Officials in Broward County, Florida, might need to enroll in some remedial Spanish classes.
TheSouth Florida Sun Sentinelis reportingthat school board and county office officials approved a Spanish translation of a ballot measure containing glaring errors.The English text of the measure, introduced by members of the school board back in July, asks voters to approve aproperty tax increaseto raise teacher salaries, hire school resource officers, and create new mental health resources for K-12 students. The measure would double the local property tax rate from a half-mill to one mill, meaning that Broward County would go from collecting $50 per $100,000 of taxable value in property values to $100.
The Spanish version, however, is riddled with direct translations of phrases and complete mistranslations that linguists and community leaders worry could confuse voters in a county where 30 percent of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino.
The mistakes were found by an Argentine-born Broward County resident and reader of theSun Sentinel, who contacted the paper after noticing that while the measure in English called for an increase in the property tax rate to "one mill," the term was translated into "one million" on the Spanish ballot, which he saw as ambiguous in the context of the amendment.
In his view, "one million" could easily mean "a million dollars split up among millions of residents" and would therefore be "irrelevant for voters," the resident told theSun Sentinel. "Or maybe [the school district is] trying to raise $1 million. You can interpret that many ways," hecontinued.
The "one mill" tax increase was not the only thing lost in translation. Additional analysis from theSun Sentinelfound even more errors. For one, the ballot text mistranslates school resource officers. Rather than indicating that school resource officers are armed law enforcement officials stationed at schools, the Spanish text describes them as administrative figures at schools that coordinate resources. It also translates "essential instruction" to "essential expenditures."
The school district and the Supervisor of Election's Office have blamed each other for the mistake. To translate ballot measures into Spanish, asrequiredunder the Voting Rights Act, the Broward elections office turned to a third-party translation company to produce the ballot texts. However, election officials have maintained that the school board ultimately signed off on the translated versions. No issues were found in the Creole translation also commissioned by the county's elections office.
Hispanic leaders in Broward were quick to voice their frustration with county officials for approving such a poor translation. "The seriousness of this situation cannot be understated," the Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Broward said in a statementpostedlast night on Facebook. "We perceive this as a lack of respect and voter disenfranchisement when voting information is not made properly and publicly."
These claims are not without merit. Many residents who speak Spanish or Creole as their first languages depend on translated ballot text to make sense of the complex, jargon-filled language often included in ballot measures and constitutional amendments. And this isn't the first time mistranslations have raised concerns in the county. Back in 2016, Broward's election office sparked confusion when itbotchedthe Creole translation of a county sales tax measure; the voters were given the option to mark "YES/SI/WI," meaning "YES/YES/NO."
This latest linguistic flop has led to concerns that the unclear language of the ballot measure translation may lead some Spanish-speaking residents to vote for a property tax increase they might have otherwise rejected, had the contents of the measure been more clearly worded.
Essence Translations is a boutique vendor with an uncompromising commitment to quality and focus on our core targets of collaboration and service where client relationships come first.
At Essence Translations, we don’t just love language – we love people. There’s a message, story, and deeper meaning behind every piece of content, and we work hard to translate the heart of the text.
Our team offers English to Spanish and Portuguese translation for all markets, including:
Latin American Spanish (all countries)
US Spanish
Neutral Spanish
European Spanish
Brazilian Portuguese
European Portuguese
Our translation services cover a wide variety of industries, but medical and scientific translation are two of our specialties. Our team excels with healthcare translations for the life science industry, and we’re passionate about making high-quality medical writing more accessible for Spanish and Portuguese-speaking audiences.
Scientific and medical translations require a specialized skillset, and we’re always excited by a challenge! Our HIPAA-compliant translation services cover a wide range of content types, including:
Life sciences
Pharmaceutical and biotech
Health insurance
Health and wellness
Medical devices
Government health agencies
Our solutions are also available for projects and companies outside of the life science industry. As your full-service translation partner, we can also help with content in the following industries:
Information technology
Advertising and marketing
Tourism and travel
Business and finance
Technical writing
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Adapting language for global audiences requires finesse, precision, and localized insight. Our Spanish and Portuguese translators are all native speakers, and we have built an interconnected, remote team that spans the globe.
We infuse the flavor and essence of language into our work for crystal-clear translations that cross cultural and linguistic barriers.
Style, structure, tone, and grammar… every detail matters.
Among our solutions, you can find:
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Over the past decade, Essence Translations has cemented their reputation for human-centered service and impeccable quality. We bring a morehumanapproach to business.
