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At some point in your life, you may have used a translation app to convert words or phrases into a foreign language quickly. Some of the best translation apps available today can translate text from a photo using your phone's camera, offer real-time voice translation, or even allow offline translation without an internet connection. Popular options like Google Translate, iTranslate, DeepL Translator, and Microsoft Translator are commonly found on both Android and iOS devices, including iPhones, iPads, and the Chrome browser. While these tools can be convenient, they’re not foolproof, especially when accuracy, security, and cultural sensitivity matter most. The technology behind these applications is Machine Translation (MT). While MT has come a long way, it’s still far from perfect. For sensitive use cases, like healthcare, government, or legal communications, translation apps may do more harm than good. Below, we’ll explore five key problems with even the best language translation apps, along with a comparison between free apps and professional translation services. Even the best translation apps come with hidden limitations that can pose serious risks when accuracy and confidentiality are essential. In this section, we’ll take a closer look at the most common pitfalls of relying on translation apps, especially in high-stakes settings. You’ll also gain clarity on when it’s time to shift from automated tools to professional human translation services to ensure quality, compliance, and trust. Machine Translation lacks human intuition. A person can understand context, pronoun references, tone, sarcasm, or nuance—technology cannot. For instance, if you say, “Yes, but no… I mean, yes and no—it’s complicated,” a human gets the ambiguity. But apps like Google Translate or Apple Translate will likely miss your point entirely. Translation functions in these apps are often literal. If you're translating for multilingual audiences in critical settings, such as patient instructions, election ballots, or legal documents, literal translations without context can be dangerous. Even the best translation app is only as good as its dataset. Translation apps aren’t known for producing high-quality translations. Many translation apps request user feedback to create better translations, but users submit many different ways to translate the same content. Again, what’s missing is context. To have an accurate, high-quality translation, you need to know why the document is being translated and to whom the materials will be delivered. Without human review, these tools can misinterpret different languages, leading to errors in text translation, voice translation, or camera translation. When accuracy is non-negotiable, like in medical consents or public safety communications, you need more than an app. You need a Language Service Provider (LSP) who ensures linguistic precision. Free translation apps often store or share user data. Tools like Immersive Translate, Translator Go, or even well-known ones like Google Translate may log or analyze what you input. That’s fine for translating "Where’s the bathroom?"...but perhaps not for a patient’s cancer diagnosis. For organizations bound by laws like HIPAA, FERPA, or Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, this is a serious liability. Part of finding the right  Language Service Provider (LSP) is understanding how they keep your confidential data safe. LSPs host their servers in secure data centers and have procedures to ensure that protected information is encrypted. Free translation apps don’t provide this level of safety. If you’re translating information that is confidential in any manner, you should use a human translator or professional translation service to ensure the information stays protected. Using a translation app to save money on translation rarely works. LSPs often spend more time and effort fixing poor machine translations than starting from scratch. What seems like a shortcut can derail your project timeline and increase cost. If you're trying to save on high-volume documents, such as public health flyers or legal disclaimers, speak to your LSP about MT with Human-in-the-Loop quality assurance instead of relying on free tools. Poor translations hurt your reputation. If you don’t know the language you’re translating to, you may end up with a translation failure rather than a usable message. When public-facing content is mistranslated, it can lead to confusion, mistrust, or even legal consequences. If you’re a school district misrepresenting an IEP, a hospital mistranslating discharge instructions, or a government agency publishing faulty election instructions, the stakes are too high for guesswork. Professional Tip: Free translation apps like Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, or DeepL are great for tourists and informal situations. But when accuracy, data security, and cultural nuance matter, such as in elections, patient care, or civil services, working with a professional LSP is the best choice. Some of the most popular and reliable translation apps include Google Translate, iTranslate, DeepL, and Microsoft Translator. These apps work well for informal needs, such as quick travel phrases or social communication, and many offer features like camera translation, voice translation, and offline translation. No. Free translation apps are generally not HIPAA-compliant or secure enough for confidential use. They may store your data or use it to train AI. For healthcare, government, or legal translation, it's essential to work with a professional language service provider. It's strongly discouraged. While Google Translate can provide a rough idea of a message, it not only may lack contextual accuracy and legal reliability, but it also breaks confidentiality or HIPAA regulations. Schools and hospitals should use certified translation professionals who understand legal frameworks like IDEA, ADA, and Title VI. Many users have asked this as AI-based translation tools grow. While AICool and similar apps might be safe for general use, they are not recommended for translating sensitive or regulated content. Always vet your tools before using them in official contexts. Translation apps offer automated, one-size-fits-all translations based on algorithms. An LSP (Language Service Provider) delivers human-reviewed, culturally sensitive translations that meet industry regulations. LSPs also offer interpretation, localization, and quality assurance that apps cannot. If you want high-quality, confidential, and accurate translations, free translation apps won’t work for you. You need a trusted partner. At Avantpage, we’ve spent nearly 30 years helping government agencies, healthcare providers, school districts, and nonprofits build effective language access strategies. Call us today at (530) 750-2040 or request a free quote.

