By Katie Reed | August 24, 2022 | Blog
This month, The Language Factory is celebrating our 30 year anniversary, traditionally referred to as a pearl anniversary. Similar to The Language Factory, pearls are synonymous with quality, rising from humble beginnings to form strong, beautiful gems. Or in our case, an expert translation company providing top quality service by experienced specialist translators.
From the establishment of the European Union, through tp the first black presidents of South Africa and the USA in Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama respectively, and peace deals in Northern Ireland and the Middle East, we’ve seen a lot of change in the last 30 years.
Since our founding in 1992, there have also been huge shifts in social attitudes, from the ordination of women priests in the Church of England, to legalisation of same-sex marriage.
The rise of the internet and social media in particular has had a huge impact on society. It all started with a platform called Six Degrees in 1997, followed by Friends Reunited, Friendster and LinkedIn, with only LinkedIn surviving to this day. Facebook superseded these early platforms in 2004, with Twitter entering the market in 2006, Instagram and Snapchat in 2011 and Tiktok as recently as 2018. Social media users in 2022 now number as high as 3.8 billion across the world.
Huge advances have been made in science and medicine, including stem cell therapy, development of new vaccines and the cloning of Dolly the sheep, to name but a few. Arguably one of the most important advances in medical science came in 2003 with the completion of the human genome, sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%.
Closer to home, we have seen devolution in Wales, Ireland and Scotland, with the Stone of Scone, used in the coronation of Scottish and later British monarchs, returned to Scotland in 1996 after 700 years in Westminster Abbey. Added to that, 2012 saw the discovery of the body of the last Plantagenet King Richard III, found in a Leicester car park and identified through a combination of new DNA technology and traditional archaeological research.
In the world of music and entertainment the past 30 years, have seen the rise in reality TV, talent shows and more recently online streaming. Gone are the days of waiting each week for the next episode of your favourite programme, replaced by binge watching a whole series from your smart phone.
The advances in technology were definitely the defining change of the past 30 years for both business and pleasure. Gaming, for example, has developed from arcades, as the centre of activity, to online multiplayer games with players across the world. Names including PlayStation 5, Microsoft Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch are simply the latest in a line of gaming platforms, with virtual and augmented reality leading us into the next generation.
All these changes have had an influence on translation, with technological developments supporting human translation and specialist experience. With their insights, knowledge and appreciation of culture and localisation, mother-tongue linguists are proving invaluable in the growth areas of translation, including multilingual content for marketing and websites, travel and tourism and medical services.
Throughout the changes of the past 30 years, The Language Factory has remained constant. We may not quite have had the same employees for the past 30 years, but we pride ourselves on having experienced staff members, some of whom have been with us for 20 or more of those years.
We value our people and that means we can ensure we provide our clients with a consistent quality, specialist translation service. Our experienced translators, supported by our expert Project Managers are the key to our success. We look forward to another 30 years, onwards and upward
Contact us today to learn more about our high-quality business translation service.
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