Translation

A few days ago, I was in a meeting and someone just mentioned translation. I don’t precisely remember how the conversation ended. But, anyway, I remember a project that I used to manage around 12 years ago.

Back then, I was responsible for organizing a trip for some international tourists. One of the business partners was a local factory, which manufactured confections, for example, nougat. 

The factory did produce great quality nougat. However, while organizing the trip, a problem came out. The manager of the factory demonstrated that most information in the factory was in Mandarin. It would be better to translate the information into English to let most foreign tourists understand the history and the product of the factory.

After hearing that, we quickly organized a meeting and figured out how much information was required to translate. Thus, we could estimate how much time we needed to get the job done. In the end, the trip went smoothly.

Working on that project was quite interesting and the team members were just outstanding. Additionally, translation is quite important for international tourists. For example, I used to meet some friends who frequently travel. Most of them speak at least 2 languages. And, a key thing they mentioned is that in some countries, translation makes them a little crazy. For example, in some restaurants, the menu in English just confused them and they accidentally ordered something that they didn't want.

I’ve been traveling to so many countries and there are so many languages in the world. There are so many languages that we couldn’t understand. While traveling, it’s highly possible to see something in a language that you don’t understand. Well, for me, google translate is a good tool, but just expect the 100% accuracy. However, it could be helpful to solve problems.