On November 6th, HI-COM was proud to provide multilingual interpreting services for LVMH’s highly anticipated event, “Show Me,” held in the vibrant city of Shanghai. As a leader in the luxury market, LVMH showcased the event with a remarkable lineup of presentations, workshops, and networking sessions, attracting attendees from around the globe.

To ensure seamless communication across diverse audiences, HI-COM’s team of experienced interpreters offered real-time language support in Chinese, French, English, and Sign Language. This comprehensive approach made the event accessible and engaging for all participants, enhancing the cross-cultural experience LVMH is known for.

HI-COM’s commitment to delivering high-quality interpretation services contributed to the event’s success, allowing LVMH to bridge language barriers and foster connections across cultures. With a deep understanding of luxury industry terminology and cultural nuances, HI-COM’s interpreters facilitated smooth communication, supporting LVMH’s goal of creating an inclusive and impactful experience.

The “Show Me” event exemplifies HI-COM’s capability to handle high-profile, multilingual events and underscores our dedication to providing tailored language solutions that align with our clients’ needs. We look forward to continuing to support LVMH and other prestigious brands in bringing people together through language and understanding.

HI-COM provided English/Chinese Simultaneous Interpreting Services for the 12th VDMA China Mechanical Engineering Summit. The event was held on 14th and 15th September at the Sofitel Hongqiao Hotel in Minhang District, Shanghai. Congratulations to VDMA and GMECS team for the brilliant organization!

Find out more about our interpreting services here!

HI-COM is very proud to sponsor once again the Sustainability & ESG Business Summit organized by the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai (BritCham Shanghai). HI-COM provided the Simultaneous Interpreting services to ensure good communication between the panelists and the audience to convey very important insights for a better future for all!

Find out more about our interpreting services here!

We are pleased to announce that following a rigorous inspection process, HI-COM has been awarded the ISO 17100 certification for its Translation Management System.

What is ISO 17100?

The ISO 17100 is an internationally recognized standard for companies within the translation industry, which covers the essential processes for providing a translation service.

It establishes and defines the translation resources, their technical abilities, and quality of service. Its aim is to outline the service a client will receive within a recognized set of procedures that are carried out to best practice.

The ISO 17100 standard integrates terminology used in the translation field, by creating a standard structure for translation services. It simplifies the interaction between clients and translator in terms of their contractual needs.

This new certification will allow HI-COM to

• Prove the company’s capability to provide a quality service through a fully traceable system, ensuring case files are fully backed up and retrievable and that important work is not lost.
• Increase our client base by being able to tender for contracts that require an internationally recognized management system.
• Ensure that client cases are managed, coordinated and scrutinized for accuracy by a qualified case manager – eliminating the margin for error and / or customer complaints.
• Increase customer confidence and reassure prospective clients that a recognized specialist standard is being followed, while undertaking their translation requirements.
• Assure customers that we employ appropriately qualified staff for each task in a professional and effective manner in accordance with the latest industry standards.
• Heighten morale and motivation for employees, by providing them with defined processes and procedures that result in a quality and consistent service being provided.

For more information on the 17100 certification process, check out this article here.

HI-COM is now a proud member of The Association of Translation Companies (ATC)!

The ATC is a trade association representing the interests of language service companies in the UK and around the world. It is the leading voice for companies operating in the UK’s language services industry.

Founded by British translation companies in 1976, the ATC provides authoritative advice about matters relating to multilingual communication, and working with legislators and other stakeholders, lobbies on behalf of its members, promoting the value of language services and language skills, translation and interpreting.

The ATC defines standards of excellence for language service companies by promoting quality-driven language services and best practice to create recognition and trust.

To find out more about the ATC, check out their web site here!

With the end of the year approaching, we are proud to have been able to continue our activities and translation projects despite the COVID-19 pandemic and would like to thank all our customers for being here this year!

Goodbye to 2020! Thank you to all of our friends, clients, and partners who made it memorable in a good way. Happy new year from everyone at HI-COM!

HI-COM ASIA IN 2020! Check out our achievements this year!!!

We would also like to congratulate the whole team across the different offices in China and France for managing to adapt their lifestyles to the current health crisis and for maintaining an excellent standard of work.

The pandemic started in January for China and HI-COM was able to adapt to the containment by placing priority on the safety of our employees and the continuation of their work.

