tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61865670043667282432012-02-10T12:28:19.061-05:00ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8061100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-35401077378864138162012-02-10T11:51:00.009-05:002012-02-10T12:28:19.072-05:00

Americans tend to spend more, save less, and be overweight. A generalization? Sure. But luckily (or not?), poor, fat Americans aren't alone; the Greeks, for one, have similar traits. On the other hand, folks like the Germans are thriftier and in better shape - and they save more for retirement. Meanwhile, the Chinese blow most nationalities away when it comes to saving money. What explains these

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-67899294483174846662012-02-09T10:22:00.007-05:002012-02-09T10:37:04.034-05:00

We are thrilled to announce that this week, ForeignExchange formed a strategic alliance with Vasont Systems, a content management system (CMS) vendor. For those of our readers who are unfamiliar with content management systems, CMS help companies structure, organize, and store content to facilitate consistency, reuse, publishing in multiple formats, and a smoother translation process. More and

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-9943652487325654332012-02-07T08:44:00.000-05:002012-02-07T08:49:52.311-05:00

For most of us, it's simply a mouthful: pharmacovigilance.But for drug manufacturers, it is critically important to collect, monitor, research, assessing, and evaluate information from healthcare providers and patients on the adverse effects of medications. So, pharmaceutical and biotech companies are paying close attention to EMA's looming new pharmacovigilance legislation. Major changes to the

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-34252136336558934252012-02-06T08:06:00.000-05:002012-02-06T08:19:31.537-05:00

Russia is expected to release new medical device regulations within the next few weeks, according to the Massdevice website. The article states that the new regulations will be clearer and have more specific requirements than current ones (e.g., by providing reporting timelines and requirements for post-approval reporting). The updated regulations are also expected to cover the clinical trial

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-7030930204256269882012-02-03T07:55:00.002-05:002012-02-03T07:55:00.474-05:00

After a small break following our busiest year ever, 2012 has started with a bang for us here at ForeignExchange Translations: new team members, new clients, new Learning Unplugged seminars, and new content on Medical Translation Insight. In case you missed them, here are the posts that received the most attention in January:Is Google Translate accurate enough for professional use? - It looks

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-70271205405707263622012-02-02T06:32:00.001-05:002012-02-02T06:32:00.238-05:00

ForeignExchange has a strong history in the translation of Japanese regulatory and clinical documentation. We have a strong team of qualified native-speaking Japanese linguists and a technical services staff that is experienced in the nuances of PAL-compliant documentation for both the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. We have not only expertly translated content for our clients but

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-15327584970714886242012-02-01T04:41:00.000-05:002012-02-01T04:41:00.728-05:00

In medical translations, the ability to track changes is a key component of delivering quality to clients. And it's not just about the quality per se; for regulatory submissions or some clinic trial work, all changes have to be documented and approved, which means that change tracking is an everyday task for many medical translators, editors, and project managers.ChangeTracker, a new tool for

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-66210936837597069852012-01-31T07:36:00.008-05:002012-01-31T08:38:17.023-05:00

For the eleventh year in a row, clients of ForeignExchange Translations say they are very satisfied with the quality and service they have received, and an astonishing 96% say they would gladly recommend ForeignExchange to other companies looking for a translation and localization provider. Since the year 2000, ForeignExchange has conducted a comprehensive annual survey of its clients, to assist

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-70702053270836890762012-01-30T07:40:00.006-05:002012-01-31T08:38:54.961-05:00

We've got some great educational offerings in the next few weeks.Translations 101Translation is an arcane discipline, where state-of-the-art technology comes together with a very human process. Done well, medical translations can save lives by getting products to market faster with the vital information needed for safe, correct use. But it can be expensive and time-consuming and translation

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-76830692321057601352012-01-27T06:54:00.001-05:002012-02-06T12:21:35.641-05:00

Anabel Pérez is one of our Senior Project Managers here at ForeignExchange Translations. She has been involved in the medical localization field since 2004 in a variety of roles from freelance translator to in-house proofreader and localization project manager. Over this period, Anabel has gathered a lot of know-how around EMA submissions. She understands that translating product information

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-8491608754957381612012-01-20T11:31:00.005-05:002012-01-30T17:29:49.781-05:00

The Saudi Food & Drug Authority (SFDA) is still relatively young - it was only established in 2003. That's not stopping the newish agency from embracing eCTD though. SFDA published some information regarding their roadmap towards electronic submission. The timeline looks like this:Starting from December 20, 2011, NeeS submissions for human medicinal product dossiers will be accepted by the SFDA

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-2498697853557100912012-01-17T07:54:00.002-05:002012-01-17T09:25:33.629-05:00

2012 has started and medical translation clients and professionals are slowly returning to work after taking time off over the Holidays. This is a good time to review the most popular audio conferences and webinars from the past year. Our team produced roughly 120 events - 2 to 3 every week of the year - that attracted close to 5,000 attendees. Many of our events were in the areas of clinical

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-45051052062926188812012-01-11T07:51:00.004-05:002012-01-11T11:55:32.032-05:00

