Bilingual abilities at all levels of business organizations are becoming more the norm than the exception. Just as having bilingual abilities can be a tremendous personal advantage for individuals, many companies also benefit by hiring employees that speak a language in addition to English.

How many foreign languages do executives speak? We came across the following survey results and thought they were worth noting. Well-known executive search firm Korn/Ferry International asked visitors to its web site the following question: “How many languages do you speak?” Of the 12,562 responses they received, the answeres were:

• One language (36 percent)
• Two languages (31 percent)
• Three languages (20 percent)
• Four languages (9 percent)
• More than five languages (4 percent)

What’s interesting about the percentage distribution? For one thing it seems there were almost as many bilingual respondents as there were those who speak only a single language. Other observations?

See also: English-Spanish bilingual employee recruiting services.

When new clients contact us for the first time we’re sometimes asked about the translation process we adhere to. Over time we’ve settled on a translation process based on the following five primary stages:

1. Review and Preparation. Source material is reviewed to identify any special terminology; research is conducted and glossaries are created as needed.

2. Initial Translation. Translation from the source to target language is conducted.

3. Quality Review/Editing. Material is reviewed and edited to ensure the highest quality translation. 

4. Second Quality Review (as needed). A second final quality review may occur depending on project complexity.

5. Delivery and Approval. Translated text is provided to the client for approval.

For additional information on English-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English translation services click here.

While many automobile dealers have adopted the use of pay-per-click advertising, restricting search engine marketing to pay-per-click promotion alone is unlikely to effectively distinguish one auto dealer’s search engine presence from another since everyone does it and for the most part bid on pretty much the same keywords. A more balanced and comprehensive online marketing approach is recommended for auto dealers interested in more than further inflating Google’s price to earning ratio (for the record … we like Google).

For dealerships interested in developing a sustainable online marketing advantage, consider a search engine optimization-marketing program that includes a variety of complementary tactics such as keyword research, keyword-rich press releases, landing pages in English and perhaps Spanish, plus one of our favorite tools … blogs. It may be a little cliché in search engine marketing circles, but it really is about content.  For a bit more information on this topic click here.

Not all US Hispanics prefer online information in Spanish, though a significant percentage does. And since few US domestically focused companies can be economically viable targeting Spanish speaking customers alone, so-called Hispanic internet marketing might be better thought of as ‘bilingual English-Spanish search engine marketing’. In this pursuit a primary objective is to make language largely irrelevant between Spanish and English dominant customer segments.

If your company’s target market includes native speakers of English and/or Spanish, we suggest due consideration be given to bilingual English-Spanish search engine marketing to help connect with more prospective customers and in the process establish sustainable competitive advantage. For additional information on Spanish search engine marketing (a/k/a bilingual English-Spanish search engine marketing) click here.

Affinity Spanish Language Solutions today announced the formal obsolescence of single language search engine marketing for most US companies and corporate concerns. The announcement marks the official beginning for ‘bilingual English-Spanish search engine marketing’ as the successor standard to the former English language only search engine marketing/SEM/ SEO, and other random jargon and buzzword phrases directly and indirectly associated with favorable search engine ranking and online promotion. The announcement is made as a public service for professional marketers and corporate executives that prefer to read about significant trends and industry developments in published media prior to independent recognition and acceptance of the obvious.

For additional information about bilingual English-Spanish search engine marketing services see the Affinity Spanish website. Affinity Spanish provides content based bilingual English-Spanish search engine marketing services including English and Spanish keyword research, bilingual press release creation and distribution, bilingual landing page development, bilingual English-Spanish blogs and maintenance services, plus custom website development in English and Spanish.

The King is dead. Long live the King!

Over the past year our company has continued to evolve in some interesting and unanticipated ways. Since our inception we’ve made a conscious effort to chart a course that’s a little different from that of more traditional language services companies. And, well, we think we’ve done that. In our view there’s no other company quite like us.

Our activity in areas where the Spanish language overlaps with defined business categories like search engine marketing, human resources, international business and communication ensures a unique market position for Affinity Spanish. Of course we hope our unique position will continue to be a valued one.

That said our primary service categories for the foreseeable future into 2008 are:

1) Spanish Translation

2) Spanish Interpretation

3) Bilingual English-Spanish Search Engine Marketing

4) Bilingual Employee Recruiting Services, and

5) Bilingual Business Solutions

Each of the above service categories are linked to pages that describe them in more detail.