Translation services have more impact than you may realize. From translating election ballots to translating healthcare documents, these services provide access to vital information for Limited English Proficient populations. However, the need for mental healthcare translation services is not discussed as often. More and more, people are discussing mental health in public forums, such as social media, and normalizing what used to be a taboo topic. As a result, seeking mental healthcare is becoming more commonplace. We are beginning to recognize that mental health is as important as physical health when it comes to healthcare. With this recognition, it’s also important to identify how to improve the efficacy of mental healthcare through mental healthcare translation services. Translation services make documents more accessible to Limited English Proficient consumers in any industry. To actively and successfully support those who need mental health services, healthcare organizations need to reach LEP individuals in their native language. If your healthcare organization’s patient demographics include those with native languages other than English, translating your documents will help you effectively reach and serve these individuals. Millions of migrants flee their countries every year in search of a new home where they are safe and free from persecution. These migrants have been through varying traumatic experiences, from leaving the places they grew up to violent acts being perpetrated against them. These people need mental health services, but may not be able to access them in English. Reaching this population requires high-quality, culturally sensitive translation services. A person’s culture impacts how likely they are to accept mental health services. Studies show that individuals are more likely to accept mental health services if it is deemed “culturally appropriate” to do so in their community. One way to improve cultural acceptance of mental health services is translation. If you reach Limited English Proficient communities in their native language with culturally sensitive information, they’re more likely to seek mental health services when they need them. Advocating for the continued acceptance of mental healthcare is a big task. Translating the messages you use for advocacy helps you to be a better advocate. You will reach a broader audience and improve the public image of your advocacy. Mental healthcare translation services allow more people to engage with your message and increase the likelihood that they will positively receive the message as well. If you face the public with information that is accessible to all people, your message will spread faster and more effectively. If you’re interested in learning more about how translation services benefit mental health professionals, call us today at (530) 750-2040, or request a free quote.

Here’s a false cognates pop quiz: If you say “Estoy embarazada,” are you telling someone that you’re embarrassed, or that you’re pregnant? How about your Portuguese friend tells you “Me peidei!” Is this person telling you it’s payday! Or that you may want to move to another part of the room since he or she has just passed gas? If you chose “pregnant” and “passed gas,” then you’ve identified the perils of false cognates. False cognates are pairs of words that sound or look the same (sometimes even identical) but have very different meanings. Linguists will sometimes call these words False Friends, which comes from the longer phrase “false friends of the translator” coined in 1928 by two French linguists. These words are also sometimes called deceptive words, treacherous twins or belles infidèles (unfaithful beautiful women). The term “false friends” is actually a broader category that includes false cognates, and refers to any pair of lookalike words from two languages that don’t have the same definition. The short answer to this question is that it shouldn’t if you’re using a professional Language Services Provider (such as Avantpage). A professional translator would usually not make a fundamental mistake such as confusing false cognates. When our translators adhere to important guidelines that guarantee high-quality translation, they always keep in mind the audience of the document. As a result, our translators and editors always consider your end-users and what false cognates may pertain to them. That being said, false cognates are sometimes very humorous! Here are some of our favorite examples of tricky false cognates. Those are just a few examples of some false cognates that can cause some confusion. But, if you’re using a professional Language Services Provider, you won’t have to worry about a thing.

