Translation news
ISSUE 4
- Client Profile: Stadco
- Roevin joins the Association of Translation Companies
- Glasgow office move
- Employee Profile: Roberta del Bianco
- Language Focus: Spanish
As a supplier to names like Ford, Jaguar, BMW, Land Rover, Peugeot, Volkswagen and Aston Martin, automotive body panel manufacturer Stadco knows the importance of quality.
Roevin is proud to have been providing accurate legal translations into and from German for Stadco for the past seven years.
Andrew Morriss, Stadco Managing Director
Andrew
Morriss, Managing Director of Stadco says “I have always been
happy with the standard of Roevin’s translations. Roevin fully
meet my expectations in terms of high translation quality, tight
delivery timescales and customer service.”
Established more than 100 years, Stadco now has seven UK sites and two in Germany. Stamping, welding and painting are the company’s core activities whilst their complete management service covers all functions from product design and development through to volume production.
Roevin has recently become a member of the Association of Translation Companies. Founded in 1976, the ATC is the world’s oldest professional body representing the interests of translation companies.
Alan White (left), Manager at Roevin's Manchester office, pictured
with Geoffrey Bowden, ATC General Secretary.
Members of the ATC are carefully vetted before admission into membership, adhere to a strict code of professional conduct, are subject to the rulings of a professional ethics committee and carry full professional indemnity insurance cover to safeguard the interests of the translation purchaser.
Geoffrey Bowden of the ATC, said “I am delighted to welcome such a well established translation company into our midst. Its long experience of the translation profession will greatly benefit the Association and we look forward to working with them in the years to come.”
After four happy and successful years in Sauchielhall Street, the Roevin Glasgow office moved to brand new premises at Thomson House, Mount Manor Business Park, on 15 June.
Pictured (from left): Sam Bennett (Manager), Gilles Comnène, Lorna Higgins.
The Glasgow team can be contacted on their new telephone number 0141 248 8052 or email glasgow.translation@roevin.co.uk
Employee ProfileRoberta del Bianco, Leonardo Programme student, Manchester
Roberta joined Roevin’s
Manchester office in May as part of the European Union’s
Leonardo da Vinci student exchange programme. Roberta, from
Vittorio Veneta near Venice gained her Masters degree in Translation
and Interpreting from the University of Trieste prior to commencing
her Leonardo placement.
During her placement, Roberta has translated the Roevin website into Italian (to be launched soon), and assisted with the recruitment of new Italian freelance translators as well as project managing Italian desktop publishing projects.
The Leonardo da Vinci Programme is the European Community's vocational training programme, launched in December 2004. It encourages collaboration between organisations involved in vocational training, aiming to improve the quality of training provision, develop the skills and mobility of the workforce, stimulate innovation and enhance the competitiveness of European industry.
Language Focus: Spanish in Europe
by Alan White
Mainland
Spain is home to five separate official languages:
• Castilian: the only official language for the whole of
Spain
• Catalan: spoken in Catalonia and the Balearics, also spoken
in parts of southern France, and is co-official in Andorra and a
small area in Sardinia
• Valencian: spoken in the Valencia area, very closely related
to Catalan
• Galician: spoken in Galicia in the north west of Spain
• Basque or Euskera as it is called in that particular language
is spoken in the Basque Country
While Castilian is the official language of Spain and all official documents must be drawn up in this language, many people are unaware that in Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque country, official documents must also be drawn up in these languages. Visitors to Barcelona, Valencia, San Sebastian or Santiago de Compostela, for example, will see the regional languages displayed alongside Castilian on the underground, on road signs and on adverts, and may encounter people who prefer dealing in English than in Castilian, a language which many associate with linguistic and cultural repression during Spain's history.
As with many regional languages, the more you travel out of the main cities and towns, the more likely you are to encounter these regional languages. It is also true, however, that because of “immigration” from other areas of Spain, some people in these areas do not speak these languages, although the respective regional governments have tried to counter this by making instruction of these languages obligatory at varying levels of the educational system.
As for the languages themselves, Catalan and Valencian are relatively similar to Spanish and other Romance languages; indeed the French influence is also quite strong, although the sound of the language is much more closed than Castilian and more akin to Portuguese. Galician is similar to Portuguese in pronunciation and syntax, due to the geographical location of Galicia and its historical ties to Portugal. Basque, on the other hand, bears no resemblance whatsoever to any European language, indeed linguists have linked it to languages such as Georgian or those from non-Arabic speaking Africa.
Having said this, companies looking to target the mainland Spanish market are probably best advised to keep to Castilian Spanish, as it is understood by the entire country and is the first language of over 72% of the country. As for South America (with the notable exception of Brazil), Castilian is the language to be used, although if targeting this area, you should opt for the South American variant – the difference being akin to the difference between US and UK English.
Roevin provides high quality translation, desktop publishing and interpreting services in the Spanish language. Please click here for a free quotation.
Press Releases
- ATC Annual Conference
- New London office opens
- Finmeccanica’s 2006 Convention
- Interpreters World Assembly
- Language Trends
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