USING INTERPRETERS, TRANSLATORS,
You may encounter business situations that require using an interpreter
(for spoken communication) or a translator (for written communication).
Interpreters and translators can be expensive, but skilled professionals provide invaluable assistance for communicating in other cultural contexts. 60 Keeping up with current language usage in a given country or culture is also critical in order to avoid embarrassing blunders. For example, the marketing agency Landor Associates usually engages three native-language speakers to review translated materials to make sure the sense of the message is compatible with current usage and slang in a given country. 61 Some companies use back-translation to ensure accuracy.
Once a translator encodes a message into another language, a diff erent translator retranslates the same message into the original language. Th is back-translation is then compared with the original message to discover any errors or discrepancies.
Th e time and cost required for professional translation has encouraged the development of machine translation , any form of computerized intelligence used to translate one language to another. Dedicated soft ware tools and online services such as WorldLingo ( www.worldlingo.com ) off er various forms of automated translation. Major search engines let you request translated versions of the websites you fi nd. Although none of these tools can translate as well as human translators, they can be quite useful with individual words and short phrases, and they can oft en give you the overall gist of a message.
Everyone can contribute to successful intercultural communication. Whether a younger person is unaccustomed to the formalities of a large corporation or a colleague from another country is working on a team with you, look for opportunities to help people fi t in and adapt their communication style. For example, if a nonnative English speaker is making mistakes that could hurt his or her
(for spoken communication) or a translator (for written communication).
Interpreters and translators can be expensive, but skilled professionals provide invaluable assistance for communicating in other cultural contexts. 60 Keeping up with current language usage in a given country or culture is also critical in order to avoid embarrassing blunders. For example, the marketing agency Landor Associates usually engages three native-language speakers to review translated materials to make sure the sense of the message is compatible with current usage and slang in a given country. 61 Some companies use back-translation to ensure accuracy.
Once a translator encodes a message into another language, a diff erent translator retranslates the same message into the original language. Th is back-translation is then compared with the original message to discover any errors or discrepancies.
Th e time and cost required for professional translation has encouraged the development of machine translation , any form of computerized intelligence used to translate one language to another. Dedicated soft ware tools and online services such as WorldLingo ( www.worldlingo.com ) off er various forms of automated translation. Major search engines let you request translated versions of the websites you fi nd. Although none of these tools can translate as well as human translators, they can be quite useful with individual words and short phrases, and they can oft en give you the overall gist of a message.
Everyone can contribute to successful intercultural communication. Whether a younger person is unaccustomed to the formalities of a large corporation or a colleague from another country is working on a team with you, look for opportunities to help people fi t in and adapt their communication style. For example, if a nonnative English speaker is making mistakes that could hurt his or her