We have been helping with all kinds of translations for more than 20 years. We take part in a wide variety of projects in most existing language combinations. We also offer translation to and from Afrikaans. Although Afrikaans is spoken by around 17 million people it is relatively uncommon here. Due to the migration processes, it can now be heard many places now, including the USA, Canada, Australia and Europe.
A few weeks ago we were approached by a marketing agency specialising in video marketing. They use video to create and guide their customers’ brand communication strategies (YouTube, webinar, corporate video, employer branding, brand videos, and podcasts).
They requested English subtitles for a video published on YouTube promoting a product owned by one of their customers. Given the nature of this customer’s reach and business, the quality of the translation was a priority. One of the technical requirements was the need to prepare subtitles translated into English in the SRT format. The real challenge, however, turned out to be the source language of the video. Due to its exotic sound, they asked for the source language to be determined and confirmed.
The proposed solution involved:
– appointing a project manager to supervise the implementation of the order;
– determining their requirements in terms of partnership guidelines, general processes and the translation process;
– verifying the source language of the video, which sounded similar to a European language, and ultimately proved out to be Afrikaans;
– preparing a tailor-made offer, including the transcription of the video with time codes in an SRT file and preparing the translation from Afrikaans into English using this format;
– providing additional verification of the completeness of the translation and its compatibility with the video, carried out before the finished project is returned.
The proposed solutions, together with the pricing, were accepted and the order proved to be a success. Our partnership is developing and further projects are underway.
Video content is becoming increasingly popular among companies that wish to present their products in a modern form. Besides translating subtitles, we can also help with professional dubbing. We have a voice bank and can create soundtracks with dubbed voices that can be added to the video during the post-production process. If you also operate in an international environment and plan to reach foreign recipients with audiovisual materials, then Skrivanek is here to help!