Much of the news you’ve read in the past two weeks has probably concerned the issue of immigration. The detention of immigrant children, coupled with the upholding of the travel ban by the Supreme Court, has lead to incredibly distressing headlines. If you’re anything like the team at Avantpage, you may be wondering what you can do to support immigrants who are dealing with the consequences of these horrific actions. To help you make a difference, we’ve created a list of ways you can help these people who are only trying to pursue better, safer lives than those they have in their home countries. No matter your bandwidth, you can find something on this list that you can do to support immigrants.   Many immigrant-centered organizations are nonprofit and need monetary donations to continue the work they do. Here are some organizations you can donate to and support with your dollars: Many immigrant-focused organizations rely on volunteers to effectively support immigrant communities. These organizations typically need interpreters and legal professionals. On June 30, 2018, hundreds of thousands of people around the country marched to show support for immigrants and protest the separation of children from their parents. While this particular march has happened, there are many throughout the rest of the year that allow you to show support for immigrants. You can stay up-to-date on upcoming events through this link. Let the people who represent your area know that you will not stand for the separation of children from their families, and you will not stand for the mistreatment of immigrants as a whole. Standing up for immigrants can be as simple as publicly showing your support. Use social media posts to show your support. Write letters to immigrants. Join local activist groups. Start the hard conversations about immigration that need to be had. If you see someone harassing an immigrant, stop them, educate them. Stand up for your fellow human beings. There are many opportunities to get involved with helping immigrants in this time of dire need. Support those among us who are trying valiantly to find better lives than those they are leaving, support immigrants in any way you can. If you have alternate ideas, leave us a comment and we’ll add them to this list. Remember, we are a nation founded by immigrants. Without immigration, not a single one of us would be in the positions we are today. For more on immigration, how we support immigrants, and how you can support immigrants, read some of our other blog posts: Watch These 3 Powerful TED Talks About Immigration
Here’s One Way to Celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month
Celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month and Tell Your Story
Your Guide to 4 Organizations Impacting Immigration in a Big Way

At Avantpage, we can translate documents into more than 150 languages, but that work is a lot easier if we receive one of our preferred translation file types. What's a preferred translation file type? Simply put, it's an editable document that we can place a cursor in and click around and delete or add words. When we work with these translation file types, our team can work faster because they don’t have to recreate the document. Here’s a quick guide to some of the common translation file types we receive and how they affect our workflow. Text files are usually created in a program such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Pages, Notepad or TextEdit. Presentations created in PowerPoint or spreadsheets created in Excel would also fall into this category. These files are generally pretty easy to use for translation. It’s especially important to send us the original file of your document if it includes images or complicated charts, as this will allow us to edit the element directly. One quick note though—exporting or copy and pasting a PDF file back into a text document can often introduce errors or formatting issues that may require recreation. Graphics files are well, graphical! These translation file types include a photo with text on it, a chart, an illustration, a flyer, a multi-page pamphlet or even a book. The most important thing to know about these types of files is that sending an editable one for translation will not require recreation. For example, if you send an Adobe Indesign (.indd, .imdl), Adobe Illustrator (.ai) or Adobe Photoshop document (.psd), we can edit that file directly and create your translation. However, if you send a file that's "frozen" such as a picture (.jpg, .gif, .png, or .tif) or PDF (.pdf), our team at Avantpage will not be able to edit the document and will need to recreate it. While recreation can be an additional expense, the beauty of having it recreated is that you can update the document or translate it into another language very easily. If you need to translate an entire website, a series of blog posts or another type of web-based content, you may think that you need to copy and paste all of it into an editable text document. However, we have an easier way! At Avantpage, we can work on the backend of a website directly in the code. This can ensure additional accuracy and clarity for your project. While some of this language and acronyms can be very technical and specific, sending easy to work with translation file types ensures that your project can be done quickly and within budget. Translation File Types Checklist At Avantpage our experienced team can help guide you through the translation process and make it fast and easy—no matter the file type. To find out more about our services or to get a free quote, email us at [email protected] or call us at 1-530-750-2040, extension 11.

