A business card translation for a business card is known as Meishi (pronounced as May-shee) in Japanese.
As with everything the Japanese attach very high importance to the Meishi. For them it is the symbol of trust and identity.
In the US business cards are not that significant as opposed to in the Japanese business environment.
You are expected to show respect when you receive a card. The card should be absolutely clean and should not have any sides which are smudged or dog teared corners.
While visiting Japan make sure that the card has one side which is Japanese and the other English. Also make sure that you carry the cards in sufficient numbers as not having a card is considered very very offensive. As an entrepreneur you cannot afford to lose any business just because of cultural barriers
Never take out a business card out of your wallet, make sure that you take it out from the business card holder. This can be leather or plastic. It does not make a difference. A leather case definitely does make an impact.
While exchanging the cards or Meishi make it a point to stand up and also have the Japanese side up. Also give your card to everyone who is there even in a large group and business cards are very essential in Japan.
On a side note if you internet business then there is no need for such translation as websites get translated by themselves
Also take a moment to read the card of everyone and place it in a proper case and never put the card back in a wallet for in your pocket.
Business card translation will help you get an impression that you are serious about doing business. The cost here is not the issue but getting success is.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Business Card Translation advice for doing business in Russia
Russia is one country which I have been to twice for doing some business work. Business card translation was a help there though Russians also understand English at least in the corporate environment. Russia had a lot of recent small business success story because of the booming economy and good fortune of having oil.
But Russians generally have a very different culture while doing business. For example I read somewhere that the symbol OK in English is a strict no no in Russia. Also you can never say a strict yes or a no over there.
You should make sure that you observe all the social etiquettes as far as possible in any country you visit.
While in Russia business card was a must and as a show of cultural sensitivity I had the other side of the card printed in Russian. Though unlike my Chinese name I had the English name and also I had the communication address in English.
Though finding good translators for making the business card translation was not easy. I think there are far more people doing business in China and hence more of Chinese business card translation services are available.
Make sure that you read a lot about the culture when you visit any country as that helps to strike a polite conversation.
But Russians generally have a very different culture while doing business. For example I read somewhere that the symbol OK in English is a strict no no in Russia. Also you can never say a strict yes or a no over there.
You should make sure that you observe all the social etiquettes as far as possible in any country you visit.
While in Russia business card was a must and as a show of cultural sensitivity I had the other side of the card printed in Russian. Though unlike my Chinese name I had the English name and also I had the communication address in English.
Though finding good translators for making the business card translation was not easy. I think there are far more people doing business in China and hence more of Chinese business card translation services are available.
Make sure that you read a lot about the culture when you visit any country as that helps to strike a polite conversation.
Business Card Translation advice for doing business in China
In my last post I explained about doing business in China and in this case I am going to tell some experiences about how the business card translation helped in my case.
China traditionally had never been too much of English speaking. This is changing very rapidly so in business especially companies who do business out side China there are people who can do speak, read and write English. However everyone I met had a card which had English on one side and Chinese on the other side.
That takes into the second aspect of the Chinese Business card and that is how it is important for you to have a Chinese name. Chinese business name for yourself and for your business is a must.
I used the services of a skilled Chinese translator to get me through that aspect of doing business in China.
That name helped though as I was able to get some initial impression as I could speak my Chinese name as well I was able to understand what the characters meant.
The business card also helped people know that even coming form outside I am aware of the Chinese culture. This is important as you need to have a small talk before you start some formal proceedings. In most cases while handing over the Chinese business card people would look over and see what is on the other side of the card. If it was Chinese that was an ice breaker especially my name and the companies name.
So get business card translation services for that will help you get some good initial response.
China traditionally had never been too much of English speaking. This is changing very rapidly so in business especially companies who do business out side China there are people who can do speak, read and write English. However everyone I met had a card which had English on one side and Chinese on the other side.
That takes into the second aspect of the Chinese Business card and that is how it is important for you to have a Chinese name. Chinese business name for yourself and for your business is a must.
I used the services of a skilled Chinese translator to get me through that aspect of doing business in China.
That name helped though as I was able to get some initial impression as I could speak my Chinese name as well I was able to understand what the characters meant.
The business card also helped people know that even coming form outside I am aware of the Chinese culture. This is important as you need to have a small talk before you start some formal proceedings. In most cases while handing over the Chinese business card people would look over and see what is on the other side of the card. If it was Chinese that was an ice breaker especially my name and the companies name.
So get business card translation services for that will help you get some good initial response.
