed at students of Junior and Leaving Cert level.  Produced in association with West Dublin Access Radio, Cá Bhfuil an Obair? will be broadcast each morning at 10.30am from Tuesday 29th May to Friday June 1st.  To listen, tune in to 96fm or go online at http://www.wdar.ie
Program 1: Translation
10.30am Tues May 29th –
Our reporters visit STAR Translation Services, Dublin, to find out about life as a translator interviewing Damian Scattergood the companies managing director and language staff. http://www.star-ts.com

Listen to the interview podcast.

Program 2: Education
10.30am Wed May 30th –
Teachers from the reporters’ schools talk about teaching in both English and Irish speaking schools.

Program 3: Communications and Media
10.30am Thurs May 30th –
A visit to Stillwater Communications, Dublin, provides our reporters with an insight into how the Irish language thrives in the world of media
http://stillwater.ie/

Program 4: Promoting the Irish Language
10.30am Fri June 1st –
The Cá Bhfuil an Obair? team find out about the type of work opportunities available in promoting the Irish language as well as potential for careers in other areas using the Irish language.
“We are delighted to work with WDAR on this community project. Irish is still a thriving language and this series shows how the language is used in everyday life” said Damian Scattergood MD of STAR translation services.  “Irish is actually our 3rd more popular language to translate.”

You can find more details about the interview here >>> STAR Interview with WDAR RADIO Interview

You can also share this article to make the program known to your friends. We hope to have a lot of listeners on Tuesday to give us as many feedbacks as you can. We are always looking for improvement so you can leave a comment to give us your opinion about the interview or make any suggestions regarding translation.

Seanfhocail – Wise Old Irish Sayings
Here are a few Old Irish Sayings to help you learn more Irish.

Má tú ag lorg cara gan locht, béidh tú gan cara go deo.

If you are looking for a friend without a fault you will be without a friend forever.

Is minic cuma aingeal ar an Diabhal féin.

There is often the look of an angel on the Devil himself.

Dá fhada an lá tagann an tráthnóna.

However long the day, the evening will come.

Is minic a bhíonn ciúin ciontach.

The quiet one is often guilty.

Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin.

There’s no hearth like your own hearth.

STAR Translation Services provides translation services in ober 40 languages including Irish. If you need any document, website or manual translation contact us at STAR and we will be please to help your business growth.

STAR Translation Services

On Friday 30th, March, Damian Scattergood and Phil Guthrie from STAR Translation were interviewed by students with WDAR 96fm Radio. The podcast is available.They talked about Irish, Translation and Jobs in Translation for the show ‘Cá Bhfuil an Obair?’. Lauren and Amy asked us a number of interesting questions about working in the translation sector such as:

• What jobs are available in translation?
• What skills translators need to have?
• To what extent is Irish important to our business?
• How do I learn about Irish for translators?
• How do I get a job in a translation company like STAR?

We were very impressed by their confidence and the quality of the interview. Then we did our best to answer all of their questions both in Irish an English. The radio program will be broadcast in the coming weeks as part of ‘Cá Bhfuil an Obair?’ program series. We will let you know when it will be on air so you can listen in.

Here are some photos that we took with Amy and Lauren. Thanks to them for coming to STAR and we look forward to hearing the final version of the interview. Good Luck to Amy and Lauren!

By STAR Translation Services

We were also in Kerrykeel’s for St Patrick’s Day. Enjoy the video and photos of the parade – It is always good to share  happy memories and fun.

STAR provides technical translation services, website translation and document translation services. We are an ISO 9001:2008 Certified provider of language services. We will be please to help you to make grow your business.

For a translation quote call us +353 1 8365614.

STAR Translation Services
http://www.star-ts.com

This the “Irish Word of the Day” series for Irish Week (Seachtain Na Gaeilge) by STAR Translation Services.

How to say “Can I have a pint of Beer please?” in Irish
Patrick’s Day is coming soon so those sentences will be useful to some of you.

Damian Scattergood teaches you common Irish words and sentences. In this video we learn how to say “Can I have a pint of Beer please?” in Irish.

