Linguistic wizards of locatheart

If Hamlet were taking place in the 21^st century, Polonius would ask: “What do you read, my lord?”, to which Hamlet would once more reply: “Words, words, words,” this time with his royal thumb scrolling the text on his smartphone. Every single day there are more and more words, and with them grows the need for linguistic specialists.

After the digital revolution, the global Net became yet another territory infected with words that are multiplying at lightning speed (only in 2022 – 7.5 million blog posts… daily!). Unfortunately, such an avalanche increase in the number of texts does not mean that they are of good quality. You can often see content that is sloppy at best, marred by spelling errors or clumsy wording, and at worst – pasted in an automatic translator and then immediately posted on a website without a second look, which will definitely draw attention of any user (successfully irritating them in the process). Taking care of a linguistic aspect of an online store or a marketing campaign is no longer just a welcomed practice, but simply a necessity and an inseparable part of market competition.

Language is a matter which, in the hands of a competent and talented copywriter, editor or translator, will take the appropriate shape, allowing us to express thoughts or achieve the desired effect that we want to convey with a given text. Unlike in the case of a person for whom linguistic matter is a secondary concern, or even – horror of horrors! – completely insignificant. Then language becomes a heavy, resisting lump, while rough content dazzles with its clumsiness and stylistic, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Therefore, it is always recommended to benefit from the assistance of specialists who will do everything in their power to “Give everything a fitting name.”

A popular Italian saying states that the translator is a traitor (traduttore, traditore) since the mere act of translating implies deviating from the original text and expressing the same meaning in a language that oftentimes vary in every single aspect. It is quite a challenge to produce a translation that is faithful and at the same time reads as good as the original, even though the level of difficulty always depends on the field and topic.

Nobody becomes a good linguist overnight. To achieve the appropriate level, you have to continuously advance your linguistic competences, pick up good habits, learn how to work with professional tools, while simultaneously getting acquainted with new content, so that this mixture (with a dash of talent sprinkled on top) can finally form a continuously updated base for creating engaging texts. Luckily, locatheart can pride itself on a harmonious team of specialists, who are faithful servants of the Word, combining the precision of a professional with the ingenuity of a creator and the unfettered curiosity of an adventurer.

Sometimes, the room of our linguistic team feels like a scriptorium. In the silence, you can only hear the experts tapping on their keyboards, completely preoccupied with a new task, patiently filling another page (or segment in Trados, or line in a piece of software called Subtitle Edit), with only one goal on their mind – to create content that is not only understandable, but also appealing to the audience, no matter if it is a specialist article about the e-commerce industry or yet another episode of a popular American sitcom. Other times, the surroundings transform into a debate room. These debates are friendly, but also full of this particular type of fervour that so often fuels passionate people. Like wizards in Hogwarts, they are united in search for the right spell that will have the power to influence the reality. Here they are (in random order):

A real trouper with many translations under his belt. He approaches everything with a relaxed attitude, but his thoroughness is always at 100%. His eye, like a laser, picks up on every single error and clumsiness; there is no need for dedicated software. As for his work speed, co-workers are in agreement – he is a dynamite. An encyclopaedist who possesses a vast knowledge, constantly broadened by research conducted prior to each task. Hunger for information and curiosity are constantly pushing him into the depths of the Internet: from Wikipedia articles about football competitions in Oceania through niche religious forums to archives of materials published on conspiracy theories. He loves audiovisual translation, which further stimulates his appetite for literary translation. He always supports the rest of the team and makes sure that the atmosphere is friendly. After work, you may find him in a local bar, where he eagerly discusses various forms of pop culture with a craft beer in his hand.

A Far East culture enthusiast, a fan of manga and anime. A treasury of knowledge about the intricacies of Polish and English; grammar, punctuation and other linguistic aspects are all at her fingertips (proofreaders always complain that she leaves little for them to do with her texts). She sees hidden potential in every piece of writing; therefore, she patiently polishes them until they reach top-notch form. For her, language is also a place to have fun, which is why her interpretation of word games and puns is always marvellous. Copywriting and marketing translation done by her are so good that sometimes you can even forget that you are presented with commercial advertising. She is always willing to give good advice, especially when it comes to linguistic riddles, along with a charming smile. Enjoys drawing and is very good at it (her work can be seen on the door of one of the most important rooms in the office). Board games are one of her hobbies and a translation specialisation. 100% professional, 100% kawaii.

An American English specialist, connoisseur of all things connected to the culture from across the Atlantic Ocean. Brilliant copywriter. Beauty industry holds no secrets for her: she is always up to date with all the newest face, hair and make-up products. Other than that, she specializes in film subtitles. She has an amazing flow in everything she does – whether it is writing or making jokes. Always eager to share her knowledge and positive energy with the rest of the team. Lover of American literature (her goal is to read at least three books from every author of the so-called Lost Generation). If she is not flipping through the pages of another book, she is practicing escapism by consuming new episodes of a TV series, preferably a sitcom full of pop culture references. A cowgirl in her previous life (currently you can find her next to a console with a pad in her hand rather than a gun).

A pop culture aficionado raised on comic books from the 1990s, VHS tapes and old school computer games. Once upon a time his life was forever changed during the showing of Tim Burton’s Batman in a local cinema in Gdynia, and it has been a slippery slope ever since, leading to a degree in Polish philology (specializations: film studies and editing). In professional work he is especially skilled in film and TV series subtitles, games (not only computer) and creative writing – sometimes he can be seen sitting in front of an empty Word file, waiting for inspiration from the Muses. While translating and editing various texts, he pays special attention to maintaining humour present in the original. He will attempt to transform even the biggest dad joke into something straight from a stand up. He loves old films and iconic TV shows. A shameless Britophile.

The newest addition to the team. Already managed to prove that she is not afraid of translating a science-fiction film full of “cosmic” terminology or thoroughly checking the technical aspects of Czech subtitles. Loves translating films (the more abstract the better) and texts with an elaborate storyline, but has the most fun with legal documents – she simply enjoys translating contracts. Fulfils each task with excitement, while asking insightful questions. Along with the others, she contributes to creating a good atmosphere within the team. Everyone would agree (with an enthusiastic nod) that she is just an extremely nice person. After stretching linguistic material at work, she stretches her body by working on splits. She resets her mind with books, TV series and films. If not on a walk, you can definitely find her in a kitchen, while she is cooking and baking various goodies.

The responsibilities of our in-house linguistic team are not limited solely to translating texts to Polish and English or copywriting. Other tasks also include preparing the master version of a text for projects in which English is used as a pivot language, developing guidelines, testing new solutions and improvements, and training new members when we bring more people on board. At locatheart, we are proud that we have managed to create a team of linguistic wizards, best of the best in their profession. They are one of the major pillars of our company.