With approximately 60 million native speakers, Italian is the fourth most widely spoken of Romance languages, after Spanish, Portuguese and French.

The Italian economy is driven in a large part by the manufacture of high-quality consumer goods produced by small and medium-sized enterprises, many of them family owned. The north is developed and industrial, dominated by private companies; the south, with its beautiful shores and cultural heritage, is agricultural and counts on tourism.

Italy is also world famous for brands such as Armani, Gucci, Versace, Ferrero, Barilla and many others. 58.3% of Italian exports in 2010 were to Europe. The top four European countries importing Italian goods are Germany, France, Spain and Switzerland. Eastern Asia is the third top geographical area for the number of Italian businesses, outnumbering North America by about 1,500 units.
When you want to enter a new market, having your marketing material translated and localised with accuracy is of paramount importance to get your message across and attract new customers. When you need a good translation service, ask SanTranslate, your professional language services provider.

Why are German translations a top language in the translation market? The reason is that German is a very important language in the EU, and Germany is a leading economy with huge potential.

With an estimated 90–98 million native speakers, German is one of the world’s major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union. Standard German originated as a written language, and, even though its regional varieties are only to a certain degree influenced by the local dialects, they are very distinct, making German a pluricentric language.

The German economy is the fifth largest in the world and Europe’s largest. It is a leading exporter of machinery, vehicles, chemicals and household equipment and benefits from a highly skilled labour force.

Germany has one of the world’s highest levels of education, technological development and economic productivity. Since the end of World War II, the number of young people entering universities has more than tripled, and the trade and technical schools in Germany are among the world’s best.

If you need a German translation, ask SanTranslate.

Cantonese is a dialect of the Chinese language family spoken in Hong Kong, and it is an ever changing language. The forum site Hong Kong Golden Forum (香港高登) started off as a discussion forum for consumer electronics and computer hardware but became popular with more and more posts on issues in Hong Kong. This metropolis has its own slang. For example, Chok Yeung is Cantonese slang meaning to tease someone making pretentious, model-like poses for photos. Another example is 3Q, which means thank you.

Hong Kong is a place where the cultures of East and West blend: the official languages are Chinese and English. After the reunification with the motherland and the increasing number of mainland tourists in Hong Kong, as well as many Hong Kongers who do business in mainland China, more and more people in this region can speak or have learnt Mandarin (Putonghua).

As China is becoming more and more influential among nations, people learning Chinese learn simplified Chinese, the mainland’s language system. However, over 94% of Hong Kong people are still using Cantonese as their first language, and, although simplified Chinese is less complicated in terms of writing, it cannot gain the same status as traditional Chinese.

The reason for conserving traditional Chinese characters is, first of all, its long existing history, which makes it a cultural heritage worth preserving. Then, comparing the two kinds of Chinese characters, the majority of people would think that the traditional ones look more elegant and tidy. As for the oral language, it is unique. For instance, the Cantonese term “無厘頭” meaning one is telling something totally irrelevant to what has been said before can be translated roughly, but its meaning can only be understood in real life experiences, and there is no exact definition for it.

Language and culture are always strictly linked. In order not to make cultural mistakes, choose language experts for your translations. Ask SanTranslate.