Thanks go out to all our current customers for your loyal patronage in 2007. We extend our holiday best wishes to each of you, and look forward to helping support your business objectives in the coming year.

Top ten reasons why Spanish translations make the perfect holiday gift:

10. You can avoid the mall

9. Makes a definitive statement for improved intercultural communication

8. Virtually infinite supply … no depletion of natural resources

7. NAFTA (always like to invoke NAFTA)

6. CAFTA (ryhmes with NAFTA, though we’re not actually sure what it is)

5. Esperanto translation just not enough

4. Could help prepare your children for watching Spanish language TV soap operas

3. Everyone needs words

2. 30% Off!

And the #1 reason why Spanish translations make the perfect holiday gift:

1. Hugo Chávez vs. the King of Spain

We all know there are various quality and service levels associated with most traditional consumer good and service products. Airlines charge more for flying first class for example. Luxury car brands naturally cost more than economy models. One can dine at McDonald’s or a fine french restaurant, and pay the associated difference in price.

Perhaps the service level concept for translation services doesn’t hold up as well. Imagine a translation company explaining to a prospective customer that it offers three levels of service. For the most basic level of service there will likely be a number of translation errors, not to mention obvious missing sections of text. Yes the errors could result in embarrassment for you Mr/Ms customer, but surely a value conscious person such as yourself won’t bow to the pressure of third party opinion on matters such as word selection, spelling and otherwise proper use of language?

For just a little bit more money our mid-tier level of service will get your source document translated with just a few verifiable errors. Errors are after-all a relative concept anyway. The inevitable errors that do occur will nearly always be minor and unlikely to cause major embarrassment or loss of perceived standing to your company relative to its competitors (except in about 25% of the cases, more or less). So the odds are in your favor.

Our premier level of service includes translation by a qualified linguist with many years of professional experience. Translators are native to the target language. Their innate interest in language ensures the utmost attention to every project detail. All translations receive at least one level of review and editing subsequent to the initial translation to produce the highest quality human translation output available. Customers interested in translation accuracy, effective cross language communication, competitive advantage for their respective organizations, generally opt for this level of service.

There are a few visionary thinkers at Affinity Spanish that seem to believe we should deliver high quality work on every project. Interesting thought. Maybe we should develop a catchy name or slogan for this policy? We’ll put the marketing department on it.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Doing a Google search on the phrase ‘escort interpereting’ can bring up numerous interesting results. Most of us are aware that the the word escort has become commonly associated with the world’s so-called oldest profession (hint: not interpreting). Nevertheless until another descriptive term reaches popular usage critical mass, the term escort interpreting is perhaps still the most commonly understood phrase to use.

Business travel in Mexico and the rest of Latin America can be extremely daunting for foreign business people. It’s not only the language but logistics and cultural considerations that can wreak havoc with otherwise well-laid plans. Even the most road-warrior-savvy American business person would likely find it unnerving to arrive in Mexico City (for example) for the first time, climb in a rental car, and drive (oh-my-god) to their scheduled appointment. Non-intuitive, every-man-for-themselves traffic patterns are just for starters. How to dress, what to eat, the best time and day to schedule appointments, how much time to allow … the answers to questions like these are second nature at home though not straightforward at all when traveling on business south of the US-Mexican border. An escort interpreter present at important meetings will undoubtedly pick up not only on spoken but also non-spoken cues that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Planning a business trip to Latin America? Consider hiring a professional escort interpreter that not only knows the language but the business culture lay-of-the-land as well.

A problem with traditional translation and language services companies is that they’re too interested in language alone. It seems strange to say it, but language services by themselves are not very marketable.

Rather it’s when language overlaps with other professions and business categories that marketable services are created. We see this with interpreters and the legal system for example. Products targeting multi-language markets create a need for localization services. Numerous examples of this principle can be cited.

Bilingual recruiting services are another. The need for English-Spanish language speaking employees exists with US companies seeking to do

business with the US hispanic market, much of which prefers Spanish language interaction. Two-thirds of Latin America is predominantly Spanish speaking. Worldwide around 500 million people speak Spanish. US companies interested in doing business with this sizeable in-part-language-defined market need language skills represented in their work force.

Thus a growing service offering for Affinity Spanish is bilingual employee recruiting. Here language overlaps with an established business category — that of employee search and recruiting. My original point you may recall.