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The Essence Translations team works remotely across two continents, but that doesn’t impact our commitment to customer service. We’re a tight-knit, collaborative team, and we can’t wait to hear about your next translation project.
‘Got any ’ose?’ asked my husband, falling into his Two Ronnies ‘Four Candles’ routine, in which he likes to play not only the shopkeeper but also the customer, with disastrous results. In both the pantyhose and the garden hose in the sketch, the hose was originally the same word.
Hose meant the leggings or trousers our Germanic forefathers wore. In some contexts it long retained the archaic plural hosen. When Nebuchadnezzar in his rage commanded Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to be thrown into the burning fiery furnace, they were bound ‘in their coats, their hosen, and their hats’, according to the translation of 1611. In the pleasantly named A Pisgah-sight of Palestine (Pisgah referring to the summit of Mount Nebo from which Moses saw the Promised Land), written during the Civil War while waiting for things to get better, which they didn’t, Thomas Fuller explains that ‘by hosen we understand not stockins, but breeches’, which he thought Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego wore for warmth, ‘Babylon, being somewhat a more northern climate, and colder countrey then Iudea.’ Perhaps.
In a Latin glossary from about 1100, hose is the translation of caliga, the sandal-boot worn by Roman infantrymen, who gave the name Caligula (‘bootikins’) to the little boy who, aged 24, came to be emperor, resenting his nickname as a dishonour.
In the 14th century, to hose meant to provide a man with hose. Francis Thynne, the Elizabethean editor of Chaucer, noted that his name was French, ‘in Englishe signyfyinge one who shueth or hooseth a manne’.
As for ban, it began as the name for a proclamation or summons to arms. Later it applied to the proclamation of an excommunication and, with the conventional spelling banns, a formal notice of marriage. The ban on hosepipes falls in the same category in the OED as ‘a ban on the flesh of the horse as the food of Christian men’. The dictionary hasn’t got round to treating a hosepipe ban as a discrete thing, though the phrase crops up in its pages in a quotation illustrating the use of water company. I’m afraid there will be far more references in future to hosepipe bansthan to horseflesh bans.
KAMPALA, August 10 (Reuters) - Ugandan IT student Andrew Njuki spent years hunched over English-language textbooks, often grappling with material that would have been easier to grasp in his mother tongue Luganda.
As of May, the 27-year-old has been able to copy-paste his online teaching materials into Alphabet Inc's Google translation service and read them directly in Uganda's official language Luganda, spoken by millions across the east African country but not taught in schools.
"To understand something better you need to first understand it in your mother tongue," said Njuki, who also finds the service handy for surfing the internet and social media.
It is not perfect, he said, he rates it around 60% for quality and 65% for accuracy. But it is a start.
Translation and language-learning giants like Google and DuoLingo are expanding language databases available online, in a push to widen representation and reduce bias in artificial intelligence systems.
Isaac Caswell, a research scientist at Google Translate, said for speakers of minority languages "it can feel like the world of tech is ignoring you." Online translation "is a very important signal to show that we do care about you," he added.
Luganda is among 24 languages added to Google Translate in May, with others from sub-Saharan Africa, India and South America. There are now 23 African languages on the platform, accounting for 17% percent of the total.
DuoLingo, which includes eight under-represented languages out of 40 on offer, is working to add Zulu and Xhosa - spoken by 20 million people mainly in South Africa - later this year.
Kampala resident Hussain Bharmal, originally from India, struggled to find resources to study Luganda, and believes the instant translations on his phone will help to bridge that gap.
"When you speak someone's language you get the keys to their heart," said the web developer. (Reporting by Francis Mukasa and Sofia Christensen; Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Alexandra Hudson)
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Microsoft Edge lets you do a lot of cool stuff while surfing the web, whether on your smartphone or on your PC. For instance, you can play a game of Surf while offline, share files between your devices, and have Edge read aloud to you, among others.
But did you also know that Edge can translate websites into different languages? In this article, you’ll learn all you need to know about translating webpages with Microsoft Edge.
How to Translate Websites in Microsoft Edge on a Desktop
Thanks to its built-in translation engine, the newer versions of Microsoft Edge can easily and automatically translate websites both on desktop and on the mobile app. You can pick a language from the dozens of languages supported by the Microsoft Edge translator.
Here’s how to translate a foreign language website when using Edge on a desktop computer.
First, ensure that your Edge browser is up-to-date. We've covered how to update your Microsoft Edge browser.
