Although a small country of roughly 5.7 million people, Denmark is one of the leading economic markets in Europe. In fact, Forbes routinely taps the Scandinavian country to top its list of best countries to do business. So if you’re looking to expand your international marketing efforts, don’t overlook the Danes as a rich opportunity for new business ventures. Its temperate climate and central location just north of Germany, between the North and Baltic Seas, also makes it a popular destination for tourists and recreation enthusiasts.
As part of our recurring series of blogs highlighting cultures and countries around the world, we’ve collected some key facts and figures highlighting Denmark’s popular appeal.
Mahatma Gandhi wasn’t just talking about his own homeland of India when he said, “A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.” He captured the essence of how countries and societies are ultimately perceived around the world.
As for Gandhi’s own country, Indian culture is among the world’s oldest, dating back more than 4,500 years. Second only to China as the most populous country on earth with more than 1.2 billion people, India boasts diverse customs, languages and religions.
In our latest look at world cultures, we summarize some of the widely diverse traditions and customs that make India such a captivating country and alluring destination for travelers.
PowerPoint presentations are a critical tool for communicating important messages. Businesses of all shapes and sizes continue to rely on the creative capabilities of PowerPoint to present ideas, shape opinions and spur action. While PowerPoints are easy to produce by just about anyone with a computer, it’s easy to neglect some basic steps if you’re planning to translate your presentation into another language. Since translating PowerPoint presentations is a common request by our clients, we’ve come up with a few suggestions to make the PowerPoint translation process run more smoothly:
Desmond Tutu, the renowned social activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, called South Africa the “Rainbow Nation” to describe its ethnic diversity. In fact, the republic located at the southern-most tip of Africa is considered one of the most multi-cultural countries in the world. Its history of colonialism and immigration has created a nation whose ethnic makeup includes indigenous black peoples, white Europeans, Indians, Indo-Malays and Chinese, among others. It is a popular destination for anyone pursuing business or leisure interests. If you fall into either of those groups, here’s a brief overview of the country’s customs and culture that will help in planning your visit.
Germany is a popular destination for tourists looking for fun and adventure as well as businesses looking to expand their customer base. As the center of Europe from a geographic and economic standpoint, Germany has much to offer. But before you don your lederhosen and head off to Oktoberfest or pack your briefcase for a corporate meeting with potential new business partners, it’s good to know some of the German customs and social protocols you’ll encounter.
More businesses than ever are branching out into multilingual communications as a way to expand their customer base. So the question these days is not so much “Should we translate?” as it is “How should we translate?” The answer is an important one.
After deciding it’s time to target a more global audience, the next step is to determine whether to use internal staff to handle the work or partner with an outside language service provider (LSP). There’s certainly a cost either way, and any budget-conscious business leader should factor that into their analysis. But there are also many other pieces that go into creating and maintaining a successful translation program. That’s why any results-oriented business leader should weigh the pros and cons of both sides.
We put together some things to consider when deliberating the question: in-house translators or outside translation partner?
For more than 30 years, we’ve helped many companies with their translation and interpreting projects. Some of that work targeted customers living in the U.S. who speak another language. Other times it focused on sharing marketing messages and product information with people in other parts of the world.
One thing we continue to emphasize to our clients is that translating or interpreting words is only part of a successful multilingual communication process. Another important piece—whether conducting business outside of the country or entertaining visitors at your company—is to adapt to the cultural, social and business customs of your foreign speaking customers. This means paying close attention not just to the words you use, but also to the images associated with your message, the method used to convey the message, and even the personal interactions you make with clients or customers on their home soil.
Decision, decisions: is it time to employ translation services to grow your business?
For sure, it’s a weighty question. Many leaders at the helm of private businesses and non-profit organizations alike have either not considered using translation services or don’t believe they could benefit from them. The reasons vary widely:
- My customers aren’t located outside the country anyway
- It’s too cumbersome to manage
- It’s too expensive and time-consuming
- I don’t have anything that needs translated
- Software translation tools will suffice
- I have more pressing company needs to focus on
We realize it can seem a little intimidating or overwhelming to think about communicating with people from all around the world. But the beauty of the Internet, social media and shifting demographics means your “international” customers are right in front of you, either physically as Limited English Proficient (LEP) customers here in the U.S. or electronically as someone located on the other side of the globe. You just have to talk to them.
Pretend you’re traveling in a foreign country. You receive an urgent call from the hospital saying your spouse’s heart has been imprisoned. Would you at least feel relieved to learn that he or she won’t fall over?
If you had to rely on machine translation of that country’s language, that’s just what you might hear, or something equally alarming, amusing or confusing.
It used to be that translating the printed word was the preferred way to communicate with clients and customers speaking other languages. While still popular, print is quickly being rivaled by electronic media when trying to get your multilingual message out. Due largely to the internet and the social media explosion, audio and video files are being viewed and shared around the world in staggering numbers.
Consider these facts and projections:
- Facebook is generating eight billion video views per day! The number of video posts per person has increased 75 percent globally and 94 percent in the United States. The amount of video from people and brands in News Feed has increased 3.6 times year-over-year. More than half the people who visit Facebook in the U.S. every day watch at least one video.