So you think you know your Swedish surströmming from your Danish wienerbrød, and your Icelandic brennivín from your Norwegian brunost? And how about Skål! Hygge. Gravad lax. And akvavit?
And what exactly is the difference between the Nordic and the Scandinavian languages?
Do you need your product details translated into the four major languages, or will just one do?
Or should you invest extra time and money in including Icelandic, Faroese, or even Sami?
Many people in Denmark understand Norwegian and Swedish – far fewer understand Finnish or Icelandic. Even fewer can actually translate between Danish and the other Nordic languages.
But we’re Denmark’s most experienced old hands in the Nordic languages. End of story.
Over the past 20 years we have translated everything from weighty flotation prospectuses to cosmetics ads between Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish. Though based in Copenhagen, we also have regular clients in Sweden, for whom we do translations into Swedish.
Assignments in the Nordic languages are often related to marketing in the form of webpages, advertising campaigns and presentations. They can also be in the field of architecture, where architects’ firms in the Nordic countries are keen to bid on projects that cut across national borders.
There is also large-scale cooperation in agriculture and foodstuffs within the Nordic region, which is reflected in a need for translation.
Even a knowledge of both Norwegian and Swedish and the ability to make oneself understood in a form of common Scandinavian is not synonymous with being able to translate a contract or an advertisement destined to be read by legal experts or consumers in the Nordic countries. There are plenty of pitfalls, and translating between the Nordic languages is a specialist discipline just like any other languages. There is no translators’ training programme or legal dictionaries between the Scandinavian languages, to give just one example. It’s an acquired skill, which translators must learn and master.
So contact us if you would like a quote – and advice – on communication between the Nordic countries.
