Tuesday, 22 January 2008

Painless Website Translation: 4 Tips To a Smooth Translation

If you have a website or other content that needs to be translated into a foreign language, you'll want to follow the following 4 rules. By following these rules, you are far more likely to have a successful launch, saving time, money and frustration.



To begin with, choose a professional translation service, a true expert with the “conditions on the ground” in the country or area you've chosen. Secondly, your content may need localizing in addition to straight forward language translation. Next, you'll want to be included in the course of the translation, and finally, think ahead for customer service and support plans for once your new foreign language content goes live.



These few tips can make the difference between an on-schedule, pleasant translation experience and a disappointing and expensive lesson in website translation. Firstly, choose to work with a professional translator for your project. If being able to simply speak in a foreign language as qualification was good enough to translate, why do we have professional translators? When a company spends time wording things accurately, and to convey “just the right meaning” they don't want to lose those nuances or key ideas in a bit of amateurish translation.



By choosing a professional translator, you guarantee yourself with strong grammar, a powerful vocabulary, and a translator with critical thinking that can go beyond a literal translation to convey just the tone or idea that you wanted to convey. Don't let your company put forth less than its best face – choose an experienced translation company that is an expert on the language you are targeting.



Second, one surprise to business owners and project managers is the importance of customizing content beyond simple dictionary terms. Localization is the customizing of specific content for conditions of the local culture. Acceptable advertising practices, law, privacy or refund policies. All must be researched and edited before launching in your new foreign language area. A good professional translation company with expertise in your target market can make this area relatively easy – compared to researching this information without their background and resources.Our next tip is simply to get WITH the translation team – be available. As the expert on the subject matter of the message your company is trying to get across, and about the technical jargon or other information specific to your industry, you can be an important asset to your translator. If your goal is an accurate translation that meets your deadlines, set a time to be available to your translator for questions or comments. If a concept needs clarifying, your work will be the better for the ten minutes you spend on the phone or on chat with your partner in this project. You've chosen an expert on the language you've chosen to market to, give them access to your expertise on the content being translated!



At last, with your new site launched, or with your sales or other information translated – anticipate future interaction in the foreign language. How will customer calls or emails be handled? Will there be canned responses for various questions, or will you employ foreign language staff in local or overseas locations? You can get ongoing support, or plans for how you can provide this support on your own. Your professional translation partner should be able to help you plan for ongoing support of your new customers.



In summary, to save time and money – avoid amateurs and choose a company specializing in translation, localize your content so it is applicable and accurate for your target audience, be available for your translation team, and plan for ongoing foreign language support.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR



Armando Riquier is a freelance writer and expert translator. He has been working over the last decade with the Tectrad group, a professional agency specialized in corporate matters translations and website localizations. Get your website localisation done to high quality standards to be able to impress upon a maximum number of foreign visitors and turn them into long term customers.

Tuesday, 1 January 2008

Homeschooling Curriculum

The Basics Of A Good Home School Course Program
Author: Jeydn AP Geyt Posted: 31-12-2007 Comments: 0 Views: 2

Reading, writing and arithmetic form the core studies that compose the basic curriculum for school grades one through 12. This basic curriculum is the same whether public, private and home schooling. The major differences between the three types of schooling are that a public and private school setting is the delivering of education to children in a social setting and facilitated by professional instructor. Home school courses are taught to a child, and usually, within the confines of the family's home under the teaching supervision of a parent. Obviously, it is the desire of parents to provide the best education available for their children. Coupled with this desire is to control the educational environment as much as possible. Those controls include the provision of a safe environment and an education that reflects the values and beliefs of the child's parents. These are two reasons why so many parents today have chosen to enroll their children in a home school course program to meet the educational needs of their kid. There are four basic types of a home school course program that you can choose from. It includes home schooling through the Internet, computer software, videotape instruction and from textbooks. Each of these type of a home school course is acceptable and should be selected by keeping one overriding factor in mind. That factor is based on choosing the program that best suits the learning style of your kid. For example, some kid are very visual in their learning process. Therefore, you may wish to consider the videotape instruction which is more appropriate. If your child enjoys working at the computer then perhaps the best home school course program to enroll in is through the Internet.With home schooling becoming more popular, it is important to consult with the various levels of government that oversee the education of child. It is important that your home school course meets the educational guidelines as imposed by those governments. Length Of Study In Home School Because any home school course is facilitated by a parent or legal guardian of the child, the pace at which the children learn is completely up to the parent. However, there must be steady progress in the child's educational process. If you choose to access the classroom materials via the Internet, often the Internet provider will grant to a license of up to 365 days for completion of that particular program course or curriculum.Testing In Home School In addition, many of the governments require that children enrolled in a home school course be tested to assess the learning being gained by the child. Some of this testing is required to be done on a yearly basis while some states require that testing be done every other year, it depends. Often, the test is administered by the parent teacher and can be submitted in accordance with the rules and regulations surrounding the home schooling. Even if this is not a requirement in the area where you live, it is often a good idea to have your child tested on a yearly basis. This will help you to evaluate the curriculum as well as the progress you and your child are making in hid study.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/the-basics-of-a-good-home-school-course-program-293892.html

About the Author:Still struggling with the hows on home schooling? Or are you looking for Accredited Home Schooling Curriculum? More tips on home schooling at http://www.howto-homeschooling.com