Each day, spread your love of the language : learn and use a few irish words. It is always nice to hear – even if you can only say “Hello” and “Goodbye”.

Have a look at our other Irish Word of the Day on YouTube and share them:

How to Say “Hello” in Irish

How to say “Goodbye” in Irish

How to say “How are you?” in Irish

How to say “Excuse me” in Irish

How to say “I don’t understand” in Irish

How to say “Please” in Irish

How to say “Thank You” in Irish

How to say “You are Welcome” in Irish

How to say: “Can I have a pint of Beer please?” in Irish

STAR Translation Services
http://www.star-ts.com

Abair Leat!

How to Learn Irish (and other languages)

As part of Seachteann na Gaeilge you might want to revise your Irish. Here are a few good tips to learn Irish and any other language.

1. Become Familiar with the language and its pronunciation

The best way is to listen to the radio and watch TV. You will find good TV channels to support you when learning. Watching the news or series and listening to radio shows while you are doing your daily work is also a time saving way to practice if you don’t have much time. We recommend:

-The programme “Bernard Dunne’s Bród” Club on RTE1 Monday (7.90pm)

-”Radio Rí Rá” is an online radio Station for young people that uses Irish. It’s also available as a free application if you have a smartphone.

– Radio WDAR 98.fm with Cá Bhfuil an Obair? radio Program http://wdar.ie/

2. Learn the Vocabulary

The average number of necessary words to speak in everyday life is about 400 to 1000. So you will have to take a while to learn them so that you will be able to use them to talk with anyone. When you become fluent you should be able to use the idioms of a language. To make it easier use Mnemonics to link words.

Use your imagination. So when you learn a new word the best way to memorize it is to have visualized it or even to create a short story with it.

The word serendipity which can’t really be translated in French by the way -“heureux hasard” can be related to Newton discovering the law of gravity. This example of discovery is in fact serendipity.

3. Practice the language

Join or create a conversation group to talk with on a regular basis. Learning a language is easier when using it every day. You will be surprised to see how fast you learn without even noticing the effort.

As suggested by Eoin, it is also a good idea to search YouTube for Irish language covers of pop songs. Try to find the Irish versions of your favorite songs.

4. Using the Internet

The internet is a wonderful source of content to find tools that can help when learning a language. So here is a useful list of indispensable websites that can help you to practice and improve your Irish.

-http://abairleat.kontain.com/ : The website is in Irish and you can learn and chat in Irish with the other website users. Good way to practice and to find support.

- http://www.rte.ie/easyirish/ : Learn by listening to MP3 audio file and studying conversations.

-http://www.bbc.co.uk/irish/features/8/gaeilge/ : The website is in Irish and provides various contents to learn Irish whatever your level in Irish is.

-http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/education/features/learn-irish-with-liam-o-maonlai-692551.html : Learn Irish with Liam O Maonlai thanks to its MP3 file and written content.

- Bitesize Irish http://www.bitesizeirishgaelic.com/ : This website offers content to learn and improve your irish.

-You can also listen to our Irish Word of the day videos on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/startranslation. and if you like them >> Share them!

If you know someone interested in learning Irish or some other languages share this article. If you know any other good websites to learn and practice Irish leave us a comment so we can add it to the list.

Irish word of the day series for Irish week (Seachtain Na Gaeilge) by STAR Translation Services.

How to say “Thank You” in Irish for Language Week.

Help spread the Irish language by sharing our videos on  Facebook.

As we are midway through Seachtain Na Gaeilge we thought we’d ask – just how popular is Irish?

STAR as a translation company we provide translation in over 45 languages including Irish from our offices here in Dublin 3.
We did an analysis of all our translation for 2011 and are happy to publish the results for our Irish readers.

Top 10 Languages 2011

As you might imagine our closest international neighbours are top with German and French being the most popular languages we translated last year.

Irish follows closely at number 3. Into English translation is number 4 (from various languages).

Our Japanese teams are kept very busy at number 5. Japanese is very specialised and the quality demand of the market is exceptionally high.

An interesting one in the mix is Swedish which comes in at number 8 in the list. Maybe this is the IKEA influence in Ireland.

By STAR Translation Services