Open the foreign language website that you want to translate. For this demonstration, we’ll be translating the contents of a Spanish website into English.
If you’re using the latest Microsoft Edge browser, you’ll be automatically prompted to translate the website to the default language of your Edge browser or your Windows system. In this case, that’ll likely be English.
If that fails, simply click on the Translation button nestled between the Favorites and Read Aloud icons.
Going forward, if you want Edge to automatically translate all foreign language websites to English, then check the Always translate webpages from XYZ box, where XYZ is the foreign language you're translating from.
Now, you should see the options to translate the page. Click on Translate.
The page will be automatically translated within the same window. There are currently more than 78 different languages to choose from in the Microsoft Edge translator.
How to Translate Websites in Microsoft Edge on Mobile
If you use the Microsoft Edge mobile app, you can also enjoy Edge’s translation feature. To translate a foreign language website on the Edge mobile app:
Update your Edge browser if you haven’t already. Learn how to update your Microsoft Edge mobile app.
Now, go to the foreign language website you want to translate.
You’ll automatically receive a translation prompt at the bottom of your screen. Tap on the three dots button to your right to view more menu options.
Here, you can add more languages, adjust your translation settings, or report the page as showing the wrong language.
Just like the desktop browser, the Microsoft Edge mobile app also supports 70+ different languages, ranging from Afrikaans to Welsh.
How to Manage Your Language Translation Preferences in Microsoft Edge
You can also manage how translation works in Microsoft Edge by changing a few key settings in your browser's language manager. For instance, you can configure Microsoft Edge to:
Translate different websites into different languages.
Always translate a particular website into a particular language for all your visits.
Never translate a particular website into a particular language for all your visits.
Never translate a particular website or language.
Always translate all websites into a particular language for all visits.
Never translate any website into a particular language.
There are two easy ways to do this, on desktop and on the mobile app. On desktop, go to the foreign language website you want to translate, go to the Translator dialog box and click Not now.
On the Edge mobile app, open the foreign language website that you want to translate, tap on the three dots button, and select your translation preferences.
Managing Your Translator Settings in Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge also allows you to tweak your translator settings directly from your browser settings. Here’s how:
Launch Microsoft Edge on your desktop.
Click on the three dots menu button (More actions) in the top-right corner.
Scroll all the way down and click on Settings.
In the left-side pane, click on Languages.
To add languages not listed under your “Preferred languages”, click on Add languages. If you can't find the language you need, here's how to add language packs to Windows 10.
Select from the options presented, or use the Search box to search for the particular language you want to add.
Click Add when done. Any language you add this way will appear under your "Preferred languages". Note that foreign language websites that you visit will be translated into the first language listed under your "Preferred languages".
To change your preferred language in Edge, make sure to add it to your list of Preferred languages, as described above.
Then click on the three dots (More actions) button to the right of the language.
Click on Display Microsoft Edge in this language. The selected language will now become your preferred language in Edge.
It is this language that Edge will translate foreign language websites into by default. This can be different from your preferred language in your Windows operating system.
You can also ask Edge to stop offering to translate foreign language pages that are not in a language you read or understand by simply turning off the Offer to translate pages that aren’t in a language I read toggle switch.
If you leave this setting on by default, Microsoft Edge will automatically transmit the content of a page written in a language that is not in your “Preferred languages” list to the Microsoft Translator service for translation.
Browse in Your Preferred Language With Microsoft Edge
With Microsoft Edge's translation feature, not only can you browse a website in your preferred language, but you can also have it read aloud to you in any supported language.
Although the Microsoft Edge translator does a decent job of translating websites, like all machine learning models, it also has its limitations. Therefore, if you're working on an academic paper, for instance, you may want to cross-check your translations with an actual native speaker.
That being said, the Microsoft Edge browser is no doubt a feature-rich and capable browser. Like most modern browsers, it is also built on the Chromium platform but can give Chrome a run for its money.
Investing in a translation management software solution is the best approach to localizing your content, product communications, and service offerings. With a strong localization strategy, your content and user experience will reflect and effectively communicate your brand internationally.
With our top 5 best translation project management software picks, you can easily interact with different customers in their native language in a voice that feels comfortable and familiar.
What Is Translation Management?
There are several circumstances when communication might fail, or misunderstandings could occur throughout the translation process. But a competent translation management software solution will help project managers take appropriate measures to minimize mishaps.
Translation management platforms help teams reduce complexity when adding, editing, and managing translations. It also helps you manage team resources to complete and execute the project effectively.
