As the U.S. economy struggles, companies like The Gap and Levis are expanding their presence within lucrative Asian markets. Chinese consumers in particular are snapping up slim-cut, distressed, edgy denim designed specifically for slender Asian figures, and sold by Levis and The Gap exclusively in China.

Both The Gap and Levis now have a presence in China, and The Gap opened its first franchise in Vietnam in September of this year. Asian consumers love Western brands, their disposable income is on the rise, and they typically spend more on clothing than Westerners do.  

Other retailers making their mark in China include Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Apple. As Asian countries continue to grow in retail power, more American companies are sure to take heed, expanding their marketing efforts into China, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and Cambodia. Translation and localization will play an ever-increasing role in Asian expansion, as companies tailor their marketing message to reach their Asian consumers. Reaching Asian purchasers both in the U.S. and in their home countries requires knowledgeable, sophisticated translation processes to ensure that marketing campaigns are executed successfully.

For over 15 years, Avantpage has specialized in the high-quality, accurate translation and localization required to communicate to Asian consumers. For more information on our Asian language capabilities, call 877-ANY-LANG or email sales@avantpage.com today! 

We look forward to hearing from you, and are ready to create a lasting language partnership to support your sales and marketing efforts into foreign markets.

At Avantpage, our project management team is indispensible. We thought we'd take a moment to reveal just what our PMs are responsible for and why they're so critical to our success.

At Avantpage, our project managers are the liaison between our clients and translators. They are responsible for ensuring that projects progress smoothly, that everyone is on the same page when it comes to expectations, and that communication between all project team members and client representatives is flowing freely.

What are the characteristics our project managers share? For starters, the ability to think on their feet and change focus midstride is paramount. Add to that, a knack for solving problems in an instant, staying calm during crises and the ability to handle multiple requests without breaking a sweat.

Project managers for Avantpage are familiar with all aspects of language translation, customer service, billing issues, and technical support. They act as troubleshooters, expert communicators, quality control specialists, production coordinators, sales support, and tech advisors. 

Our project management team is responsible for assessing and distributing workloads, organizing client meetings, monitoring performance and productivity, organizing training and support for team members, communicating client needs to the translation team, overseeing AvantForum, AvantFlow, AvantMemory and other translation technology tools, ensuring that processes and procedures remain cost-effective throughout the life of a project, and keeping tabs on quality issues. Our PMs keep your projects on track, on target and moving forward, every step of the way!

To find out more about Avantpage's PM team, call 877-ANY-LANG or email info@avantpage.com today!

As a health care provider, you know that clear, open communication with your clients is critical.  If your LEP (Limited English Proficient) clients don't fully understand discharge instructions, insurance information, consent forms, applications, and other written materials, you may be putting them - as well as yourself and your organization - at risk.

When you make an effort to communicate with your clients in their primary language, the benefits are enormous. You will improve understanding of insurance and plan guidelines; reduce medical misunderstandings, billing errors and potential malpractice charges; and provide the opportunity for more positive health outcomes across the board.

At Avantpage, we specialize in translation for the healthcare industry, and work closely with some of today's largest healthcare organizations.

• We translate into more than 150 languages
• Our work is accurate, culturally sensitive and consistent
• We use state-of-the-art web-based translation technology
• We take steps to ensure our services remain affordable and cost-effective
• We work with you to create a translation program that fits your needs, budget and compliance requirements

To discover how Avantpage can provide affordable, accurate, high-quality translation services for you, click here.  To get a quote for translation services, click here.

Don't let inaccuracies in translation hinder the effectiveness of your message, drive off potential business, or compromise patient care.

Pre-Qualification
Translators can apply for work via our Careers page on our website or they can be referred by translators who already work with Avantpage. Translators must submit their Request for Qualifications form to qualify; they must perform sample tests in their areas of expertise; and they must send a sample of their work along with the original source document, and a valid Certification of Membership to ATA, a Court Certification, or a Certification from an equivalent Professional Translation Institution.

Qualification
Once the translator is pre-qualified, we interview them, and our Project Management team works with him/her in a "test" project to evaluate quality, responsiveness, and turnaround times. The translation is reviewed by the Lead Translator to check accuracy and quality with the original file. If these stages are completed successfully, the translator signs the nondisclosure agreement, and they are monitored for 3 months by our PM team and the Lead Translator for that language.

Permanent Team Members
Translators receive training on our online project management systems (AvantFlow and AvantForum), Translation Tools (SDLX, Trados), AvantMemory/XTM, teamwork, Avantpage quality control process, and Avantpage customer service guidelines. All our translators receive permanent feedback and training in order to continuously be updated in their performance. Each language team has access to AvantForum to share best practices with the rest of the Avantpage Translators' team.

Continuous Evaluation and Skill Updating
Translators are periodically evaluated to ensure they have been performing well for our customers. In addition we survey them for new skills or tools they have acquired, continuing education courses, and ask them how we can improve our systems or processes.

To find out more about Avantpage's translators, call 877-ANY-LANG or email info@avantpage.com today!

Avantpage has agreed to act as a non-exclusive agent for sales of XTM Cloud computing solutions to companies and organizations in North and Central America. Avantpage is pleased to have this opportunity to work with XTM International to reach new markets.

Click here for more information.

You may have heard us talk about the exceptional quality of our translation work. What does "quality" mean when talking about translation? Don't other companies provide quality as well? What sets Avantpage apart?