June is Immigrant Heritage Month in the United States. This is a time to celebrate being a nation founded by immigrants, and reflect on the nature of immigration and the stories we share about it. At Avantpage, we believe all immigrants deserve the ability to reach their American dream. Our team of employees is international, and many have stories about being immigrants or being the loved one of an immigrant. Sharing these immigration stories promotes visibility and open-mindedness, and there’s no better time to share them than during Immigrant Heritage Month. Here are some of the lessons our employees have learned by being an immigrant, or from those around them who are immigrants. Juliana was born in Colombia, immigrated to Canada for five years, and now lives in Mexico City. While it was challenging for her to leave her home country, especially with the long, harsh winters in Canada, she’s learned great lessons from being an immigrant. Her biggest joy in being an immigrant is getting to learn about new cultures, experiencing new people, and learning about how they live. The biggest lessons she’s taken away from her experiences is to appreciate her own culture and to find strength in being independent and taking care of herself. Vera immigrated from the Netherlands to Mexico. After participating in an exchange program in Mexico for school, she decided to indefinitely relocate to Mexico to pursue employment and perfect her Spanish. While she says her immigration went relatively smoothly, as she immediately found an employer willing to sponsor her in the visa application process, she found the paperwork and the bureaucracy to be the most challenging aspects of immigrating. She stressed that being an immigrant has allowed her to understand other cultures, and motivated her to reach for high levels of success. One of her biggest takeaways about being an immigrant is that no place is perfect; she works to enjoy the positive aspects of where she is and adapt to the local culture. Monika immigrated from Poland to Mexico. She originally intended to stay for only one year on a scholarship for school, but remained in Mexico City for an additional year and a half. While the process of immigrating for her went smoothly, she said it took quite a lot of time. She had to first obtain a visa, then a student card, then she went through the process of finding an employer to sponsor her work visa. Her biggest challenge as an immigrant was navigating cultural differences. She felt like she was always being treated as a tourist, and had to learn how to navigate new public transport systems and healthcare systems. Even though Mexico became a home to her, she struggled with feeling like nowhere was really “home.” While this was all challenging, she notes that it gave her an appreciation of her own culture that she did not have before. The experience also gave her a new view of herself, how adaptable she can be, and the internal strength she has. We’re sharing our employees' stories for Immigrant Heritage Month on our social media channels. Check out our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages to learn more about the immigrants on our team, and get more information on how we support immigrants striving to reach their American dream. For more on immigration, and how we support immigrants, read some of our other blog posts: Watch These 3 Powerful TED Talks About Immigration
Your Guide to 4 Organizations Impacting Immigration in a Big Way
My Immigrant Story – A Letter From Luis Miguel, CEO at Avantpage

About 20 percent of the United States population speaks a language other than English at home, and almost 9 percent of the population is defined as having Limited English Proficiency. And almost 100 percent of these people must interact with healthcare providers and insurers either in emergency situations or for routine care. For LEP individuals, language access is a critical part of accessing healthcare. A lack of language access can create barriers for LEP patients and their families, putting them at risk for complications and unnecessary expenses. Language access can also help or hurt a provider, hospital, or insurance's ability to provide the right care or coverage. Here are the many ways that limited language access can affect patients, healthcare providers, and insurance. LEP patients are almost twice as likely to suffer adverse events in U.S. hospitals, resulting in temporary harm or death, according to a pilot study by The Joint Commission. Another study reported that 52 percent of adverse events that occurred to LEP patients in U.S. hospitals were likely the result of communication errors and that nearly half of these events involved some physical harm. Lack of language services can cause increased use of expensive diagnostic tests, increased number and duration of emergency room visits, and a higher likelihood of intubation for children with asthma. Language barriers affect patient satisfaction and whether or not patients will return to a particular healthcare institution. Providers can also become frustrated with limited language access in a healthcare setting when they want to serve all patients equally and to the best of their