Translation Service Now Open All Hours

Thanks to an exciting new service being launched by antipodean translation company New Lingo, no business need ever be lost for words again – whatever the time of day or night! For New Zealand's leading Internet language services company recently added a new string to its corporate bow, with the launch of a 24-hour translation service.

Given the 24/7 culture which prevails in international business circles, this news will undoubtedly be sweet music to the ears of New Lingo's many clients worldwide. New Lingo is a perfect example of the new breed of "virtual" company, and its pedigree is impeccable. Established only three years ago, the dynamic language services provider has a well-deserved reputation for excellence, due in no small part to a policy of having every translation independently proof-read. Moreover, with all staff home-based, New Lingo's operating costs are kept to a minimum - a benefit which is passed directly on to their clients in the form of highly competitive rates.

As language experts who pride themselves on their state-of-the-art translation technology solutions, New Lingo staff are renowned for their ultra-modern approach to business. Indeed, in the words of Christof Schneider, chief of operational improvements at New Lingo: "This new service is just the latest in a series of technology-enabled firsts. It offers organisations which operate under time-critical conditions an immense commercial advantage." He continues: "It also gives our clients complete peace of mind to know that while they're sleeping, the documents they require for their meeting the next morning are being translated!" Korean-born project manager Austin Kim explains: "The nature of our business lends itself perfectly to a 24-hour production system. Many of our clients are multi-nationals and operate 24 hours a day themselves. Moreover, our translation team already spans all time zones, so providing a round-the-clock service is simply a natural extension of what we already do." In-house (and at New Lingo, that means her own house!) German expert, Barbara Bäumer adds: "We have a close reciprocal relationship with a respected UK translation company which works really well. Through them we regularly provide translations for prestigious end-clients such as Microsoft, Orange and Honda."

Impressive names certainly – but equally impressive is what New Lingo itself has achieved in a relatively short timescale. The maths is simple: a network of tried and tested translation professionals, all beavering away during "normal" working hours in their own time zones, but collectively working 24/7. Add to this equation the New Lingo factors of project management experience and state-of-the-art translation tools, and you have a winning formula: a round-the-clock stress-free professional translation service for members of the global business community.

Learning Spanish - Part 12 - Conversational Spanish Lessons

In my last article I wrote about the elements of Spanish grammar that my personal tutor and I went over during the Spanish lessons I took whilst in Antigua, Guatemala. In this article I want to talk about the conversational lessons that I attended at the same school.

During my two weeks at the school I spent Monday to Friday from 9.00am to 12.00pm studying Spanish grammar on a one to one basis with my tutor. The afternoons were devoted to different kinds of conversational lessons. These included talking in Spanish with various different tutors on a one to one basis, participating in group conversations and playing different types of word games.

Conversational lessons benefit the student in a number of different ways. In my case having conversational lessons each afternoon gave me the opportunity to put into practice the Spanish grammar that I had learnt during that morning. It is always a good thing to try and practice any new Spanish you have learnt, straight away while it is still fresh in your head. You might want to think about constructing certain types of typical sentences that help you remember different aspects of Spanish grammar better.

Speaking, listening and becoming accustomed to spoken Spanish is an essential part of the learning process and of course, having a conversation with someone allows you to do all of these things at the same time.

When you first start to have conversations with people in Spanish you will probably find the whole experience quite gruelling, especially if your vocabulary is limited! This is completely normal. Don't forget that you are used to speaking in your first language every single day without even thinking about it and to suddenly change this habitual action is no easy task! The thing is that you have to keep practicing. It is like anything, the more you practice the better you become.

One of the great benefits of having conversational lessons is that you can take as long as is required to have the actual conversation, plus, your teacher can make sure you are speaking correctly. In real life situations this is often very difficult if not impossible to achieve. Often people will not have the patience to wait while you try to get your words out or not bother to correct you if you say something that isn't quite grammatically correct.