What is Dunglish, you ask?A) The combination of the words Dutch and English.B) The language produced when these two languages collide. C) A blog by Natasha Cloutier.Sure, the web is full of Chinglish examples but there is just something uniquely funny about the language produced by Dutch speakers who have been abroad too long, and by English speakers whose English is going Dutch. Maybe it's

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-11173182510677464092012-01-10T09:38:00.003-05:002012-01-10T10:32:23.312-05:00

A belated Happy New Year to all of our readers!2011 was a terrific year for Medical Translation Insight. We were able to report on important issues impacting medical device and pharmaceutical companies, suppliers, and translators. As a result, our readership has more than doubled. We appreciate everybody's interest and support!December was a good example of our efforts. We were able to generate

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-80430084948059567592012-01-09T11:44:00.005-05:002012-01-09T12:08:53.809-05:00

The new frontier in sign language? Gloves.As patients with disabilities get more more and more attention, one area of development that's picking up are so-called "sign language gloves". These electronic devices converts the complex motions of a sign language into written or spoken words.One of the latest entries into this field is the "Texting Glove" invented by Google developers Oleg Imanilov,

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-13237245145968906232012-01-06T06:27:00.003-05:002012-01-06T06:27:00.837-05:00

As the demand for technical, training, marketing documentation, and product labeling increases, so too does the need to deliver this content more quickly and in more languages. To meet these growing requirements, medical device and pharmaceutical companies are migrating towards structured authoring and content management systems (CMS) that enable the re-use and re-purposing of existing

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-64184940576986772702012-01-05T09:40:00.005-05:002012-01-05T10:13:47.696-05:00

We recently wrote about numerals and measurements in Chinese and Japanese texts. While there are lots and lots of numeral systems around the world, most of us are used to the decimal system, expressed using Arabic numerals.The term "Arabic numerals" can be ambiguous though. As Wikipedia points out, the expression"...most commonly refers to the numeral system widely used in Europe and the Americas

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-61074092444762413062012-01-04T08:51:00.004-05:002012-01-04T12:44:02.113-05:00

Latin America's importance in clinical research has been growing steadily. We mentioned in the past how medical device and pharmaceutical companies have made Latin America on of the "big three" emerging research markets. Now, though, the region is looking somewhat less hospitable.The Buenos Aires Herald reports that GSK was fined 400,000 pesos (roughly US$ 93,000) following a report issued by

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-42539540257800943442012-01-03T07:26:00.003-05:002012-01-03T07:26:00.150-05:00

Well, well, well. While FDA is sloooow about releasing rules governing the use of social media by pharmaceutical and medical device companies, the agency has launched its very own blog, FDA Voice.FDA Voice was launched in December 2011 as part of a general overhaul of FDA's web site - cleaner, fewer links, more modern. FDA Voice is just one of FDA's interactive media offerings, and it is the

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-50741963739288983152011-12-23T15:30:00.003-05:002011-12-23T15:30:02.076-05:00

Talk about staying power. Every once in a while a cliche, a turn of phrase, or an acronym comes along that proves durable. Think OMG. Think Yes We Can. Think Lost In Translation.Come on, is there anybody who isn't yet sick of hearing something or another got lost in translation? As the Translation Guy said:"Lost in Translation" sucks, and I'm talking both film and phraseMaybe, but notwithstanding

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-4233021346425566912011-12-22T07:26:00.003-05:002011-12-22T09:21:48.493-05:00

Another year is drawing to a close. While 2011 was a challenging year, it was also a rewarding one. At ForeignExchange, we have a lot to look back on and be proud of. We opened two new offices in 2011, one in Cambridge, United Kingdom and one in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The diversity of our office locations shows the truly global nature of our business while also demonstrating how ForeignExchange

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-17961851389480611902011-12-21T07:33:00.004-05:002011-12-21T08:36:38.906-05:00

Medical device labeling in the EU continues to pose a challenge for manufacturers, who must create compliant Instructions for Use in all required languages. The term "e-labeling" refers to innovative means for providing Instructions for Use in an electronic format for medical devices. Originally e-labeling focused on IVDs, since these are usually used by healthcare professionals in a clinical

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-52603023549324654442011-12-19T07:49:00.004-05:002012-02-02T12:16:47.081-05:00

The EudraVigilance Medicinal Products Dictionary (EVMPD) was developed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to aid pharmacovigilance activities in the European Economic Area and was designed to support the collection, reporting, coding, and evaluation of both investigational and authorized medicinal product information in a standardized manner. On July 1, 2011, as a step in implementing new

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-8461743252469122922011-12-16T10:46:00.000-05:002011-12-16T10:46:46.043-05:00

We have some great educational offerings coming up in the coming weeks. On January 11th we’re bringing our popular networking breakfast event, “First, Do No Harm: Basics of Human Factors Engineering and Usability Testing,” to Santa Clara, California. The complimentary seminar will be presented by FX Certified Partner, Maria Shepherd. Seats are filling up already but you can still sign up to

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-91347050023570783452011-12-15T06:26:00.000-05:002011-12-15T06:26:00.708-05:00

The folks at Brandwood Biomedical know a thing or two about Asian device markets. They proved this again by publishing a nice presentation summarizing China's medical device industry.This presentation is helpful for people to get a quick grasp of China's current medical device market and healthcare trends. If you prefer, you can download the PDF file. Either way, it's recommended reading!For more