abilities. Patients who face language barriers are less likely to have a usual source of medical care and to receive preventive services. They also have an increased risk of nonadherence to medication. In a Colorado study, LEP patients reported difficulty making appointments, including multiple phone transfers and frequent disconnections. The lack of qualified interpreters made them fearful of accessing care and prevented them from seeking the treatment they needed. Patients also said it was difficult to get accurate and timely information related to medication and access preventive care. Conversely, when LEP individuals receive language access resources in a healthcare setting, their quality of care and satisfaction increase. For example: When LEP patients receive medical language services, hospitals experience an increase in LEP patient engagement, an enhancement in LEP patient-provider communication, and improvements in LEP patient outcome. Patients who receive clear and concise information about their healthcare and well-being tend to be more actively engaged in their care plans, resulting in shorter lengths of stay and lower readmissions. The use of a qualified medical interpreter can lessen the length of an LEP patient's stay by almost a day, according to a study by the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health & Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Shorter stay lengths can improve LEP patient outcomes and significantly lower the cost of patient care for health systems. As a healthcare provider or insurance company, offering language access services that address the needs of LEP patients can increase access and quality of care while decreasing time, expense, and adverse events. At Avantpage, we can help your healthcare organization reach LEP populations and expand language access. To find out more about our services call us at 530-750-2040 x11, or request a free quote.

When you start working with a new Language Service Provider (LSP), it’s normal to have questions about data safety. Working with an LSP frequently means transmitting data that is confidential or protected. How can you be sure that your data is secure during transmission and in storage? The security of your information and your client’s information is a high concern for you and your LSP. At Avantpage, we follow best practices for data safety. Here’s what you should be looking for regarding data safety from any LSP. When you’re working with an LSP, one data safety concern is file protection, which is a multi-tiered concept. Your LSP’s servers should be top-of-the-line and hosted in a secure data center. Without this, any further encryption won’t be effective. Software and hardware firewalls should be implemented as well. These will prevent unauthorized access to the servers hosting your data. Finally, file level encryption should be implemented. If someone circumvented the software and hardware firewalls, file level encryption would prevent them from reading files on the server. At Avantpage, we host our servers in one of the most prominent data centers in the United States. Because we handle daily requests for translation of Protected Health Information (PHI), we follow all the above recommendations for data safety. The confidentiality of your data is maintained with firewalls, encryption, and secure servers. Because of these security measures, we’ve never experienced a data breach. To maintain data safety, your LSP needs to have trustworthy translators. There are many ways to go about hiring trustworthy translators. Our translators at Avantpage go through a rigorous qualification process to determine their translation quality and their professional conduct. Once they’ve been selected, they sign a variety of documents including a non-disclosure agreement, a formal HIPAA Business Associate contract, and our Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility.   An additional consideration for translators is ensuring they have a secure connection, as well as private space to work on translation projects. All communications with our translators go over encrypted SSL channels to ensure data safety. Access to translation files goes through an encrypted SSL channel, as well as second step authentication. We closely monitor the translators we choose to give PHI and/or other confidential information. When necessary, check-in points are set up with these translators to ensure they are maintaining our standards of confidentiality. Your LSP needs to have an encrypted system for hosting translation projects, having translators work on those projects, and delivering those projects back to you. It should be password protected and use a secure connection for transmitting the data to each project participant. We use AvantFlow to ensure your data is safe and transmitted securely. Our system is password protected with second-step authentication and uses SSL data transmission protocols. The system automatically encrypts any information sent through it, providing you with ease of mind. Your data safety is important, and your LSP should treat it that way. If you’d like to learn more about our data safety protocols at Avantpage, give us a call at 530-750-2040.

