Subtitle translation; Nordic foster children
A rewarding subtitle project for a valuable organisation. A short film about Nordic foster children, translated into Danish, Finnish, Icelandic and Norwegian.
The Nordic Centre for Welfare and Social Issues is an institution under the Nordic Council of Ministers. Its mission is to enhance social policy work in the Nordic countries through education, public information, research and development, networking and international cooperation.
The centre recently made an informative film about 15 youngsters from the Nordic countries who all have experience of growing up in foster homes, as part of the project Children in Foster Homes. It’s a moving clip where the youngsters tell us what they need in order for their time in foster families to give them a good start in life.
We were really happy to get the task of subtitling the short film in four languages – Danish, Finnish, Icelandic and Norwegian. The language spoken in the film was a mixture of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish mainly, and it was a challenge to transform the children’s relaxed speaking style into short, snappy subtitles in all the languages. But thanks to a good dialogue with the client, and our team of experienced translators, we were able to do a good job. Fredrik Hjulström, project manager for Familjepolitik at the centre said “I’m very satisfied with the job you’ve done. You were thorough, responsive, knowledgable and quick. I was pleased that you really tried to gauge the meaning in what the youngsters said, and to make it comprehensible in the subtitles. I’ve learned that a good dialogue is essential in getting quality translation.” And that’s all we need to hear!
The Nordic countries enjoy excellent standing in most international comparisons of living standards and wellbeing. The Nordic welfare model is based on a shared ideal: equality, social solidarity and social security for all.
Sami, from Finland, summed up the essence of the project and the film in his closing statement:
“Believe in children so that they learn to believe in themselves.”
We are glad to support the Nordic Centre for Welfare and Social Issues, and look forward to more interesting, rewarding and challenging translation projects into 2015.
Avison Communication, based in Stockholm, Sweden, is a language and translation agency. We localise websites, translate apps, train business executives in a new language, interpret for international meetings, and subtitle fun and informative films. We love language and the written and spoken word. If you have a language or translation project and would like to work with us, we would love to hear from you.