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-89148311976552499102011-12-14T07:36:00.003-05:002011-12-14T07:36:00.371-05:00

We have written before about Xerox' translation group (check here for a refresher).Earlier this year, ClientSideNews featured a story about the Xerox Translation Quality Assessment (TQA). If you missed it, check here for the PDF file.CSN's article looks at Xerox' "Translation Quality Assessment" process. Based on SAE J2450, it relies heavily on translator rankings. At Xerox, rankings"go from T1,

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-20913491478227119302011-12-13T07:37:00.000-05:002011-12-13T07:37:01.338-05:00

Indian medical device regulations continue to evolve - albeit very slowly.The country's health ministry aims to amend the Drugs and Cosmetics Act to provide separate definition and regulation of medical devices. Pharmabiz quoted sources as saying that "[t]he salient features of the proposed bill would be to provide a separate definition of Medical Devices, their risk based classification for

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-54657148045525960192011-12-12T09:58:00.004-05:002011-12-12T16:54:00.538-05:00

Informed consent forms (ICFs) are required in all clinical trials which are approved by an independent Ethics Committee before practical use in the trials. However, how much the average patient actually understands of the information contained in an ICF is often uncertain - and that's before it is translated into other languages.Most ICFs are too complex to understand by an average adult subject.

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-4053021579118035452011-12-09T08:37:00.001-05:002011-12-09T08:37:00.473-05:00

The year-end is almost upon us. Many of us are busy wrapping up work before taking some time off. This is also a busy time of year for our audio conference producers. Clients use left-over budget on educational event, for themselves and for others (our all-you-can-learn package has proven to be extremely popular this year).As for November, our top events were heavily focused on FDA-related topics

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-62776973497988926002011-12-08T08:06:00.003-05:002011-12-08T09:04:41.715-05:00

Congratulations, your software is now shipping throughout the world. Now, what happens to folks who need to enter data? What happens if your clients want to enter Japanese ideograms? Could they do that with a U.S. keyboard? Conversely, what if Japanese users need to type in U.S. text? Is your application able to handle switching from one locale to another and still let the user enter data?The

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-42834176141505179862011-12-07T09:04:00.004-05:002011-12-07T10:38:16.128-05:00

In our work with medical device and IVD companies, ForeignExchange's team has noticed that more and more of them are taking a careful look at which markets (and languages!) they support.In these companies' efforts to reduce costs and gain efficiencies, smaller markets in particular, are on the "chopping block". I remember one device company, in particular, that considered whether or not to

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-42806146932089909892011-12-06T09:22:00.005-05:002011-12-06T09:49:15.291-05:00

Microsoft Word is so often the application everyone loves to hate that medical translation professionals overlook one basic fact: it is the de-facto standard for word processing and basic formatting work among most medical device and pharmaceutical companies.That's generally OK but it does create challenges when we work with new clients. Sometimes client contacts will send us files (or receive

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-30928611074343165422011-12-05T08:20:00.003-05:002011-12-05T08:53:33.995-05:00

Back in the day, online marketplaces were 21st-century alternatives to garage sales: a place where you can get rid of your unused stuff.It wasn't long before folks selling professional services thought "hey, I could probably sell my services here as well!". And voila, sites likes proz, Elance, and hundreds of others were born. Nowadays, there are so many of these online "platforms", it seems like

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-6005537067313091282011-12-02T11:23:00.002-05:002011-12-02T11:33:59.009-05:00

There were many good updates to our blog on November. Here is our monthly recap of top articles:MedDRA, the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities - MedDRA is widely misunderstood (or is it, not understood?)TM ownership still not clear? - Our most-read article from October generated more interest this past monthTM sharing makes "TM ownership" moot? - Throwing fuel on the fire of the TM

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-85744459294420989092011-12-01T07:31:00.004-05:002011-12-01T07:31:00.589-05:00

Most folks who work in translation are all too familiar with the glazed eye syndrome; this also happens in medical translation (although: saving lives isn't boring at all).But you know what? Boring is good. Being "boring" has served as a solid foundation for our fast-growing business. ForeignExchange's team has focused on doing excellent work, being easy to work with, and reinventing the way

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-30341108665188982442011-11-30T13:59:00.007-05:002011-11-30T16:16:24.789-05:00

The importance of stylistic consistency is gaining increased recognition - in translation management, regulatory submissions, medical writing, and elsewhere.For a medical translator who gets approached by a client who is looking to get started with a style guide, here is another resource: the style guide of the World Health Organization [PDF link].As with any off-the-shelf style guide, the WHO

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-18656171065253989772011-11-28T09:03:00.000-05:002011-11-28T10:02:13.265-05:00

Medical device manufacturers looking for rapid growth are looking outside the United States (and most device manufacturers are still located in the U.S.). Going global is not a fail-safe proposition, however. Many device manufacturers have learned that what sells in the U.S. does not necessarily sell abroad. One of the most common mistakes is to view international sales simply as an "extension"

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-16507754667108140712011-11-23T07:40:00.001-05:002011-11-23T07:49:37.371-05:00