I sometimes talk to smaller organizations operating on grant money with tight budgets and documents that need to be translated. Because of financial constraints, these businesses or nonprofits try to save money, often by asking bilingual employees to help translate various documents. The obvious downside to giving translation responsibilities to a non-expert is quality. At Avantpage, our translators have gone through professional training and undergo a rigorous qualification process before they join the team. We look for linguists with a deep knowledge of both source and target languages and cultures. Bilingual employees will likely not have the same experience, education, or expertise of a professional translator. However, while some organizations have considered and rationalized accepting lower quality translations to save money, many have not weighed the other effects of this questionable practice. Here are four ways tasking a bilingual employee with translation responsibilities outside of their regular duties could affect your organization. Putting aside the fact that your in-house staff members are not professional linguists, translating a document or reviewing a translation is not in their job descriptions either. When you ask them to take time away from their primary responsibilities and translate, you’re distracting them from their actual job. The cost of this distraction can be more significant than you think. According to data from the U.S. Labor Department, employees can experience 50-60 interruptions each day. That’s an interruption every 8 minutes. After each interruption, it can take an employee 23 minutes to return to his or her original task, according to a study by the University of California, Irvine. There is a financial cost to these distractions—$10,375 per person, per year, according to Harmon.ie. Distractions also take their toll on your employees’ engagement and effectiveness. Harmon.ie’s research showed that 33% of employees had difficulty working and producing because of workplace distractions and 25% had no time to think deeply or creatively as a result. One in five workers found distractions caused information overload and 1 in 10 missed deadlines because of them. So, before you ask a bilingual employee to translate that flyer “real fast,” ask yourself what unaccounted costs you may be incurring. Sometimes, in-house staff isn’t responsible for translating a document. Instead, they are asked to review a translation completed by a professional Language Services Provider. While this may seem innocent enough, there are still ways this practice can cost your organization time and money. While your bilingual employees may have grown up speaking a language at home, that doesn’t mean they have the same linguistic expertise to understand specific grammar or cultural conventions. Therefore their edits or suggestions may actually hurt the accuracy of the translation created by a professional linguist. There’s also a subjectivity of language. Professional editors and proofers know how to identify when a translation is wrong versus when it is just not quite how they would say it. When in-house staff makes their edits based on subjective concerns, they can extend the translation process longer than necessary and introduce errors or inconsistencies. Finally, it’s doubtful that your in-house staff understands how to use some of the tools that a professional LSP uses for productivity, such as translation memory and glossaries. As a result, having them review a translation can take more time for an ultimately subpar product. If you need translations completed for a healthcare organization or another industry with strong regulations concerning privacy, asking a bilingual employee to translate sensitive information could be dangerous. For example, a medical translation project will need to comply with many standards simultaneously. To comply with the Joint Commission Standards and Healthcare Compliance Law, your organization must be able to communicate with a Limited English Proficient speaker in his or her own language. However, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) prohibits the unauthorized sharing of medical records and personally identifiable information without patient consent. While it is probable that any bilingual staff member is fully aware of HIPAA regulations, a professional Language Services Provider working under a BAA will have technical processes and safeguards in place to protect privacy and clarity equally. Assigning and compensating employees for “additional duties” may be illegal under the Equal Pay Act in some circumstances. For example, let’s say Sarah and Sam are both administrative assistants at your organization and that they both speak Spanish. Both have the same level of education, experience, base pay, and performance. But, Sarah receives a small bonus each month for translating documents. Seems fair, right? It’s not if Sam didn’t receive the same opportunity. According to HR Drive, pay differentials related to additional duties can cause pay disparity problems in many scenarios. More broadly, however, pay disparity issues — real or perceived — have serious implications for employee engagement and workplace culture. Considering these four factors, I strongly encourage organizations to avoid using bilingual employees to translate documents or review translations. While this may sound biased, coming from someone who works for an LSP, the data speaks for itself. By using bilingual employees to complete translation work, you expose your organization to costly mistakes. Is it really worth the risk? At Avantpage our experienced team can help guide you through the translation process and make it fast and easy. To find out more about our services call us at 1-530-750-2040 x11, or request a free quote today.