Over the years, we've built a stellar industry reputation on maintaining excellence of quality in every translation we provide. Quality of translation means much more than translating words or sentences correctly. High quality translation is intuitive, it is accurate, it seamlessly adjusts for reading levels, and it addresses individual client and language requirements.  

Avantpage translation is always accurate, culturally sensitive and audience-appropriate.

The reading level of the audience being translated for plays a critical part in the quality of the translation. Avantpage translators are extremely sensitive to this, and even when translating difficult medical terminology, complex financial data or legal documentation, they maintain strict adherence to the reading level of their audience. Avantpage translators accommodate reading levels from elementary school  through high school/college, and are well-versed in choosing the proper wording, sentence structure and terminology that will best serve their readers' needs.

Avantpage creates meticulous style guides and glossaries for clients to further enhance the accuracy, consistency and high quality of the translations. Style guides let translators know the linguistic and stylistic preferences of the audience they are translating for, and glossaries provide important terms and their preferred translations for each client.

At Avantpage, our commitment to quality encompasses consistency, accuracy, linguistic excellence, the knowledge and expertise of our translation teams, and the processes and procedures we follow to ensure exceptional service. Providing quality to our clients is our number one priority, day in and day out! 

Localization is the process through which businesses customize their products, services and Internet presence to reflect differences in distinct markets - for example, when branching out to reach non-English-speaking or international markets.

Localization involves much more than just translation. Graphic design, use of color, currency, symbols, writing style and cultural references are just a few examples of elements that come into play when preparing to localize.

Why localize? In today's marketplace, the better question would be "why not?" As global markets grows ever more accessible, and more non-English speakers gain buying power and online acumen, localization represents the future of successful businesses. Localizing your online business presence allows you to tap into previously inaccessible markets, shows that you are culturally and ethically sensitive to customer needs, and gives you a leg up on your competitors. Localization also polishes your corporate image, and increases your visibility as a trusted provider of products and services.

Avantpage specializes in helping businesses develop and execute a localization strategy that reflects their specific needs, markets and products. For more information on how Avantpage can help you localize your website, download our new localization guide, AvantWeb: Essentials of Web Localization. Inside, you'll discover answers to all your questions about the localization process: how it works, what's involved, what you need to provide, and how the workflow will proceed.

To find out more about  localization and how Avantpage can help, call 877-ANY-LANG or email today!

There are approximately 47 million people in the United States who speak a language other than English. Effective communication is critical to safe, quality health care, yet many health care organizations fall short when it comes to caring for Limited English Proficient (LEP) patients.

According to a study conducted by the International Journal for Quality in Health Care, language barriers in hospitals were shown to increase risks to patient safety. Data was collected on adverse events affecting both LEP and English-speaking patients. The study showed that when adverse events were tracked in both groups, 49.1% of those experienced by LEP patients involved physical harm, while only 29.5% of adverse events experienced by English-speaking patients did. Of the patients who experienced physical harm, 46.8 % of LEP patients were rated at levels of "moderate temporary harm to death" while only 24.4% of the English speakers had the same harm ratings. 52.4% of the LEP patients' adverse events were related to communication errors, while 35.9% of the English speakers were communication-related.

To rectify this situation, the Joint Commission has created new communication and language standards for health care organizations that will go into effect in January 2011. Hospitals seeking accreditation will need to comply with these new standards, which include providing proficient in-person or phone interpreters; ensuring that written documentation (forms, instructions, signage, etc.) is properly translated into appropriate languages; and that caregivers and health professionals are trained in culturally sensitive communication among different ethnic groups.

To find out more about  the Joint Commission and the standards, call 877-ANY-LANG or email today!

At Avantpage, we use glossaries and translation memory to save time in the long run, saving our clients money, as well as provide consistency within a translated document and among all your translated documents.

Custom glossaries are built for each client, so that their preferences are recorded for future use. For example, if a client prefers the word "team member" instead of "employee," that's the word that will always be used. Using glossaries, any of our translators will be able to pick up material related to the same client, and have fewer questions about the way certain terms are to be translated.

Working along the same lines, translation memory (TM) software helps us build on the previous work of our translators to save time in the future. Once a document has been completed and reviewed for quality assurance, it is converted to a TM file. When it's time to complete a new translation for the same client, we can analyze the new document against previously translated documents. The application helps decipher which words and phrases have been repeated and indicates how they were previously translated.

Even though these technologies do not rely on computers to make the translation, they do make the translation process much more efficient by building on existing work. In the end, it's always an educated human translator that makes the final decision, as we strongly believe it should be.

At Avantpage, we're much more than just a translation company. We provide translation, localization, interpretation, language technology and much more - all with a unique sensitivity to other cultures, ethnic markets and foreign entities. Our documents and multimedia are not "just" translations - they feel and function as if they were produced in the target country.

So, why the bridge? The image of the Avantpage bridge is elegant, yet powerful. Its grace and beauty belies an underlying strength that will provide safe passage to many future travelers. 

Our services provide a powerful bridge across which businesses can communicate, collaborate and function more effectively through many diverse languages. From localizing websites and online materials to the intricacies of international commerce, the Avantpage bridge of services reaches across language barriers and cultural differences, drawing people together and helping them to create lasting relationships with ethnic and foreign markets.

Simply put, Avantpage represents a bridge to other cultures, a bridge towards more effective communication both locally and globally, and a bridge to a brighter future.

Come and be a part of our journey as we travel across!