Over the past few years, FDA has been blamed for scandals at overseas manufacturing and been pressured to improve foreign inspections. While he agency is looking for a global solution, it also has responded by increasing international inspections.Pharmalot recent report on the latest OSI Bioresearch Monitoring Metrics Overview [PDF link] highlights this:...when we eliminate the US from the data,

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-89561662186141455512011-11-22T10:16:00.005-05:002011-11-22T16:13:52.902-05:00

Our recent article on TM ownerships generated tons of discussion on LinkedIn. Take a look at the original article here and the LinkedIn discussion here. The baseline question "is TM ownership clear" can be answered with a resounding "no".There are lots of great - and greatly divergent - comments in the discussion. If you have time, take a look.One of the folks who took the time to write to a

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-64008696690706087562011-11-18T07:26:00.003-05:002011-11-18T11:38:47.312-05:00

We have some great educational offerings coming up in the next few weeks.On November 30th in Waltham, Massachusetts, we're hosting a seminar entitled, "Designing for Translation" presented by our own Amy Maxson. Amy will be covering the pitfalls and best practices of document design to help optimize your IFUs, manuals and marketing materials to save money and time in the translation process. The

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-53185449410212130512011-11-17T07:21:00.001-05:002011-11-17T07:21:00.743-05:00

ForeignExchange Translations achieved an astounding 98.87% on-time delivery rate for all projects in the third quarter of 2011. This well surpassed the company’s already lofty set goal of 95% and contributes to our larger aim of saving lives by helping drug and device companies get their products to market faster. We are confident in setting such high on-time delivery goals due to our robust,

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-26323640100488428352011-11-16T06:52:00.001-05:002011-11-16T06:52:00.156-05:00

A couple of years ago, we declared that "California is hub of global device industry". A lot has changed since 2009. For now, the U.S. still reigns over medtech innovation - but for how much longer?That's a question that Medical Product Outsourcing asked a few months ago. Reporting on a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers called "Medical Technology Innovation Scorecard: The race for global

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-50961670298582963102011-11-15T10:16:00.001-05:002011-11-15T13:44:33.856-05:00

Before we get into the top audio conferences, here is a fun list of ten facts about the month of October:Free rural delivery of mail began in the United States, October 1, 1896.October is the tenth month of the year. October was the 8th month in the early Roman calendar.Oscar Wilde, Irish-born dramatist, born October 16, 1854.The birthstones for October are the tourmaline and the opal.Halloween

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-6171876629062940932011-11-10T09:13:00.004-05:002011-11-10T09:54:07.472-05:00

Medical translation professionals sometimes are confused when clients ask about a "medical dictionary" or "MedDRA". Is this a glossary? Translation memory? Is it already translated?The Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) was first initiated in 1993, then developed by the M1 expert working group of International Conference on Harmonisation. It was released worldwide in 1999 and

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-87081323059378318842011-11-09T10:59:00.003-05:002011-11-09T11:52:59.083-05:00

The following was shared by our good friend Maria Shepherd of Data Decision Group. The National Health Statistics report "Ambulatory Surgery in the United States, revision Sept, 2009" has recently been released, and provides statistics on the shift from hospital based inpatient procedures to hospital outpatient or freestanding ambulatory surgi-centers (ASCs) over the past two decades. (Although

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-31809294815627854422011-11-07T10:07:00.001-05:002011-11-07T11:40:27.184-05:00

A few weeks ago, we did it again.Our annual company get-together was the largest and maybe best ever. We enjoyed a few days in scenic and tranquil Winter Park, Colorado. (Click on images for larger versions.)As we do every year, we enjoyed the company of clients in a lively discussion of real-world translation issues among drug and device companies.A key element of our annual meetings is for

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-48360858695926209712011-11-04T08:08:00.000-04:002011-11-04T08:08:00.407-04:00

October was a busy month at Medical Translation Insight: We have had big traffic numbers, some terrific articles, and lots of good interactions with our readers.Here is a recap of the most-read articles from the past month:TM ownership still not clear? - Our industry is long on opinions but short on consensus around this issueEverything you wanted to know about translation memory - While lots of

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-76826813295748059782011-11-03T07:15:00.003-04:002011-11-03T07:15:00.333-04:00

We have written before about IEC 60601 and its importance to medical equipment manufacturers (look here and here).For the uninitiated, since 2005 IEC 60601 Was the harmonized standard for medical electrical equipment recognized by most public health authorities globally. The recently released 3rd edition represented a significant change from the 2nd edition.But all good things must come to an end

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-42754329548112231412011-11-02T07:43:00.004-04:002011-11-02T08:04:22.693-04:00

Many, many moons ago, somebody once told me: "Broken English is the language of the world". Yet while English may appear to be taking over the world, translation is still highly relevant, necessary, and, in fact, is getting more important. (Good thing for us!)Is That A Fish In Your Ear, written by David Bellos, looks at the history of translation. And in pursuit of the book's underlying attack on

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-68270518017571210202011-11-01T11:06:00.003-04:002011-11-01T11:17:41.552-04:00

