The world is not enough
You want more than just the usual languages? That’s good – because so do we. That’s why we’re translating and editing our way around the world. We work with a select group of external specialists for languages that are not often requested, each of which undergoes a stringent selection process in accordance with the requirements of our ISO certifications.
The Swiss watchmaking industry, our subtitling clients and website translations give us the opportunity to work with fascinating clients in a huge range of different languages. Arabic, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Swedish – whatever language they are in, your data is secure, and all of our in-house employees and external partners have signed a strict NDA.
Editing and translation in further languages
Take advantage of the huge wealth of linguistic and cultural expertise of our internal and external experts. There isn’t a language that doesn’t fascinate us, and even if it’s not in our list, we will find someone who is up to the task in our well-organised network of qualified native speakers. Just give us a call.
Arabic
Diction is the ideal partner for Arabic translations, specialist translations and communication.
In addition to Standard Arabic, also known as Quranic Arabic, there are countless dialects spoken across the various Arabic-speaking countries, and speakers of one dialect will often not understand speakers of another. The customs and thus the expectations placed on business partners are also extremely diverse. It therefore makes a real difference whether you require a business letter for Dubai, a brochure for Egypt or a guide to business etiquette in Saudi Arabia.
Naturally, we take these considerations into account and our translation agency delivers texts that are correct for the region you need them for. We provide editing, translation and interpreting services with a focus on the following language combinations and areas of expertise:
- Standard Arabic: German–Arabic, English–Arabic, French–Arabic
- German/English/French > Syrian, Gulf, Lebanese, Egyptian and Saudi Arabian Arabic and all three varieties of Iraqi Arabic
- Hotels and tourism, watchmaking, banking and finance, marketing and advertising, and many more industries
And if you want to welcome your Arabic-speaking guests to Switzerland, our team provides the services you need – we can advise you on the correct social etiquette or even check the images featured in your publications and inform you which ones may or may not be well suited to the Arabic-speaking world.
If you also need someone to take care of the layout, we will be happy to help. For languages like Arabic that have different writing systems, getting the layout right is even more important.
Bulgarian
A Bulgarian translation or an editing project in Bulgarian? Not a problem. Just contact us.
Croatian
If you need a text translated into Croatian or need your Croatian text edited, we will be happy to help. Croatian is a South Slavic language with dialects named for the version of the word “what” they use (Kajkavian, Chakavian and Shtokavian). Whether it’s marketing texts, financial documents or scientific publications, you can rely on our translators and proofreaders for flawless Croatian texts. Get in touch if you need a Croatian translation or have a Croatian proofreading project for us to work on.
Czech
You need a Czech translation, or have a text in Czech that needs editing? Not a problem. Just contact us.
Danish
A Danish translation or an editing project in Danish? Not a problem. Just contact us.
Dutch
A Dutch translation or an editing project in Dutch? Not a problem. Just contact us.
Greek
A Greek translation or an editing project in Greek? Not a problem. Just contact us.
Hindi
A Hindi translation or an editing project in Hindi? Not a problem. Just contact us.
Hungarian
You need a Hungarian translation, or have a text in Hungarian that needs editing? Our Hungarian experts always have time for your texts. And this despite that fact that you cannot actually “have” anything in Hungarian, since the verb “to have” does not exist in the language.
This temperamental language is truly one of a kind: who else in Europe can say that the languages of two small indigenous peoples in western Siberia are their only close linguistic relatives? While Finnish does belong to the same linguistic family, it has developed to become more of a distant relative. Another fascinating fact: individual elements in a sentence often merge to form a single word in Hungarian. With this in mind: Segíthetünk? (Can we help you?) Just contact us.
Icelandic
You need an Icelandic translation? Not a problem. Icelandic is a wonderful, ancient language which has barely changed over the last thousand years. Even today, somebody from Iceland would be able to read and understand the famous Edda, written in the 13th century, with little difficulty. That text probably no longer needs translating, but our experts would be just as excited to translate your slightly more modern Icelandic texts, too.
