Many schools have started preparations for their foreign recruitment drive for the 2020 school year, armed with a new prospectus for tradeshows, expos and overseas-based agents.

In his long experience in the education sector, translation expert Hayden Barrett says the most successful New Zealand schools in the overseas markets have always had a major focus on good translations.

“Students, parents and agents in Asian countries are overrun by education providers from New Zealand, Australia, Britain and the United States, so it is important to stand out through high-quality translations,” says Barrett, director at leading New Zealand translations company Blue South Translations.

“When parents decide to send their child to a foreign country, they want to have a level of comfort that the school of choice will care about the wellbeing of their child. Being able to read the material in their own language will make a big difference, and show them that the school cares about their needs, especially if their English is limited,” says Barrett, who is surprised how many schools are still using only English marketing material.

Barrett’s company, Blue South Translations, work on prospectuses, handbooks and other marketing material for dozens of schools, from Southland to Auckland for the Chinese, Korean, Thai, Indonesian, Japanese and Vietnamese markets.

He says that many of the schools will initially try to use their own international staff members or even translating software to create a prospectus, but that this approach often backfires.

“The staff member may have been in New Zealand for many years and may not have kept up with the changes in their language.  Also, they will not have the same skills as a professional translator who is embedded in the overseas market and translates educational material every day,” says Barrett.

He emphasises that the international staff at the schools still play an important role in reviewing the translated material to make sure the needs of the school are met.

Barrett says that translations are not always top of the agenda when schools are rushing to get their prospectus out of the door and some schools will consider it an unnecessary cost.

“If you see how much money and resources some schools dedicate to designing and printing prospectuses and sending their staff to overseas expos, a quality translation seems a small cost that will have a major impact on the success of their recruitment programme.

“And once those translations are done, they can be re-used for years to come in other documents, which makes it a cost-effective investment for schools that want to stand out in the overseas market,” says Barrett.

Many schools like Northcross Intermediate School in Auckland have experienced how investing in high quality translations has huge benefits, since they first engaged the services of Blue South Translations back in 2011.

Sharon Hines, the Director of International Students at Northcross says that Blue South Translations have been amazing to deal with, “friendly, professional and prompt”.

“I would have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone looking for a professional translation,” says Sharon Hines.

For more information, please contact Hayden Barrett on 027 430 9815

The post Quality translations pivotal to capture foreign student market appeared first on Translation Services | Professional Translators | Blue South Christchurch New Zealand.

Tourism has become New Zealand’s largest foreign currency earner and the Asian visitors, with their limited English knowledge, have become the fastest-growing section of the local market.

“Many NZ operators still don’t provide crucial information in their customer’s own language for their Asian visitors or customers who require translation support in other key languages,” says Hayden Barrett, Managing Director of Blue South, New Zealand’s leading translation service.

“Comprehensive high-quality translations in the customer’s mother tongue can be the decisive factor in securing the booking or missing out,” says Mr Barrett.

Blue South Translations supports leading tourism operators around the country by translating their brochures, website content, menus and any other sales and marketing material these companies use.

Mr Barrett says that his company has a proven track record of providing a world-class translation service with over 400 translators in more than 50 countries.

“Unlike many other services, we don’t rely on machine translation software or locally-based foreign nationals, but only use translators who are embedded in their country and language and who are also experts in specific industries and provide the terminology appropriate for those sectors,” says Mr Barrett.

Leading New Zealand tourism operators Tourism Holdings Limited (thl) have used Blue South for many years and Product Marketing Specialist Johanna Denyer says Blue South are extremely professional and provide top quality translations every single time. “Blue South’s ability to provide a job on deadline and with excellent service is why thl go back to them again and again,” says Ms Denyer.

Mr Barrett says he understands why some companies go for cheap options because they consider translations an unnecessary one-off cost. “In fact, first-class translations are an investment that businesses will continue to benefit from for years to come, and just as importantly, poor translations can do major damage to your brand,” says Mr Barrett.

Languages constantly evolve and because Blue South’s translators are embedded in their countries, they will adjust their translations to the latest trends in their language.
“Our translators will also identify any cultural sensitivities around words, phrases or illustrations in the material that New Zealand operators may not even be aware of.”

Aside from its core translating service, many tourism operators also rely on Blue South’s graphics expertise and software to typeset any translated content into their existing marketing material to supply a complete end-product.
“Trying to import translations can create complex issues and errors because most New Zealand graphic designers do not have the software to do the typesetting in foreign typographies,” says Mr Barrett.

Mr Barrett says his team works with a wide variety of tourism operators and is aware that many of them are small businesses but says that Blue South can provide a service that suits the budgets of most companies.

“Once the translations are done, Blue South has the software that recognises phrases so we can recycle the translated material in other documents at a minimal cost, which provides a great long-term investment for our customers.”

For more information, please contact Hayden Barrett on 027 430 9815

The post Reliable Translations Vital for Successful Tourism Businesses appeared first on Translation Services | Professional Translators | Blue South Christchurch New Zealand.