Whether remotely or in agency, we have remained open to meet all your needs for translation, interpreting and other services.

In addition, despite the cancellation of many events and conferences, we have provided everything from simultaneous and consecutive interpreting in 2020, to translation and content writing projects, and continue to help brands gain a foothold in China’s social networks.

2020 for HI-COM was synonymous with innovation! Thanks to our talented team, the Shanghai office has enabled the creation of HI-LIVE, a weekly live streaming program. Every Monday, we introduced a new expert in a particular field to present directly from our Shanghai office.

In addition, Kate Chernavina (our marketing director) and Olivia Liu (our digital marketing manager) have created a workshop called HOW TO CHINA to help expatriates and companies wishing to expand their market in China. We present articles, infographics and workshops. Our very first workshop at the end of the year on social networks and digital strategies in China took place successfully.

In 2020 HI-COM also carried out more than 1500 translation projects in France, China and around the world, including more than 500 certified translations to help with visa procedures, moving abroad and other matters.

Despite the cancellation of events and conferences in China and elsewhere from the beginning of 2020, we have been able to adapt by offering remote interpreting for online conferences and have provided 25 simultaneous and consecutive interpreting towards the end of the year in China following the reopening of certain conferences.

Finally, we also provide services related to Chinese digital marketing and social networks translation, such as how to set up and communicate on these networks. In 2020, we helped more than 60 Asian and European companies to build a digital strategy and become successfully established on Chinese social networks such as WeChat, Weibo, XiaoHongShu or Douyin.

Once again, thank you for this wonderful year, the whole HI-COM team wishes you a happy holiday season!

Contact us about your projects or for any other requests!

It is debatable whether the translation industry as a whole has responded to rapid globalization, but content has certainly increased as a result. Is the industry making full use of technology to improve its capabilities and maintain profitability?

Or does the explosion of so much content marginalize translation technology?

To understand the current market situation, we need to review the history of translation technology.

1. History of Translation Technology 

The outbreak of the Cold War promoted the development of machine translation, when machine translation could realize two-way translation between American, English and Russian.

However, despite major investment, by the end of 1960s, the results of machine translation were far from satisfactory. In the fifteen years or so that followed, machine translation almost disappeared. One notable exception was in 1976, when the Council of Europe began to use the Systran system to translate abstracts.

In the mid-1980s, several service providers in the emerging localization industry (specialized in translating IT manuals) began to provide translation memory tools, so as to realize the recycling of translations and provide terminology tools for translators. These tools help translators improve their productivity and consistency.

Although these translation tools have become more extensible and mature in function, their core technologies for improving productivity would remain mainly unchanged in the next two decades.

The localization industry continues to show rapid growth, and many companies engaged in the traditional translation industry have fallen behind the times to a great extent. Many translators are unwilling to adopt translation techniques for a variety of reasons. Some are well-founded, while others are more related to a misinterpretation of translation techniques and fear of being replaced.

Lack of innovation also means that the threshold for entering the translation technology industry is low. Many translation service companies develop their own computer-aided translation tools, so there is a long list of average quality systems in the market.

Although the translation service industry is booming, the market of technology industry is still small. In the same period after the end of the Cold War, the economic growth point began to shift from English-speaking countries to non-English-speaking countries. Digital communication largely replaced printing, and consumers and citizens became content publishers. People can keep in touch with each other through mobile phones for only two dollars a day.

It’s only in the past five years where we have we begun to see an overall change in the technology and business model used for translation.

To a great extent, the companies bringing in change are from other industries.

The most prominent examples are Baidu, Google, Microsoft and Yandex.

From the mid-1980s to around 2000, demand for document translation increased to software and then to websites. Products were then launched from the market to multiple markets simultaneously (Simship).

Companies then started increasingly providing services to international customers.

2. Tools use in Translation

In order to adapt to the market development, the professional translation industry has adopted translation memory (TM), terminology and translation/globalization process management technology.

Translation technology can be subdivided into several main components.

Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools are used to improve the productivity and consistency of manual translation. They are made up of many technologies, including a translation memory (enabling translators to reuse previously translated content), translation management system (automating project management and publishing), terminology management system (enhancing the consistency of standard terms, names and translations) and quality assurance tools.