Japanese
Do you need a Japanese translation, or have a Japanese text that needs editing? Diction is your reliable partner for language services and cultural advice. Our Japan experts are not only fluent in the language – they also know how low you should bow, where to take off your shoes (and why) and how to address different people. Speaking of which: Did you know that there are a number of different forms of the personal pronoun “I” in Japanese? Choosing the correct form depends on the situation and your relationship with the person you are speaking to. But don’t worry: our Japanese native speakers are experts in all the finer points of grammar and culture.
Korean
Need our help with a Korean translation? Want us to edit your Korean text? We offer our services in every variety of this (probably) Altaic language that has no known close relatives. Our Korean translators aren’t quite as mysterious – you can reach them around the clock by phone or e-mail.
Norwegian
A Norwegian translation or an editing project in Norwegian? Not a problem. Just contact us.
Latin
You need a Latin translation? Not a problem. Much of the grammar and lexis used in modern French, Spanish and Italian evolved from Latin, a language which is of course also part of our repertoire here at Diction.
As every Asterix and Obelix fan knows, S.P.Q.R. stands for Senatus Populusque Romanus – The Senate and People of Rome. The S.P.Q.R. was the proud sponsor of the Roman army’s expansion policy, which radically altered the map of Europe and the continent’s languages along with it. From the Germanic Bavarii, whose modern-day descendants in Bavaria and Austria still use their ancestors’ greeting “servus” on a daily basis, to the Anglo Saxons, whose Macbeth used magnificent Latin loan words to express his fear that his guilt would colour “multitudinous seas incarnadine” (blood red): Latin has left an indelible mark on all those it has come into contact with. And our enthusiastic Latin translators are no exception. So do feel free to contact us.
Or, if you’d prefer:
Desideratis interpretationem Latinam? Libenter! Lingua Latina est gravissimum membrum quarumque linguae occidentis. Itaque numerat inter linguas oblatas ab Dictione. Quicumque Astericem Gallum legit scit S.P.Q.R. abbreviationem esse quae significat: Senatus Populusque Romanus. Iste S.P.Q.R. seape augebat itinera voluptaria militibus Romanis paene in toto orbi terrarum. Interdum gentes frequentatae perciperunt istes visitationes impense molestas. Verumtamen commutaverunt radiciter simul tabulam geographicam simul linguas Europae. A Baiovariis haud facile ad humanitatem informatis usque ad Britannos item contumaces: Lingua Latina relinquebat vestigia indelibilia in quacumque gente quam tetigit. Salutatio usitata Baiovarorum adhuc est «Servus». Aeque Macbeth – Scotus infamis – utens verbis magnificis sumptis ab lingua Latina timet culpam suam tinguere multitudinem undarum in ruborem carnis (“multitudinous seas incarnadine”). Vestigia indelibilia relinquebat lingua Latina etiam in nostris interpretibus laetis Latinae. Rogamus ut nos utamini.
Polish
You need a Polish translation, or have a Polish text that needs editing? Our language experts (among them an in-house Polish native speaker) can edit your texts from the most varied specialist areas and of course are familiar with the Polish language’s most interesting and unusual rules and facts – for example, the fact that the Polish reader is addressed using informal pronouns in user manuals (but not in other types of text). Or the fact that Polish is actually the second most spoken language in the UK. Want to know more? Feel free to contact us at any time.
Portuguese
Do you need a Portuguese translation? Does your Portuguese text need to be edited? We will be happy to help. We can translate your marketing, finance, hotel or haute horlogerie texts into Portuguese for Portugal or Brazil – just let us know which variety you need. The differences are bigger than you might think. In Portugal, for example, a train is a “comboio” and sport is referred to as “desporto”, whereas in Brazil they use the words “trem” and “esporte”. And did you know that they have formal (“tu”) and informal (“você”) versions of the word “you” in Portuguese, like in German? In Portugal both are used, whereas in Brazil the informal version is used in most situations.
As different as these two varieties of the same language may be, they both share the wonderful “saudade”, a word that describes a feeling of deep longing, melancholy or nostalgia, and one that is so untranslatable it is in the Oxford English Dictionary. Our translators usually wait until after work to indulge in a little saudade, so get in touch with them.
