| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Which language do you use most when writing emails to your clients? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Which language do you use most when writing emails to your clients?".
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| | | | | Source language | May 16, 2021 |
If the email is written in English or French I’ll use the source language, but if it’s written in Italian or Spanish I’ll explain that my written skills in those languages are rather rusty and ask the client what language I can use. Most of the times they say English, occasionally French or even Portuguese. I have an Austrian customer who sends emails in German, though she knows that this is not one of my working languages, so I’ll use GT to be sure I understand what the email says (I ha... See more If the email is written in English or French I’ll use the source language, but if it’s written in Italian or Spanish I’ll explain that my written skills in those languages are rather rusty and ask the client what language I can use. Most of the times they say English, occasionally French or even Portuguese. I have an Austrian customer who sends emails in German, though she knows that this is not one of my working languages, so I’ll use GT to be sure I understand what the email says (I have a very basic knowledge of German) and answer in English.
P.S. It’s the only professional use I make of GT… ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:13
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| | All the languages I know | May 16, 2021 |
That is, German, Italian, French, English.
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| Active versus passive use of languages | May 16, 2021 |
Like Teresa, I will generally answer emails in the language in which they are written whenever I can, with the exception of Russian, which - let's be frank now - I can't write (or speak, for that matter!) for toffee. But if someone with a French or Romanian name writes to me in English, I make a point of replying in French or Romanian, partly out of a desire to seem polite and willing to make an effort, and partly in the hope that they'll feel I am a good linguist, and therefore worth hiring! So... See more Like Teresa, I will generally answer emails in the language in which they are written whenever I can, with the exception of Russian, which - let's be frank now - I can't write (or speak, for that matter!) for toffee. But if someone with a French or Romanian name writes to me in English, I make a point of replying in French or Romanian, partly out of a desire to seem polite and willing to make an effort, and partly in the hope that they'll feel I am a good linguist, and therefore worth hiring! So I see this as a marketing tool, in a way. It can help to get a business relationship off to a good start.
I regularly work on my ability to use my source languages actively as I want to get better, partly for the purposes of communicating with clients, and partly because I simply feel that I ought to be good at using them actively, even though I don't do so when I translate. I can well imagine that our clients might find it very surprising that any of us would have difficulty in writing in one of our working languages, and yet I know that some of us do; and what this highlights is the fact that passive and active use of a language are two very different skills indeed. You don't need to be fantastic at one to be fantastic at the other! And then there is the speaking/writing dichotomy; an excellent interpreter I know speaks English superbly, yet is surprisingly poor at writing it, and has made no discernible improvement over all the years I've known him. These are perhaps two of the ironies of language and translation. ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 20:13
Spanish to English
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Spanish is my source language and the native language of most of my clients. Some of them address me in English, probably because they are keen to practise, and in that case I'll respond to them in kind. However, most of the time my Spanish is better than their English, and if I really want them to understand something, it's usually safer to communicate in Spanish.
[Edited at 2021-05-16 15:03 GMT]
| | | | Baran Keki 
Türkiye
Local time: 21:13
Member
English to Turkish
Tom in London wrote:
Italian
Are you only working with Italian agencies/clients?
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 14:13
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
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| Always in my second language | May 16, 2021 |
I hesitated to use “target language” because I work in both directions.
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Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 20:13
Spanish to English
+ ...
Deleted.
[Edited at 2021-05-16 16:20 GMT]
| | | | Paul Dixon
Brazil
Local time: 15:13
Portuguese to English
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English for overseas clients and Brazilian Portuguese (usually) for local clients.
As they say, it depends on the context.
Geographical context in this case.
| | | | Ventnai
Spain
Local time: 20:13
German to English
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| In this order | May 16, 2021 |
German, English, Spanish, Catalan, French, although my Catalan and French are not as good as the others.
| | | | | Half And Half | May 16, 2021 |
Most of my literary clients know at least some English. But if they initially contact me in their native language, that is the one I use to establish contact with them. After that, we might write half the time in their native language (French, Spanish, Italian, but only rarely in Portuguese), and the other half in mine.
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| Probably my source language | May 16, 2021 |
I am really not sure.
About half and half, but I possibly use my source language most. A lot of clients write to me in Danish, and we speak Danish on the phone if they call me.
If Scandinavians mail me in Norwegian or Swedish, I answer in Danish, as I can write it correctly, avoiding a few false friends and pitfalls between the languages.
When clients write to me in English, I reply in English, and I am afraid most of my answers to German and French mails are in E... See more I am really not sure.
About half and half, but I possibly use my source language most. A lot of clients write to me in Danish, and we speak Danish on the phone if they call me.
If Scandinavians mail me in Norwegian or Swedish, I answer in Danish, as I can write it correctly, avoiding a few false friends and pitfalls between the languages.
When clients write to me in English, I reply in English, and I am afraid most of my answers to German and French mails are in English too these days! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Both equally | May 17, 2021 |
I normally communicate with Greek clients in Greek and with clients elsewhere in English. I would guess that overall it comes out about equal.
| | | | Elena Kharlamova
Japan
Local time: 03:13
Member (2020)
Japanese to English
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| Using English when dealing with Russian-Japanese language pair. | May 17, 2021 |
Mostly using English when dealing with Russian-Japanese language pair.
I've been wondering about the percentage, and it turned out to be less then 5%.
Feeling exceptional 😂😎!
[Редактировалось 2021-05-17 05:59 GMT]
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