The following is an overview of the stages of translating and localizing documents.

Translation tools

CAT tools have been used since early use of the personal computer.

CAT tools usually integrate a document editor, terminology database and translation memory in an interface or operation platform, and its main function is to improve translation efficiency and accuracy.

With the development of the IT and network industries, CAT tools are also evolving, from original desktop tools to client-server tools used in corporate networks, to Web tools where services and tools are transmitted through the Internet.

1. Desktop CAT tool

As the first generation translation tools, the desktop CAT tool market will continue to grow, especially after upgrading. The can interoperate with cloud translation management systems.

2. CAT tool based on client/server

Client/Server CAT tools have been developing for nearly 20 years, and are deeply rooted in the translation and localization departments of enterprises.

These tools are composed of a central server and many clients. The central server is usually installed at the client, while the client software is installed on the employees’ and translators’ machines. The clients are usually based on the Windows platform.

In the past ten years, this has been the standard configuration of most enterprise software.

The client/server CAT tool is mature in terms of the technology it uses, including almost all the functions that users need, including translation memory, terminology, document editing and spell check tools, and even project management tools.

Nowadays, popular Web-based tools are all newly developed, and most of them do not adopt the above mode, and are less mature.

Although the former has complete functions, it still has many obvious shortcomings compared with the latter.

• Lack of cross-platform support; most of them focus on Windows, which brings problems to organizations using other operating systems.
• Lack of native mobile support. Translation and proofreading need more and more mobile applications in order to work any time and anywhere.
• Hard to get started. These systems are mainly designed for translation and localization professionals, and beginners find them too difficult. By today’s standards, they are also very outdated.
• High IT cost, requiring server maintenance, software update and client software installation on a large number of machines.

Most client/server products can be traced back to the 1990s and before 2000. At that time, SaaS was not popular, and non-Windows operating systems such as Mac OS X, Android and iOS were not popular, which explains why client/server products are usually only applicable to Microsoft Windows.

Old vendors are reorganizing their client server solutions to transform them into cloud-based products. On the other hand, government agencies and enterprises with strict security requirements may continue to use such solutions in their own data centers or at least on computers directly controlled by them.

3. Web-based CAT tools

Web-Based CAT tools are important new translation tools.

In many application contexts, it is possible to replace traditional client/server tools (such as Windows applications) for the following reasons:

• Cross-Platform, supporting Windows, Mac and Linux and other operating systems.
• Support users to use on mobile devices through native mobile applications or HTML5/Javascript.
• Java is an excellent language for building powerful cross-platform applications.
• Support the agile development process, and continuously improve the server-side software without forcibly upgrading the labor-intensive client-side software.
• Cloud-Based asset management, translation memory and other centralized project and asset management functions.
• Users can work on different devices at different times without losing the completed tasks.
• Saas business model, flexible license mechanism, customers can increase or decrease users or usage quota according to needs.

A typical example is Google Translator Toolkit (GTT), which fully integrates Google Translate.

Translators can use the machine translation engine to pre-translate the text before editing it manually.

GTT has recently been integrated with YouTube to support the processing of user-generated subtitles.

Other web-based tools that integrate machine translation include XTM cloud, MemSource and Lingotek.

Web-Based translation agencies usually develop direct translation platforms and CAT tools. These companies have different complexity due to their different situations and customer groups.

Companies in this category include a group of translators, Gengo, Straker Translations, Fox Translate, Elanex (aka ExpressIT) and One Hour Translations, etc.

These companies provide their customers with Web-based and API-based order and project management interfaces (front-end), and provide a completely Web-based editing and translation in CAT environment (back-end).

4. Mixed type

It integrates client/server tools and Web tools, and the project management of these tools is still carried out in the cloud, but the translation work can be carried out locally by translators or on the Web.

5. Mobile translation tools

Mobile translation tool is a novel thing in computer-aided industry, but it will become a realistic demand in most translation management systems, because translators (especially in developing countries) mainly use mobile devices to access the Internet.

If the tool does not support mobile access (whether through HTML5/Javascript or native iOS/Android application), you will find it more difficult to find someone to work.

One example is OneSky in Hong Kong, which provides translation through mobile devices.

Their service is dedicated to the localization of mobile applications, so it is a good mobile translation editing tool.