What Does a Translation Management System Do?
Suppose your business is expanding. To reach international customers effectively, you need to localize your assets so that they can connect with your brand.
However, managing several distinct languages and dialects is challenging when translating a large text volume using traditional methods. Thankfully, a translation management system can help in organizing and managing translated content and assets.
How to Choose the Right Translation Management System
When it comes to translation management solutions, there are several options using the DIY method, files-based methods, or rapid plug-and-play translation solutions, in which text is translated via an API.
To help you make the right choice for your business, we have compiled a list of the best translation management software solutions on the market, along with their key benefits and differentiators.
#1 Localize
Localize is a cloud-based Translation Management System (TMS) that helps companies grow globally with multilingual content.
(Photo : Localize)
Simply place Localize on your site or web app in just a few clicks. From there, their translation management system will handle the rest. Besides that, they also provide automated workflows, real-time content identification, and a collaborative interface that reduces turnaround times by up to 66%.
More than that, you may leverage Localize for Documents with human translations to keep your localization approach consistent and personalized across channels. This allows you to simply request translations from your dashboard without requiring any file transfer. You can also utilize Localize for Subtitles, Web and Mobile applications, Emails, and E-commerce to make your content reach a worldwide audience and give a high-quality, high-impact multimedia experience.
Overall, Localize provides all-in-one solutions for increasing productivity and ensuring quality in your localization efforts. It makes your time-to-market 66% faster while decreasing your spending on developer resources.
Features
Content and Translation Management: Localize simplifies content recognition and translation management by utilizing modern technologies. You'll be able to reach new markets fast and efficiently with automatic content discovery and delivery systems combined with smart translation management. Advanced processes, translation memory, content optimization, sophisticated reporting tools, and convenient website modification are also available, eliminating the need for a developer.
(Photo : Localize)
Team Collaboration: The Localize dashboard allows team members to easily collaborate no matter where they are in the world. Simply configure team roles, access, and permissions so that each member only sees what is necessary to them. You can then empower your staff to manage workloads and translations with ease.
Translation Options: Localize lets you invite your own translators or choose from multiple machine and human translation providers. It is extensively linked with the leading language service providers in the business, allowing you to place and receive translation orders directly from the dashboard.
Translation Tools: When translating for a new target audience, Localize provides you with a comprehensive set of tools to govern and control the style, tone, and voice of your message. This translation management software gives you access to an intuitive editor, proofing, revision history, glossary terms, brand guide, and an in-context editor.
Marketing Tools: Localize boosts your worldwide growth efforts with easy international SEO tools, comprehensive reporting, and multiple project types, including Localize For Emails, to help take your marketing strategy to the next level. With Localize, you can optimize your content across target languages and channels while gaining critical insight into visitor actions and language data.
Ongoing Maintenance: Project maintenance is easy with Localize's simple, anyone-can-manage translation workflows, a variety of available integrations, and powerful automation tools.
Security and Compliance: Localize commits to industry-standard security measures to preserve and secure your data. It complies with the EU General Data Protection Regulation, HIPAA. It also has a SOC 2 Type II audit and adheres to more stringent security laws.
Localize simplifies the translation process by eliminating the need to relocate files. With its cloud-based solution, you can pull in content, translate and publish your translations in under an hour. It also automatically pulls new content into your dashboard to be translated, ensuring everything is up to date without needing additional development resources.
Furthermore, you have access to all the resources you need to guarantee that your translation project is of high quality, including industry-leading customer support, powerful workflow tools, a wide variety of integrations, SEO tools, and much more.
Benefits
Automatically pulls in content, publishes translations for websites and web apps, and provides smart automation for projects like documents, subtitles, and email translation.
It has a fully collaborative team dashboard.
There are no developer resources needed to install or manage the translation process.
Localize is always on, identifying and pulling in new content automatically anytime a change is made.
Localize syncs with your tools, from GitHub to WordPress, to make translation simple, seamless, and worry-free.
Available for a variety of use cases, including websites, web apps, mobile applications, documents, subtitles, and emails.
Provide multilingual experiences in a timely and effective manner. Reduce time-to-market by two-thirds by adding a piece of code to your website. Simply let the most efficient technique translate web pages, and the apps will do the work for you.
Head to localizejs.com and instantly learn how to transform any translation difficulty into a straightforward, automated localization approach for your business.
#2 Transifex
Transifex is a translation project manager that makes it easy to translate all of your digital material, from basic websites to sophisticated virtual content. This translation management software includes a robust web editor for live collaborations and can be integrated with your preferred computer-assisted tools.