This year's ATA conference in Boston was just fantastic. The event drew a large audience from across the U.S. and around the world.As we did last year in Denver, ForeignExchange Translations organized a happy hour for our medical translation partners. We were able to gather a big group of linguists and share ideas with folks we generally "talk to" over email.The evening generated good discussions

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-56869170043551022952011-10-27T06:33:00.000-04:002011-10-27T07:11:28.088-04:00

OK, so I may be just a bit geeky when it comes to fonts. But really, who doesn't love typography movies, books, and even periodic table?So when I read about a new game built around kerning, it probably comes as no surprise that I immediately went to check it out.Kern Type lets you drag or nudge letters into their properly proportioned places and then rates your performance against typographic

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-4095119134225361812011-10-26T06:06:00.000-04:002011-10-26T06:06:00.574-04:00

Our recent article on understanding translation memories and how they work once again raised the question of who owns a translation memory (TM) database. In the translation industry, misinformation and urban myths surround the topic of TM ownership. One point of view holds that the database is a result of work contracted for and paid for by the client, so the client has a right to receive the

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-28069740819539966602011-10-25T08:42:00.002-04:002011-10-25T09:43:09.821-04:00

Global marketing and advertising are ripe with with missteps and embarrassments.Medical translation professionals deal with a unique challenge: How to adapt branding, imaging and marketing to local markets but stay "within the lines" or regulatory compliance? While some medical device and pharmaceutical companies take the route of providing translated content from headquarters, more and more drug

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-87901391106970317912011-10-24T06:54:00.000-04:002011-10-24T06:54:00.797-04:00

As we have seen before, human factors engineering (HFE) and usability testing is a hot topic these days.FDA's draft HFE usability guidance was issued a few months ago and drew lots of commentary from industry. While there is not yet any target date for a final guidance to be issued, industry is already preparing for the inevitable: human factor engineering and usability testing will be critical

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-42441620806781614142011-10-21T10:47:00.005-04:002011-10-26T06:00:18.489-04:00

To many people, translation memory (TM) is misunderstood - a black box that magically translates sentences into any language. Our medical device and pharmaceutical clients sometimes confuse TM with MT (machine translation) and assume that there is little or no human involvement in its use. Of course, these are myths and the reality is, a TM is just a tool that aids medical translation

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-25336264074514924742011-10-20T06:40:00.001-04:002012-01-05T09:35:24.749-05:00

Imagine you just received the Chinese and Japanese translation of your manual, and are unable to decipher anything; even the numbers or measurements don't look familiar anymore. 10,000 kW now appears as "1 something", and your company is introduced as being founded in "35 something" rather than 1960. How could that be possible, let alone correct? Do you have any way to cross-check this? An

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-24039284806122300662011-10-19T07:53:00.002-04:002011-10-19T07:53:00.322-04:00

The Life Sciences Roundtable in Santa Clara was a resounding success with more attendees than ever before as well as an excellent ratio of client/LSP participation. What made this roundtable particularly interesting what that the presentation ranged a number of topics that really explored all aspects of the medical translation arena. For instance, Jason Arnsparger from ForeignExchange

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-22156278646263993262011-10-18T07:02:00.000-04:002011-10-18T07:02:00.297-04:00

The lines between consumer electronics and medical devices are blurring.We have in the past written about medical applications of the Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, Wii Balance Board, and iPhone. Over the past couple of months, this trend continued and even accelerated.For one, FDA now regularly reviews and clears medical iPhone and iPad. The New York Times has a good piece about Mobile MIM, an app that

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-1264921302757824492011-10-17T07:35:00.000-04:002011-10-17T07:35:01.023-04:00

Sure, the Quality Review of Documents (QRD) templates may be imperfect - but they are getting better.Case in point: Over the past few months, we have seen a couple of updates to the templates. At the end of August, the templates relating to mutual-recognition, decentralised and referral procedures were updated. A few days ago, further updates to all templates in all 24 languages were

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-57091874912612212972011-10-14T08:15:00.001-04:002011-10-14T08:18:27.330-04:00

We support ForeignExchange's medical translation clients with specialized educational programs. And as we do every month, here is a look back at our top webinars and audio conferences from the previous month.In September, we saw tremendous interest in our medical device topics. A lot of significant developments are underway in regulatory affairs, engineering, and clinical research - and that was

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-63431329967033122072011-10-13T08:51:00.001-04:002011-10-13T08:52:10.088-04:00

For device and drug companies, translation is an integral part of filing, enforcing, and litigating intellectual property (IP). And the stakes are high - translations can cause significant problems with overseas filings, leave domestic patents open to challenge, and undermine litigation strategies. Despite this, few IP groups have policies in place to mitigate translation risks.Intellectual

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-85862828044283448992011-10-07T14:23:00.001-04:002011-11-02T08:08:39.928-04:00

International Translation Day took place on the last day of September. While many in our industry rightly view the day as a celebration and recognition of our profession, the public at large or even buyers of translation services are unaware that such a day exists.It's fascinating to me just how many such "holidays" and celebrations exists. According to Wikipedia, October is Clergy Appreciation

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-19642623149932054042011-10-05T09:28:00.002-04:002011-10-05T11:46:29.040-04:00