Quenya
OK, you’ve got us there: our only native speaker of this Elvish tongue disappeared last week under mysterious circumstances. They mentioned something about a ring. But, if you do need a Quenya text edited or translated, we will do our very best.
Romansh
We would be delighted to help you with a Romansh translation or by editing your Romansh text. Our experts understand all five varieties spoken in Switzerland (Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Putèr and Vallader) and of course also write in the standardised written variety of Rumantsch Grischun. Simply let us know which variety you prefer. Not quite sure? We will be happy to advise you.
Romanian
Can we help out with a Romanian translation or proofreading project? Our highly experienced and qualified Romanian experts are on hand to perfect your marketing texts and financial translations. Over 90% of the words used in the Romanian language are of direct Latin origin, but, unlike other Romance languages, Romanian places the definite article after the word it refers to rather than before it. For example: frate – fratele (brother – the brother). If you need a Romanian translation or your Romanian text needs proofreading, just contact us.
Russian
Dostoyevsky may have painted the Russian soul as being marked by a spiritual need for suffering, but we don’t think that inaccurate translations or disorganised layouts should satisfy this need. Our in-house Russian team is on hand to ensure that your texts are of the highest quality. Terms such as “export industries” – “отрасли промышленности, работающие на экспорт” in Russian – won’t make your layout suffer either, as if the Russian translation is 400 characters longer than the source text, we make the necessary adjustments to the layout without compromising the quality of the text, as well as ensuring that your finished document is delivered ready for printing.
And despite this and many other mammoth Russian terms, we are so quick that we can take care of the layout even when the deadline is tight – and we are happy to work on your documents in QuarkXPress and InDesign as well. Feel free to contact us.
Swedish
Hej! You need a Swedish translation, or have a text in Swedish that needs editing? Not a problem. We can help you whether you prefer standard Swedish or Finland Swedish. We are also au fait with the cultural peculiarities of the language. A certain well-known Swedish furniture company would have us believe everybody in Sweden uses informal address, all the time. It is true that the polite form “Ni” is hardly ever used. But here at Diction, we prefer to remain culturally unbiased in our translations, and will only address your readers in this way if you ask us to. Vi hörs!
Slovenian
You need a Slovenian translation? Not a problem. Even though relatively few people speak this Southern Slavic language (it has around two million native speakers) it certainly is diverse as far as regional varieties go. There are seven main dialect groups which comprise over 40 vernaculars in total, since the Slovenian linguistic area is strongly divided and incredibly diverse, due to geographical, cultural and historical reasons. An interesting idiosyncrasy is the dual, a grammatical number used in addition to singular and plural to refer to precisely two of an object which used to feature heavily in Indo-European languages but has now almost completely disappeared. Yet it still shapes the language and culture of Slovenia: there is even a film which makes metaphorical reference to this linguistic feature.
Swahili
Jambo! You need a translation in Swahili, or have a text in Swahili that needs editing? We will be happy to help you in all language services related to this important East-African Bantu language which is spoken by roughly 80 million people. And even if we are closet admirers of Kenya’s secret motto “pole pole” (take it easy), the services we provide strictly follow the principle of “haraka haraka” (hurry up).
Turkish
You need a Turkish translation, or have a text in Turkish that needs editing? Not a problem. Just contact us.
Ukrainian
If you need a Ukrainian translation or have a Ukrainian proofreading project, we will be glad to help out. This East Slavic language is wonderfully melodic (“пiвуча мова”). Ukrainian is closely related to Russian (similar to German and Dutch), but there are a few words the two languages use in quite different ways – “urodlywy” is Ukrainian for “beautiful”, while the similar Russian word “urodliwy” means “ugly.”
You can rely on our translators and proofreaders to make sure your Ukrainian texts are never ugly. If you have a text that needs translating into Ukrainian or editing in Ukrainian, just get in touch.
Vietnamese
You need a Vietnamese translation, or have a text in Vietnamese that needs editing? Not a problem. Just contact us.
Any questions about editing and translation in further languages?
Whether you need your text in 2 languages or 20, our Multilingual Projects team, headed up by Maria Huber, is on hand to answer any questions you may have.
+41 81 750 53 33
maria.huber@diction.ch
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