The main challenge in making the CAT environment accessible through mobile devices is how to make them work on a limited display and user input interface.

Usually, this restricts the type of work that mobile translators can do, for example, only translate shorter texts and documents. This limitation will not be a big problem for tablet devices, because the display size of tablet devices is similar to the display size and resolution of PC or notebook computers.

To find out how you can save time and money with HI-COM by using CAT tools, contact us today! 

HI-COM is a multilingual translation agency dedicated to providing companies worldwide with high quality translation services.

HI-COM is a professional translation agency working with clients from different fields, carrying out multiple translation projects of all types.

One of our most recent projects was an SEO-optimised translation for the MYA agency for a well-known beauty brand.

1) THE PROJECT

Our agency’s mission was to provide localisation, transcreation and SEO-optimised translation from French into 6 languages (English, Spanish, Italian, German, Polish and Turkish). We were therefore responsible for localising the product sheets, blog articles and other material on the brand’s website.

2) THE MYA AGENCY

MYA Agency is a 100% digital agency working in 3 different countries: France, Belgium and China. This agency is specialised in the digital visibility of brands, webmarketing, natural referencing and Chinese marketing.

MYA assists its clients with improving the visibility and reputation of the brand on search engines as well as content writing!

With more than 10 years of experience serving SMEs, manufacturers and start-ups, MYA has developed real expertise in this field.

3) WHAT IS OPTIMISED TRANSLATION, LOCALISATION AND TRANSCREATION?

What is SEO-optimised translation and its benefits?

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) translation refers to the process of translating the content of a website into a specific locality; this means that research is required to understand the cultural references and social attitudes of your target location.

It is important to carry out a translation that is SEO-optimised in order to improve your website’s ranking on search engines. An SEO-optimised translation will aim to choose keywords that are important to the brand in order to create content around it and thus improve its search engine rankings in relation to the brand.

In addition, for a good SEO translation it is also important that the keywords represent high searches and that they are repeated consistently in the text. Effective local SEO can also help you generate more clicks on your international website.

More clicks means more traffic, increased sales and therefore greater revenue for the brand.

For example, if your company is based in France and you want to sell your products in China, in order to successfully penetrate the Chinese market, it is essential to optimise your website and content specifically for Chinese consumers.

Thus, SEO translation alone is not enough; the localisation of the site must be efficient, otherwise the potential customers may move on in a matter of seconds.

What is the purpose of website localisation?

Its main purpose is to adapt content to a specific language and culture for local consumption. In some cases, the translator can work on localisation elements for the same language. For example, a text for the Chinese market compared to one intended the French market will use a different vocabulary with an adaptation to the culture of both countries.

More than a simple translation, website localisation aims to help brands and companies target a larger number of potential customers. The advantage being to increase brand awareness and revenues.

However, it is not enough to simply translate the content of your website, such as meta titles, meta tags and image descriptions. You will need to consider other cultural factors that could impact your content, such as fashion, colours, customer behaviour, etc.

Product descriptions written correctly in one language represents a professional and trustworthy business otherwise your products will not be perceived as relevant to your target audience.

What does transcreation consist of?

Transcreation is a term used to refer to the process of adapting the source content from one language to another according to its cultural and regional characteristics. In other words, the definition of transcreation is to convey the meaning of the original sentence taking into account its social and cultural context.

For example, when focusing on a marketing transcreation, you need to determine whether your marketing message will translate correctly. Communication slogans, for example, need to be more than just translated, but need creative transcreation to maintain meaning and to choose the right terms in relation to the language.  This method is unique as far as presentation is concerned because it involves adjusting the message in another language.

Transcreation is a so-called creative process that relates to the field of advertising and marketing.

Transcreators have some of the same skills as translators, but they also have skills in writing advertising and marketing content.

4) WHAT WERE THE PROCESSES APPLIED?

The content translated, localised and transcreated for MYA’s end client included new fragrance and make-up ranges that were to be displayed on the brand’s international website.

In addition to the translation, we worked with retail experts in the different target countries to ensure that the most appropriate and suitable keywords were applied for each national market, in order to strengthen the brand’s SEO ranking in each of these countries.

Firstly, one of our business developers was in charge of the direct contact between the project managers and the agency.

Our project managers were then responsible for finding the translators and transcribers specialised in the cosmetics field and native speakers of the required translation languages.