Business Card Translation help for Doing business in India
In this post I am going to explain how business card translation did help me in a country like India.
India has a history of colonial rule and got independence on Aug 15, 1947. So primarily everybody can speak English. The country’s national language is Hindi but the fact is that every 100 km your would see a change in culture and language spoken.
It is really a milieu of cultures. I was to go to Mumbai erstwhile Bombay and then to Chennai.
Mumbai was a cakewalk as I did not need any Business card translation thing there. Though the local language there is Marathi (pronounced as Mar – A – Thee) but all business folks as well as local citizens can read and understand English very well.
Chennai though was a different ball game. People over there can understand English and also can speak English very well but they choose to speak in their language called Tamil. So the business acquaintance there had warned me of this and I had already got my business cards translated into the Tamil language and also I had several special newsletters in that English. My acquaintance in India helped me get the translation done quickly over there.
Doing business in India you would not need the business card translation help as the most of the business card I have seen of the local companies and even multinationals over there were in English.
On a side note it will be good to know how the business tax is levied in each of these countries in which you are going to do business
However if you want to make a good impressing there then make sure that you get the local language thing on the back side of the existing card.
India has a history of colonial rule and got independence on Aug 15, 1947. So primarily everybody can speak English. The country’s national language is Hindi but the fact is that every 100 km your would see a change in culture and language spoken.
It is really a milieu of cultures. I was to go to Mumbai erstwhile Bombay and then to Chennai.
Mumbai was a cakewalk as I did not need any Business card translation thing there. Though the local language there is Marathi (pronounced as Mar – A – Thee) but all business folks as well as local citizens can read and understand English very well.
Chennai though was a different ball game. People over there can understand English and also can speak English very well but they choose to speak in their language called Tamil. So the business acquaintance there had warned me of this and I had already got my business cards translated into the Tamil language and also I had several special newsletters in that English. My acquaintance in India helped me get the translation done quickly over there.
Doing business in India you would not need the business card translation help as the most of the business card I have seen of the local companies and even multinationals over there were in English.
On a side note it will be good to know how the business tax is levied in each of these countries in which you are going to do business
However if you want to make a good impressing there then make sure that you get the local language thing on the back side of the existing card.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Welcome to my blog about business card translation guide
Business Card Translation Card Guide has been started by me to help all those who do business with other countries in the world and or are planning to business with other countries in the world.
As the world economy focus shifts to the emerging economies of India, China, Brazil and Russia, we as small business owners face dilemma to find out new growth markets or even outsource to these countries. There are business opportunities in each country.
In preparing to do business with these there are several things that you need to take care of. The first and foremost is the language barrier which can be quite a roadblock. It is not to say that it cannot be overcome but yes there are a few do's and dont's that you need to take care of.
For example in some countries like China have major language barriers as opposed to say countries like India. Here is an article on how to do business with China which talks about a lot aspects of these.
Cultural aspects are also very important but if you get what is now very commonplace the cross cultural training then we should be fine.
Next comes the translation of your business stationery or business stationary (again being sensitive to language differences) and business cards. In each of the next few posts I will explain what and how of the business card translation for each country beginning with India .
Some countries are more sensitive to their language as opposed to some others. As a small business owner I have done business with people of several countries and seen their reactions when I hand over my business card to them. I will also detail that in my future posts on bussiness card translation options.
So once again stay tuned to my blog about help on business card translation guide and I will make sure that I will post content which will help you get business card correct in each country of the world.
As the world economy focus shifts to the emerging economies of India, China, Brazil and Russia, we as small business owners face dilemma to find out new growth markets or even outsource to these countries. There are business opportunities in each country.
In preparing to do business with these there are several things that you need to take care of. The first and foremost is the language barrier which can be quite a roadblock. It is not to say that it cannot be overcome but yes there are a few do's and dont's that you need to take care of.
For example in some countries like China have major language barriers as opposed to say countries like India. Here is an article on how to do business with China which talks about a lot aspects of these.
Cultural aspects are also very important but if you get what is now very commonplace the cross cultural training then we should be fine.
Next comes the translation of your business stationery or business stationary (again being sensitive to language differences) and business cards. In each of the next few posts I will explain what and how of the business card translation for each country beginning with India .
Some countries are more sensitive to their language as opposed to some others. As a small business owner I have done business with people of several countries and seen their reactions when I hand over my business card to them. I will also detail that in my future posts on bussiness card translation options.
So once again stay tuned to my blog about help on business card translation guide and I will make sure that I will post content which will help you get business card correct in each country of the world.
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