Today, it is no secret that buyers and customers are no longer limited by geography — they expect to have access to a variety of products and information and not only on-demand, but preferably in their native language. However, when a business enters a new foreign market, it can be challenging to give buyers in that country a customer experience that feels familiar and comfortable to them. Hence why, before you even consider entering a new market, you need to understand it. F

Translation plays an essential role in many fields where the need may not be as obvious, and real estate industry, highly competitive and ever-changing, is one of those. Every real estate company wants to pride itself on excellent customer service. However, language barriers can impact the quality of customer service profoundly. From property listings and attracting clients to negotiating the terms and conditions of sale and drawing up contracts, the transaction process of re

Some time ago we decided to dedicate one of our posts to get in deeper about the Portuguese language and its future potential. Remember? Today, 5 May, we are back to pay tribute to this fascinating language as it is World Portuguese Language Day! Established by the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) — which brings together peoples with the Portuguese language as one of the foundations of their specific identity — today the Portuguese language and Lusophone cult

The festival of Eid al-Fitr, meaning the Festival of Fast-breaking, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting (it is believed that the Quran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammed this month), and signals the beginning of Shawwal (the tenth month in the Islamic lunar calendar). There are actually two Eid holidays during the year: Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. Eid-ul-Fitr is in fact, the ea

Today at YOKO it’s time for double celebration! Yes, that’s it, today we are celebrating both English Language Day and Spanish Language Day, observed together at the United Nations on April 23. Why April 23? For those wondering, yes, Spanish Language Day day was originally celebrated on October 12th, a national holiday in Spain known as “Dia de la Hispanidad”, while April 23 was originally dedicated to the English language, commemorating William Shakespeare's birthday. Howeve

Harmoniously blended, Chinese culture stretches to the corners of the world through the overseas Chinese population and influence. Described as diverse, unique, rich and profound, with 3,600 years of written history, China boasts a vast and varied geographic expanse. As we always claim at YOKO, language and culture go hand in hand. Hence why, coinciding with the UN Chinese Language Day, observed annually on the 20th of April, today we are coming up with three unique facts abo

On past occasions we decided to debunk some myths about translation and interpreting. Click here for part 1, or here for part 2 if you want to remember them all before moving into the third one of our lists! Today we are back to cover in depth three new misconceptions about the industry… Are you ready? MYTH #1: The need of translation is decreasing. Let’s take it the other way round! The truth is more and more business companies have realized about the need to choose profess

Exotic, vibrant, international, widespread, sexy, symbol of culture and creativity… In how many ways are you able to describe the French language? Today, 20 March, it’s an occasion meant to respect multilingualism and cultural diversity… today we celebrate French language day! This date also coincides with the 40th anniversary of the International Organization of La Francophonie — a group whose members share a common tongue, as well as the humanist values promoted by the Fren

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, and also marking a call to action for accelerating women's equality. At YOKO we believe that behind every successful woman is herself, so today we take the opportunity to rethink the capability and contribution of women. As Michelle Obama said once, ‘there is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish’. A bit of history The very first Interna

When going global, your product’s availability in the international market is key. For that reason, a trustworthy, reliable translation provider can be a game-changer for the business as it is the KEY ELEMENT to boost your international presence. Translation and localization are complex processes and require proper strategy building in every industrial niche. Basically, every business requires translation for promotion in a healthy way, plus you cannot hit the hearts of your

Since 2000, the UNESCO International Mother Language Day is celebrated on around the world every 21 February to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism and to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions based on understanding, tolerance, and dialogue. As a two-prong celebration, today we honor language variety and diversity but also commemorate the students killed during a protest in Bangladesh that happened on February 21

Considered to be the lingua franca of the world, Modern English has undoubtedly huge influence in a wide variety of fields, including computer coding, international business and higher education. As we usually take a moment to appreciate different languages, today we have compiled a list of ten interesting facts about the English language. As common as it may be, we bet you’d be surprised at some of them. Let’s start with some basics! The English language is an Indo-European

Have you ever purchased anything online? Maybe bought a digital subscription or service over the Internet? If so, then you were participating in eCommerce. Known as the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet, eCommerce just keeps getting bigger. Of course, traditional retail will always have its place, but the level of convenience pioneered by companies like Amazon or AliExpress have changed the game. Though the concep

The translation sector, like many others, has been through the pandemic’s wringer and emerged looking very different from when it went in. Growing rapidly, the number of translators is expected to grow 24 percent from 2020 to 2030, far faster than the average for all jobs. Apart from that, with Covid-19 being very much present today’s world, the globe is still adapting to it: businesses are focusing their efforts on the new digital natives as more users get online everyday (a

Greece has produced some of the most influential figures in human history, including philosophers like Plato and Socrates, scientists such as Aristotle and Hippocrates, women who changed history like Aspasia of Miletus or Hypatia of Alexandria, and leaders like Alexander the Great. But how much do you know about the Greek language? Today we’ve brought together 5 surprising facts about the language that in its own way helped to define today's Western culture. Ready? Greek is t

Happy (almost) New Year from YOKO! As this year draws to a close for many of us — note that while most of the world celebrates New Year's Day on January 1, there are many cultures that recognize the start of a new year on different dates — we’ve decided to bring together different celebrations from all around the globe designed to bring luck and instill hope, prosperity and optimism in the year ahead. A little bit of that wouldn’t go amiss these times, right? Worldwide, cultu

Communication and education go hand in hand, one cannot be accomplished without the other. Classrooms in many countries today are culturally diverse with a mix of children from all over the world, and many cannot understand or speak the local language of that country. To ensure that all students have equal access to their education system, and to ensure parents or legal tutors are well informed of the progression and educational life of their child, there is a vast need for i

The importance of good, high-quality translation is obvious, but sometimes it is even more when things go wrong. Today we’ve brought some examples that show just how high stakes the job of translation can be. They are just worth reading! A $71 million word Quality is of the utmost importance when lives hang in the balance, so skilled and specially trained medical translators and interpreters are essential to avoid fatal errors. Consider the story of 18-year-old baseball playe

There can be no denying that social media has a significant impact on the ways that we communicate, so consequently, they have influenced our language. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook or Twitter have altered our vocabulary: new words have been created and there’s been a huge growth in ‘text-speak’-- just think how often we use acronyms to shorten a phrase to just a few letters, such as “OMG” (oh my god). Even shorthand writing takes the form of emojis most of the time! The

Spoken by about 341 million people as their first language, Hindi is the fourth most spoken language in the world. As we’ve previously done with other languages, today we are dedicating to this ancient and pure one, and we’ll go through some amazing facts about it. How many did you know before? Hindi is one of the languages spoken in India, but not THE national one. In fact, India does not have a national language, but Hindi and English are both recognized as official languag