The language communities of your state impact how you think about translation projects. Looking toward elections season, it’s particularly important to identify the language communities that you serve. This can help you comply with legal regulations and engage more voters, which can lead to increased turnout and support. Florida has many unique language communities, each with its own needs for translation and communication. Here are five facts about Florida language communities that you should consider going into this election season. This piece of  2015 Census data shows that there are an incredible amount of languages and a wide variety of cultures to consider when working on a translation project. Almost three million people in the Miami metropolitan area alone are bilingual or multilingual. These facts emphasize the importance of being culturally aware when translating election materials. With such a large population speaking so many different languages, it’s important to maintain cultural sensitivity for each language community. This will help to engage voters more actively in the democratic process. While most people are aware of the active Spanish and Creole communities in Florida, few people know of the French community. As of 2017, 114,000 people speak French in their Florida homes. With French being such a pervasive language in Florida, it’s important to consider the needs of this language community when translating election materials. There are many French dialects, so you’ll need to research which dialects people speak in your area. Reaching these voters in their native or chosen language of French will help you build a trusting relationship. This may not seem like a high percentage, but it is significant! If you don’t have a strategy to reach LEP voters, now is the time to develop one. LEP voters have specific translation and communication needs. To reach LEP voters, focus on what they want to hear about, and consider how you can deliver those messages. If you need a starting point for strategizing, these four questions can help you reach LEP voters! Florida’s language communities are more varied than you might think. In 2013, 86,000 people spoke Portuguese, 70,000 people spoke German, 60,000 people spoke Vietnamese, and 58,000 people spoke Chinese. When you’re translating election material, be sure to research which communities are prevalent in your area. If you find that a portion of your community’s population speaks one or more of these languages, plan to translate accordingly. There are two federally recognized Native American tribes in Florida, the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians. There are also three other tribes in Florida, the Muscogee Nation of Florida, the Perdido Bay Tribe of Lower Muscogee Creeks, and the Choctaw Nation of Florida. When translating election materials, make sure to reach these tribes effectively. Consider if the messaging and language speaks to the concerns and culture of these communities. Your voter turnout rates can increase as a result. With such diverse language communities, it’s important for Florida elections professionals to strategize and plan translation projects effectively. If you don’t know where to start, give us a call at 530-750-2040, or request a free quote today!

Emojis get a lot of credit and take a lot of criticism. These iconic graphic symbols (don’t confuse them with emoticons) are either ruining civilization or represent the future of communication. A string of these contemporary hieroglyphs can either save your relationship or make you less emotional. Linguists, scientists, and sociologists argue that they helping us to communicate better than ever despite the popular notion that they are ruining people's grasp of language. ?‍ Developed in Japan in 1999, emojis are Britain's fastest growing linguistic resource. What started as a set of 176 icons has grown to more than 2,000 symbols when taking into account variants for gender and skin tone. More than 90 percent of social media users communicate via emojis, with more than 6 billion exchanged daily. In 2015, The Oxford Dictionary selected ? as the Word of the Year. You can read The Bible or Shakespeare with emojis. Some hotels allow guests to order room service with a string of icons. They can ruin Cookie Monster's day or sum up the best day of a tennis star’s life. ??? Emojis are a way to communicate very complex extra-linguistic meaning. When we're talking in person, we express this meta-linguistic commentary with tone, intonation or stress. For example, I can speak with a sarcastic voice, but I can't type with one. However, I can put an emoji before or after a text to show that it should be understood in a sarcastic voice. These symbols support the language that somebody uses and takes it one step further. Emojis can help add back in some of the context and emotion chipped away by the communication medium that is text-only. Emojis cannot be defined as a complete and separate language for many reasons, especially because they don't have an ample lexical set or a grammar that would define word order, morphological markers, or semantic roles, for example. Instead, they're part of a variety of resources we use in written communication such as punctuation, underlining, bold, font, or