Proofreaders also specialising in the cosmetics field had to proofread the various translations and our production manager was responsible for the control and quality of the translations provided.

HI-COM is a multilingual translation agency dedicated to providing companies worldwide with Chinese-specific social network communication and e-commerce marketing services. Working with over 100 brands, HI-COM is the partner of choice for companies looking to enter the Chinese market!

Contact us today for a free quote!

Last week, HI-COM had the pleasure to participate at two events and we are very proud to have been part of them.

The first event was the British Business Awards. As we already wrote in this article, we are proud to be the official video partner but also a candidate for the prestigious 2020 British Business Awards organised by the British Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. As a reminder, the awards are split into ten categories. The Awards are a testimony to the depth, breadth and success of British businesses operating in China. They also recognise the excellent achievements of Chinese businesses operating in the UK.

Ten Award Categories   

• Innovation Award (Sponsored by bp)
• Sustainability Award (Sponsored by Houghton Street Consulting)
• Education Institutional Partnership of the Year Award
• Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Sponsored by The British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai)
• Chinese Investor in the UK Award
• British Exporter of the Year Award (Sponsored by CBBC)
• Leadership Award (Sponsored by The University of Manchester China Centre)
• Best Employer Award (Sponsored by Smith+Nephew)
• Best Services Award (Sponsored by KPMG China)
• British Company of the Year Award (Sponsored by SpiraxSarco)

Last week, we prepared all the announcement videos to present all the candidates and the previous gala for this event. After months of processing applications and judging, the winners of the ten categories of the British Business Awards (BBA) 2020 in China were announced at the InterContinental Shanghai Pudong.

HI-COM’s co-founder Robert Harrison was a candidate for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award but in the end was won by Malcolm Staff of Halifax Fan Group.

We were very honored to have been part of this journey and we would like to congratulate all the winners and nominees as well as the British Chamber team for organizing such a great event!

On the very same evening in Guangzhou the “Club Affaires – Fast pitching session” was organized by the chamber of commerce & industry of France in China.

The goal of the event was to pitch themselves and companies in 45 seconds to talk about their projects, needs and partners followed by another fast pitch of 15 seconds explaining with whom they saw themselves collaborate. This was followed by a networking event allowing guests to mingle and get to know each other. What a better way to grow our network and get some advice?

The event was held on Tuesday, November 3^rd in Guangdong International building and Jean-Christophe Roinné, our Branch Manager was one of the coordinators! We are very proud to have been part of this networking event!

Finally, for this 3^rd edition, 26 people attended, including 12 new members! What a success!

A few months ago, HI-COM felt it was time to start exploring the world of livestreaming. In China, live streaming is an important element of every influencer’s toolbox, which they use to sell products or entertain their Chinese consumers and fans.

As we are based in China, livestreaming was for us a new way to explore Chinese social media and reach out to other professionals, especially foreigners based here. The aim is not to focus on one particular field of industry, but instead explore various professions and activities from sport, to animals or even magic.

Our live stream program and community goes under the name of “HI LIVE”, billed as an independent live stream-based community for international professionals and expats living and working in China. A New live show with special guests is broadcast from HI-COM’s Shanghai Headquarters every Monday night.

Launched in July 2020, the primary aim of HI LIVE is to bring together international professionals and expats living and working in China and give them a platform on which they can talk live online about their experiences of living and working in China, and also promote their business and social activities. They can also discuss their activities with other members of the community in the popular HI-LIVE Community WeChat groups. The weekly live show is currently broadcast on the Yizhibo platform every Monday evening, and in its first four months, has already covered an extremely wide range of topics relating to expats and their lives in China, such as pet care, gaming, boxing, kids’ football, health, fitness, personal development, and jewellery.

You can find our livestream on WeChat or directly on the YIZHIBO app!!

Scan this QR CODE to have join the HI-LIVE WeChat community.

New live show with guests every Monday night, stay tuned for more details!

You missed one of our live streams? Watch them again on our YouTube channel! 

HI-COM is a multilingual translation agency dedicated to providing professional translation and interpreting services to companies all over the world. Working in over 40 languages, HI-COM is the localization partner for hundreds of companies and brands. Contact us today for your free consultation!

If you would like more information regarding the translation of your documents, please do not hesitate to get in touch.