Every day, another international labeling project is set up - with the highest risk right at the end of the project. The good news is that this risk can be managed.In a new article in RAPS Focus entitled Perils of Translation Quality Validation in International Labeling Sonia Monahan, ForeignExchange's Executive Vice President of Quality, discusses our proven approach to risk management and

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-6704387725414464682011-10-04T06:22:00.000-04:002011-10-04T06:22:00.592-04:00

One of ForeignExchange's clients, a 12 billion dollar musculoskeletal health leader, has exacting requirements for subject matter expertise and writing style. Their project work is ongoing and demands consistency in translation to avoid confusion and damage to brand but has very aggressive timelines due to product release deadlines.There was a strong need for lower costs without a sacrifice to

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-12726090532386330612011-10-03T06:35:00.002-04:002011-10-03T06:39:25.877-04:00

Next week, it's time for this year's U.S. edition of Localization World. Taking place in Silicon Valley from October 10 to 12, the conference provides a terrific opportunity to learn, share, and network.At ForeignExchange, we are particularly excited about the part of the event that speaks to our medical translation focus: the Life Sciences Roundtable. As in Barcelona earlier this year, the

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-56835920453336189182011-09-30T06:59:00.002-04:002011-09-30T06:59:00.716-04:00

ForeignExchange and FX Conferences have a lot of educational events coming up in October and November. On October 19th in Minneapolis, we’re hosting a networking breakfast event, “First, Do No Harm: Basics of Human Factors Engineering and Usability Testing,” presented by FX Certified Partner, Maria Shepherd. Sign up to attend here:http://info.fxtrans.com/first-do-no-harm-mn/(On October 11th,

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-18139238327754206582011-09-29T09:08:00.001-04:002011-09-29T09:15:57.377-04:00

At ForeignExchange, we strongly believe that translation suppliers cannot be all things to all customers. Client requirements, technology, service delivery processes, resource utilization and many other things differ widely across language services and subject matters.It's easy to talk about being medical translation specialists and our vision of saving lives - but it is hard to do. Our tight

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-86049717809525405462011-09-27T12:41:00.002-04:002011-09-27T20:22:14.093-04:00

ISO 14155:2011 is an international standard designed to guide companies as they fulfill the many different regulatory requirements for international clinical trials. We recently sat down with Joy Frestedt and Pamela Wolff from Frestedt Incorporated, an FX Certified Partner, to talk about their work and the ins and outs of ISO 14155 and how it is impacting medical companies.First issued in 2003,

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-32130250898984310262011-09-27T06:03:00.005-04:002011-09-27T06:03:00.553-04:00

Two years ago, we wondered if the Greek crisis would spread from drug companies to translation suppliers. After that, things had gotten quiet and for a while, the situation seemed resolved. Then, earlier this year, the situation in Greece got worse again. Not just for residents and bankers but also for pharmaceutical and medical device companies doing business in Greece.Now things have come to a

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-20502426355271019582011-09-26T08:05:00.000-04:002011-09-26T08:56:26.622-04:00

Uh oh... was the gold rush inspired by china's healthcare reforms too good to be true?As we wrote previously, with a goal of providing universal coverage to the 1.3 billion Chinese, medical device and pharmaceutical companies rushed to take advantage of this boom. Now, however, the country faces serious obstacles to progress, leaving drug and device companies to wonder if the bonanza is

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-90025375526256448712011-09-23T06:18:00.002-04:002011-09-23T06:18:00.641-04:00

Helvetica is, seemingly, everywhere. Cyrus Highsmith, a New York type designer who decided to live without Helvetica for a day, found this out the hard way.When he woke up, Highsmith had virtually nothing to wear: the washing instructions in most of his clothes were set in Helvetica. He forsook his regular breakfast yoghurt: Helvetica label. Hungry, he dashed to the subway unable to pick up a

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-59764681573825450082011-09-22T06:08:00.002-04:002011-09-22T06:08:00.196-04:00

As we have written about before, style guides pay huge dividends in consistency, quality, cost, and turnaround time on projects. But on problem is that many style guides span 100 pages or more and cover everything from the fine points of template use to the details of punctuation preferences. While having these documents can be a sign of a well-organized writing group, a smaller, project-specific

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-56147733396298411362011-09-21T06:03:00.002-04:002011-09-21T06:03:00.209-04:00

Last month, we wrote about how FDA is formulating a long-term global regulatory plan that relies less on regulators' own staff and more on data and resource sharing with other countries. This "global coalition of regulators" has just gotten a shot in the arm - from Canada. CMAJ reports that "Canada appears eager to clamber aboard".OK, so nobody expects change to come quickly. CMAJ states that "

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-14759828270134382262011-09-20T06:45:00.000-04:002011-09-20T06:45:00.470-04:00

The 2010 pharmacovigilance legislation required EMA to publish the format for the electronic submission of information on medicinal products for human use by 2 July 2011.EMA is more or less on track, and the just-released Electronic submission of information on medicines give a good sense of the four-step approach that the agency will take towards implementation:Phase one: Notification of the

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-66476182940812551462011-09-19T06:14:00.003-04:002011-09-19T06:14:00.338-04:00