(Photo : Screenshot from Transifex Official Website)
It contains Translation Memory and MT, which help prevent repetitive translations, in addition to the ability to manage your teams, collaborate, measure progress, and establish Translation checks. You can also add review phases and leverage context features to increase translation quality. Then, remain on top of your work by receiving notifications about your translation projects.
The most significant advantage of Transifex is the ability to make localization a continuous and automated task. With this feature, you may save technical time by automating routine operations and releasing translated content concurrently with the development cycle. Then, you can simply obtain statistics and reports on the number of words, un-transcribed words, open problems, and other topics.
Key Features and Benefits
Automatically processes localization projects
Offers collaborative tools for your team
Workflow and process management
It comes with built-in linguistic tools
It integrates with your tech stack
Get comprehensive reports on your localization projects
#3 Phrase
Phrase is another low-cost yet quality translation project management software. Essentially, this translation management system fits the role if you want to give a translation system a shot using a user-friendly interface and capabilities.
(Photo : Screenshot from Phrase Official Website)
Phrase's word base, translation memory, built-in editor, autocomplete, and other tools are particularly designed to increase your translation quality and consistency. Their translation editor was aimed to support you in managing translations efficiently and with as much context and guidance as possible.
Because of its easy-to-use translation editor, translation quality, and other features, Phrase identifies itself as the most dependable translation management software. In particular, its smart automation capabilities facilitate growth through developer tools, API, and CLI integration tools.
In terms of integration, it offers a variety of options, including API, over-the-air, GitHub, and GitLab sync. All of these are done so that Phrase can be simply integrated into your workflow. Their API is intended to be compatible with all software localization methods. With it, you can quickly import and download locale files and engage with the localization data contained in Phrase in various ways.
Key Features and Benefits
Translation editor and quality features for better project management
Smart automation capacities
Comprehensive project management translation
Supports a number of popular localization formats
Designed to improve your translation quality
Lets you optimize the interface for your staff
#4 Smartling
You can reach worldwide consumers/audiences in their native language by automating and managing content localization across all devices and platforms with Smartling's translation agency management software. You can even provide omnichannel brand experiences to help with worldwide expansion.
(Photo : Screenshot from Smartling Official Website)
With this translation management system, you can ease the complexity of maintaining multilingual material at scale. Centralize your language assets on a single platform, link seamlessly with your existing tech stack, and have direct access to Smartling's professional translation network.
Smartling's strategy is software-driven and supported by professional language solutions. Therefore, expect that you won't just simplify the localization process but also scale the management of a multilingual content pipeline.
Furthermore, it also helps companies expedite translation projects and accelerate time to market by providing visual context, quality assurance, and other productivity applications to provide you real-time insight throughout the translation process. You can also localize your material throughout devices and platforms to make your omnichannel presence feel local at all times.
Key Features and Benefits
End-to-end translation management backed by professional language services
Provides quality checks, visual content, and productivity features
Localize all your content across different social media channels
#5 WPML
WPML's Multilingual CMS and Agency includes translation management functionality that allows you to sign up translators for your site, select which material to translate, and manage all translation tasks. This translation management works like a charm if you opt to translate your entire site automatically.
(Photo : Screenshot from WPML Official Website)
You can translate the site yourself using WPML. Individual translators can be added and language pairings assigned. Make contact with a reputable translation provider, or choose to set up a Translation Manager. Take note, though, that users designated as translators can also evaluate automated translations should you opt to use the Translate Everything option to localize your whole site.
Typically, you will provide information to be translated using the Translation Management Dashboard. However, there are situations when you need to translate material that does not belong on a given page. Typically, translated material will have similar media as the original content. You can use the WPML Media Translation add-on to specify alternative media for translations.
Key Features and Benefits
Lets you translate your site yourself or have it translated by a professional
Examine the text you're submitting for translation and decide who will translate it
Access translation management dashboard to oversee site localization
Translate media embedded on your website
If you wish to deliver content worldwide, you have to meet with various languages. Sure, there's a legacy method to do that. But keeping track of all your translations and keeping them up to date throughout your whole repertoire could be challenging.
Translational management software automates your workflow, allowing you to identify translations quickly. It also adds modern mechanisms that assist you in updating current translations.
Whether you're dealing with small or big projects, we recommend translation management systems like Localize and Transifex. Phrase and Smartlings are both excellent low-cost solutions. Then if you're searching for something more particular, WPML is a good option.
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