text color. And like all written language resources, people do have to be socialized into the conventions to use them appropriately. That said, often, emojis are used creatively in the moment. What one emoji means in one conversation in one location or setting is not going to be the same with others. Context determines meaning. Translating emojis requires cultural competence in addition to linguistic competence. The complexity of context requires linguists to consider cultural differences because of the conventions that people develop. People learn these conventions through social interactions. If you participate in these interactions, then you know how to use language in a way that conforms with those conventions because you’re socialized into it. This is why sometimes adults don't understand teenagers’ way of talking—they haven’t been socialized into the group. The same is true for communicating with emojis. The same symbol can take on different meanings in different cultures. For example: ?: In the United States, Westerners use the "face with tears of joy" emoji to show express extreme laughter in reaction to a humorous situation. But in China, people use this same symbol to express laughing helplessly at a frustrating situation. Alternatively, some Middle Eastern cultures interpret this emoji as depicting crying and grief. ?: The thumbs up emoji is popular in the United States to express quick approval of an idea. However, in the Middle East, it is traditionally an offensive gesture. ?: While this symbol can mean “OK” in the United States, it can be offensive in Latin America. ?: The panda bear emoji is often used in China to express friendship, love, endearment, and cuteness. But, this symbol doesn’t carry that same meaning in other parts of the world. When translating emojis for social media or online chat scripts, it’s crucial to be aware of culture-specific conventions. When businesses or individuals misuse emojis, it can prove to be hugely damaging, especially when trying to reach younger audiences. ? ? ? To avoid any potential emoji translation embarrassment, look to hire a language services provider with a variety of translators. An effective LSP will select the right linguist who is culturally competent in both the source and target languages and cultures. This will ensure that the translation is culturally and linguistically appropriate to your needs.? ? ? At Avantpage our experienced team can help guide you through the translation process. To find out more about our services or to get a free quote, email us at [email protected] or call us at 530-750-2040 x11.

Starting your work with a Language Service Provider can be intimidating. There are many factors to consider when you choose an LSP, one being how your LSP measures and assures quality. At Avantpage, we consider more than 40 pieces of information to ensure you get a high-quality translation that serves you and your consumers. Each piece of data helps us to better contextualize your translation needs. While each project may not have all 40 pieces to consider, we always look for the following five pieces of information as part of our five-item quality checklist. These pieces of information provide the main context of your document and allow us to produce the highest quality translation of your document. To provide the highest-quality translation, we need to know how you plan on using the document. If your document is being printed, your translation may look different than if it is being used to make an audio recording. The function of the document helps us to communicate your message in the best way. Another piece of information we consider is the purpose of your document. What are you trying to do with the final product? For example, are you obtaining information from your end-user, or giving them information? We want to ensure your document continues to serve this purpose, even after translation. Who will receive the final translation? Your end-user is one of our biggest considerations in assuring a high-quality translation. The document will read differently if your end-user is from an area with a specific dialect of your language, or if they are in a certain life stage. Your industry, or domain, informs how we translate your document. A high-quality translation for the healthcare industry might include different terms and phrases than a high-quality translation for the elections industry. To make sure we’re using the language that your consumers expect, your industry is a key point in our contextualization process. Finally, we need to know what kind of document you need translated! If your project involves translating a letter to your end-users, it will read differently than if your project involves translating meeting minutes. This helps us make sure the tone of your translation fits the document you’re providing. Above all else, we work to ensure that the translation you receive from us is of the highest quality possible. To do so, we spend time contextualizing the document before translating it. Your translation needs are our highest priority, and we treat each project with the time and consideration it deserves. To find out more about our translation services, and our quality review processes, contact us at 530-750-2040 or request a free quote today.