The revised MDD 93/42/EEC came into effect on March 21, 2010 and the changes will impact all medical device manufacturers that CE mark their products or plan to do so in future. 18 months later, questions remain about the updated regulation. One of the big questions is: How should software be designed to ensure the repeatability, reliability and performance of systems according to the intended

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-86776731045715414402011-09-16T06:08:00.001-04:002011-09-16T06:08:00.808-04:00

In the conference and education sector, August is usually a slow month. Not so for us this year. We saw a slew of well attended audio conferences!Here is the list of top events for the month:Conducting Formative and Summative Usability Studies for Medical DevicesGovernment Enforcement on Medical Affairs and Commercial-Related ActivitiesFDA's Part 11 Inspections: How to Prepare Yourself to Prove

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-28236081309541700702011-09-15T06:44:00.000-04:002011-09-15T06:44:00.382-04:00

Language changes and modernizations are a fact of life. Wikipedia maintains a long list of spelling reform efforts. Many of these reforms were designed to ease the task of children or immigrants becoming literate. But especially today, integrating a language globally is critically important to any country or language group wanting to participate in the age of globalization.Such were the

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-62859198909370511722011-09-14T06:05:00.000-04:002011-09-14T06:05:00.965-04:00

It's shaping up to be a busy autumn at FX Conferences! Planning is well underway for more than 50 new audio conferences, packed with timely, important information designed to keep you ahead of the curve. You can count on FX Conferences for the latest developments in product labeling, human factors engineering, ISO 14155, clinical evaluations, supply chain management and much, much more.To help

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-25890062703984134552011-09-13T06:33:00.001-04:002011-10-05T15:56:39.654-04:00

Drugs produced in offshore plants pose an increased quality risk compared to those prepared in the mainland United States, a new study suggests. The study was published in the Journal of Operations Management and specifically compared regulated drug manufacturing plants in the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico.OK, we kinda, sorta knew that (cf. examples from GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson,

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-60278796127457170342011-09-12T09:23:00.004-04:002011-09-12T09:34:50.286-04:00

The ForeignExchange team is getting ready for our company meeting in Colorado. In preparation for our annual get-together, I came across The 4Ps of a Fully Alive Business:The idea of these redefined Four P's really resonates. It reflects what the ForeignExchange team is working towards. We use different language in our vision statement but these traits act as the filter through which our business

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-87757059219279172632011-09-09T06:19:00.002-04:002011-09-09T06:19:00.593-04:00

Summer is over in our parts. And with that, our busy season starts. The end of the year, and particularly, the last three months are always our busiest time. So before we all get too busy, let's make sure to catch up with our most-read content from the last month:Human factors - Judging by the interest in generated, our interview with Maria Shepherd sure wouldn't make you think that human

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-59557777639411264712011-09-08T06:35:00.004-04:002011-09-12T15:47:04.877-04:00

The European Directive 98/79/EC on in vitro diagnostic medical devices, or IVD Directive (IVDD), became operational in June 2000.Since then, the IVDD has provided IVD manufacturers with a single regulation for the European marketplace. Devices marked with the CE mark can be introduced into 32 European countries (European Union member states, European Free Trade Association countries, and

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-62441345490512195302011-09-07T06:04:00.001-04:002011-09-12T15:45:42.291-04:00

This comes from a recent article in MultiLingual. Terminology survey results reviews a 2010 survey organized by TermNet and was written by expert and industry veteran Barbara Inge Karsch.Though the survey focused on the automotive, mechatronic (side note: I didn't know what this meant until I looked it up), and IT/communication sectors, it is still highly relevant to medical device and biopharma

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-91341216903208926562011-09-06T06:33:00.000-04:002011-09-06T06:33:00.190-04:00

Social media, with its wide reach and accessibility, is a powerful tool for recruiting linguists, improving clinical research - and for increasing participation in healthy behaviors and improving people's health. According to recent data from Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, minority Americans embrace mobile Internet access, social media sites, and applications to manage

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-25158022128924184722011-09-05T05:40:00.003-04:002011-09-05T05:40:00.164-04:00

Those darn Brits! Always complaining about something... Take a recent viewpoint in the BBC News Magazine. While the author of Why do some Americanisms irritate people? accepts "that sometimes American phrases have a vigour and vivacity", he also laments the "sloppy loss of our own distinctive phraseology through sheer idleness, lack of self-awareness and our attitude of cultural cringe".

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-89803323216354098602011-09-02T07:10:00.001-04:002011-09-04T20:17:00.754-04:00

I recently mentioned how my family spent a month in Australia. Well, we are back after having a wonderful time down under. One of the things we enjoyed about Australia was to notice signs on roads, in parks, and all around us. Many look and read the same as in the U.S. - and many don't. Here is a collection of signs advising how to use a toilet, to be careful of various wildlife, and other

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-47215667429023241152011-08-31T10:09:00.000-04:002011-08-31T10:09:33.772-04:00

Summer’s winding down here at ForeignExchange headquarters. Kids are headed back to school and we’re buckling down for a busy autumn. We have two Learning Unplugged educational events coming up in Minneapolis and in Boston. On September 14th at the Courtyard Marriot in Waltham, Massachusetts, we’re hosting a “Writing for Translation” seminar, which helps content creators write materials that

