Dear Readers,

A few days ago Freelance-Market entered into a franchise agreement for the operation of the business in France. Accordingly, we dedicate this September-Newsletter to this great European nation. We report about the work undertaken by our French translators and introduce you to a restaurant menue translator from the French Alps. Furthermore, our freelancers joke we tell what happens when a French translator screws it up.

As always, I wish you a busy and successful month.

Kind regards

Bert Franzen

Through our international marketing activities, we have now won our fifth international franchisee for Freelance-Market. A few days ago, a licensing agreement for the operation of Freelance-Market in France was signed with KUMA International. France, with a gross domestic product of about 4 trillion dollars, is Europe's second largest economy. Due to it's market size and because of the lack of professional project introduction platforms, the French market is a particularly well suited to the Freelance-Market business model.

Under the direction of Roman Arnold, our IT-department is currently working with high priority on the implementation of the website for the "Grande Nation". The official launch is planned for October 2011.

Thanks to the licensees Freelance-Market is now working in six countries: Australia, New Zealand, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and now France. Our long-term goal is to have a licensee in any of the 52 countries, whose GDP exceeds 100 billion dollars. In addition, franchisees are also sought for the operation of marketplaces in specific industry verticals. For further information for potential franchisees please refer to www.freelance-market.com.

Working from the French Riviera or the Copacabana? 85 percent of students can imagine to working from abroad. Moreover 68 percent of the students and young professionals can even imagine permanently have their home and workplace far away. That is according to EARSandEYES' current 'Graduates Study 2011', for which 1000 international students were interviewed.

A total of 8 of our 40+ translators offer French. Thus, French is the language with the second highest number of translators, after Chinese and before Russian, Spanish and German. Other languages that are offered by the Freelance-Market translators include Arabic, Japanese, Vietnamese, as well as rarer languages like Swahili, Dutch and Latvian, ...

While most projects that were introduced to the French translators at Freelance-Market are mostly about websites, catalog texts, course materials, instruction manuals, food recipes or even scientific pharmaceutical texts. In one instant, the translators were also introduced to operate a bilingual help desk.

In addition to French translations, many introductions are about French consecutive and simultaneous interpreting: From Interpreting for a technical training for elevators, the consecutive interpreting for mechanical engineers in Brussels to the support a group of Algerians who came for factory acceptance tests.

Registered contractors are welcome to present their business and services via with a short article in this Freelance-Market-News. In this issue we present to you translator no. 8450 from Messery in the French Alps, who is specialised in restaurant menus and hotel brochures in English, French and German.
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A few years ago I visited a famous restaurant in southern France. On the elaborate three-language menu, I found in the main course section in French "coeur de rump steak" and in German "feines, zartes Rumpsteak". This should translate into " rump steak fillet". The English translation was, however, "heart of beef". When I asked whether English-speaking customers have ordered this often, the owner said: "No, not at all! I do not understand this at all!".

Such embarrassing examples can be found over and over again! Through my three (mother)-languages ​​I have the talent to note such errors immediately. I was born in the German speaking part of Switzerland and spend some years in the US. For many years I live in different French-speaking areas. I am also very interested in food for many years. As a passionate cook, I am constantly informed about all current food trends.

During my time as executive assistant and translator of legal texts, I have learned to not always translate word by word but rather focus on the meaning. Something electronic dictionaries and translators cannot achieve.
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A freelance designer opened her new office in Sydney. To celebrate the opening, her first customer sent her a large flower arrangement from a French flower shop in the CBD, . The attached congratulations card says "Rest in peace".

Being quite perplexed by the card and a little upset, the designer called the flower shop with the owner offering her apologies. "My Assistant has unfortunately mixed up the cards. I know your upset, but try to imagine what they must be thinking at the funeral where on the card says 'Congratulations on your long-awaited career move'."