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-8545262634745803572011-08-30T10:28:00.002-04:002011-09-12T15:50:15.246-04:00

According to the European Medical Device Directive (MDD) amendment of 2010, software is now included in the definition of a medical device. It doesn't matter if the software is integrated into the actual device or a stand-alone product. This inclusion is an acknowledgment of the fact that software is so integral to the functioning and therapy of a device. Software validation will also be an

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-70931903771451189012011-08-29T09:42:00.003-04:002011-08-29T10:54:04.941-04:00

In order to gain simultaneous market authorization in all European Union (EU) member states as well as Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway, global pharmaceutical companies must submit regulatory dossiers to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) by means of the centralised authorization procedure (CP). EMA has set up strict guidelines in terms of terminology and stylistic and formatting requirements

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-28770207989252650532011-08-26T06:14:00.003-04:002011-08-26T06:14:00.822-04:00

It's been a couple of years since we wrote about Chevy Nova and other global marketing myths. Since then, I must have seen dozens of lists of supposed examples of translated product names and slogans that are said to have offended and/or confused consumers. A recent example is here (nothing against the good folks at AGM). Many of these are demonstrably wrong. So why do people (translation

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-29317944219301304602011-08-19T07:02:00.004-04:002011-08-20T09:37:49.547-04:00

Here is a good interview with direct marketing guru Brian Carroll. In it, he basically talks up the same stuff that he writes about in his blog and his book. But one-on-one, it just sounds better. And it is very relevant for anybody selling translation services in general and medical translation services specifically. A couple of the the key take-aways:You're not selling to one or two decision

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-47050801324199536682011-08-18T06:43:00.000-04:002011-08-18T06:43:00.716-04:00

ForeignExchange has long believed that being a leading provider of medical translations means going beyond translating words. We have strived to align ourselves with top companies and experts in the life sciences to keep abreast of the environment in which our clients work and the challenges they face. This has benefited us immensely in our work and our client relationships but it has also

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-88010080363607629832011-08-17T09:54:00.001-04:002011-08-17T18:15:55.575-04:00

Part of ForeignExchange's vision talks about "working with the best team." That not only means our internal team but also with our vendors, the publishing specialists, translators and editors whom we subcontract project work. Finding that "best team" isn't easy and we have members of our linguistic services team dedicated to finding the right people. In this very connected world, recruitment

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-41570860563895206852011-08-16T06:24:00.004-04:002011-08-16T06:24:01.338-04:00

Teutonic forces are at play in the drug and device industries: The fundamental business model of pharmaceutical and medical device companies is changing. The way in which drug and device companies sell and market product is different than it was 10 years ago - or even one year ago. We have produced popular events to help companies get started with social media and assess the risks and benefits

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-20244076254066707592011-08-15T06:28:00.002-04:002011-09-17T10:02:30.708-04:00

"Globalization is a fact of 21st century economic life", says FDA. But backing this statement with actions has proven difficult for the agency. A few years ago, discussion around the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act prompted a lot of outrage over lax overseas inspection practices. One Representative noted how she "was shocked to learn that for each overseas facility that exports

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-58631816252356609202011-08-12T06:56:00.002-04:002011-08-12T06:56:00.146-04:00

Once a month, we present the most popular audio conferences and webinars. It's that time again, and below is the list for July. It's been a solid month but the "off-label promotion" event was by far the most popular event. This is a timely topic, and Alan Minsk did a great job reviewing the relevant regulations. If you missed it the first time around, be sure to take another look! Here is the

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-6338277909560250622011-08-11T06:43:00.004-04:002011-08-15T22:41:30.299-04:00

Free is good. We like free. Especially when it comes to tools. So when The International Business Edge! featured an article on free term extraction tools, our ears popped up. Terminology extraction aims to automatically extract relevant terms from a given text. As the Business Edge post mentions, many of these tools were developed to aid in SEO keyword identification or indexing but they can

ForeignExchange Translationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05783350433982924832noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-13185027083855638032011-08-10T06:39:00.000-04:002011-08-10T06:39:00.375-04:00

The great American satirist, Mark Twain, was not only a keen observer of American rural life but also was a savvy world traveler and lover of languages. In 1865, Twain caught wind of an article about him in a French magazine. The article's writer couldn't understand why American readers found Twain's writing so clever. So Twain found the French translation of one of his stories, "The Notorious

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-71169835545251456932011-08-09T07:30:00.003-04:002011-08-09T22:24:36.155-04:00

Human factors engineering can be a fairly esoteric topic and it's one that medical device companies are only recently coming to terms with. Designing medical devices that not only work well but are made with human use in mind – doctors, clinicians, patients – is not only a good idea, it's mandated by regulations. That extends beyond the device itself to also include the product's labeling and

ForeignExchange Translationsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6186567004366728243.post-61058894253928082242011-08-08T06:28:00.001-04:002011-08-09T22:44:52.527-04:00

Did you know that the way you write your source documents can have a direct impact on how much translations will cost and how long they will take, not to mention the end quality? English content that is poorly written, full of colloquialisms and complicated grammatical structures take linguists longer to translate, offer less potential for re-use and is less clear to a target audience of

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