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Since joining our team as a Trainee Translator in September 2024, Elin has been following an in-house training programme, specifically tailored to her skills by our Quality Manager, Nerys. Much of her training happens naturally in her day-to-day role, completing various translation tasks for our wide client base here at Bla. Her translation work is mostly reviewed by Nerys, with occasional support from our other Senior Translators, and Elin is given constructive feedback to ensure that she continues to develop and strengthen her natural linguistic capabilities.

Elin started studying a Professional Welsh Translation course at Aberystwyth University in September 2025, giving her a healthy balance between vocational and academic training. This course, combined with her practical experience, helps her to bridge the gap between theory and applying her knowledge in the real world with real life clients. 

Consistently putting in the hard graft to progress within her role, Elin certainly isn’t the type to shy away from an opportunity to learn something new! She recently attended a ‘Correcting a Draft Copy’ workshop delivered through the Association of Welsh Translators and Interpreters. This valuable workshop explored various aspects of a Translator’s work, such as:

• Techniques to finalise an accurate draft copy, ensuring that it reads naturally and effortlessly in Welsh
• Taking the perspective of the ‘reader’ when working on translations
• Reviewing pre-translated copies, contributing ways of improving consistency, terminology etc
• Various useful resources
• Practical advice to attendees.

As a Trainee Translator, it is important that Elin takes every opportunity to improve and develop as a professional. Although the training she receives within the company will be key to her success to a large extent, the opportunity to gain information from experts beyond our team is also valuable to bring fresh insights into her practice.

Here’s what Elin had to say about the workshop:

“This was an opportunity to gain practical suggestions on how to create accurate, finished copies that flow naturally. I had the opportunity to jot down some notes on ways to improve pre-completed translations that had been specifically selected for this session, as well as hearing the thoughts of the other attendees. I gained exceptional suggestions, resources, advice and ideas from both the tutor and the group!”

Elin is a fantastic example of a young professional who is continuously striving for improvement, representing the high-quality employment opportunities available for those who are passionate about promoting the Welsh language.

With the Christmas period now behind us and the New Year just beginning, we have all returned to our desks here at Bla, looking forward to a busy year ahead once again!

2025 proved to be one of our busiest years yet. We continued to support our current client base, some of whom have worked with us for many years, and we also welcomed new clients which is always very exciting. We’d like to thank all of our clients, old and new, for continuously putting their trust in us as their translation service providers!

Another noteworthy development during 2025 was the strong increase in translation requests for other languages beyond our traditional offer of English <> Welsh. We experienced over a 100% increase in such requests, which has kept our Bla₂ team nice and busy. Let’s hope for a further increase this year!

The start of a new year is a great time to pause and take stock. It is a time when people commonly reassess their priorities and set themselves some new goals. And it’s not just individuals who can do this; businesses can take part too. If sourcing a (new) translation service provider is one of your New Year’s resolutions, then look no further! Here’s a reminder of what to do in just 3 simple steps:

1. Reach out to us via our contact form which can be accessed here
2. Give us some background information, your translation requirements, and any questions that you may want to ask us
3. You can always attach a document when contacting us via our website contact form should you wish to give us an idea of the type of documents to which you are referring

One of our friendly team will get back to you within 24 hours. Finding a new dependable translation service provider couldn’t be easier!

We can’t wait to hear from you soon!

Every industry suffers from misconceptions, especially so our Welsh translation industry which is chronically undervalued. Here, we want to shed light on some of the most common misconceptions about the Welsh translation industry in particular. Hopefully, the below will clarify what really goes on at a professional Welsh translation practice:

“If you can speak Welsh, then you can translate“

Wrong.

The ability to speak Welsh does not mean that you possess the highly-developed linguistic capabilities to translate either to or from Welsh with grammatical accuracy – even if you are a fluent or a first-language Welsh speaker.

We hear of countless cases where organisations ask Welsh-speaking employees to translate texts on their behalf. Not only is this unfair on the individual who is being asked to complete a task they are not qualified to undertake, but it can also lead to a whole host of problems. Please do not rely on a Welsh speaker within your organisation to translate for you under any circumstances.

Translation is a professional service provided by experts who have heavily invested in their craft. Head over to our contact form, outline your needs and one of our advisors will be in touch within 24 hours to discuss how we can support you.

“There’s no point translating into Welsh, everybody understands English”

Unless you are a public body in Wales, you are under no legal obligation to ensure that your correspondence is bilingual. However, we work with a number of organisations who are not required by law to operate bilingually but who choose to do so. This is because they want to work with a translation company who can help them harness the myriads of benefits of operating bilingually in a bilingual nation:

• Consistency in your brand’s voice
• Gaining buy-in and loyalty from Welsh customers
• Increasing awareness of your brand
• High level of accuracy in your written materials by using a professional translation practice
• Demonstrating your brand’s appreciation of cultural differences.

And who knows whether there will be legal compliance on all organisations in future? Best to get a head start on that.

“Don’t you just translate word-for-word?”

No, absolutely not. Translation is an art that requires high level linguistic skills. Our Translators have been training and practising their skills for years and, indeed, they continue to do so to this day.

To become a Translator, you need to master a multitude of skills: in-depth knowledge of grammatical rules, a keen eye for detail, good technical literacy, sensitivity of cultural references, awareness of language legislation, professionalism etc. This takes hard graft and continuous professional development to perfect.

Our aim when translating into Welsh is to ensure that the translation doesn’t sound like a translation. Rather, it should read as an original Welsh document, completely independent from the English. There are many factors that contribute to a successful translation: the target audience and purpose, the nature of the document, grammatical structure, consistency and accuracy etc. and all of these things (and more) will be running through a Translator’s head even before they begin the translation process.

If you believe that translation is just converting word-for-word then you are most definitely setting yourself up to fail.

“Why do you bother translating into Welsh? It’s a dying language”

Take it from us, the Welsh language is definitely not dying. On average here at Bla, we translate around 150,000 words per week from English into Welsh (occasionally Welsh into English), demonstrating that there is a huge demand for Welsh translation services.

Although we recognise that there are challenges facing the language, we are confident in the efforts that are in place to ensure a prosperous future for our mother tongue and we will always advocate for our language.

“Translation is expensive”

The investment you make in translation services is only a small cost when you think of the problems that can arise if you don’t invest in your translation services.

If you don’t invest in a proper translation service, your written materials could be misunderstood, misinterpreted or misleading. All of these things could lead to legal issues, compliance issues, avoidable delays, dissatisfaction amongst your client base and employees, in addition to damaging your brand, which run up a nasty bill.

Translation is a necessary investment to avoid unnecessary expense.

We are pleased to announce that our Business Manager, Anna, has contributed to the most recent edition of the ITI Bulletin, a business newsletter by the Institute of Translation and Interpreting.

In her article, Anna reflects on her seven-year journey as part of our team, which has been a period of great change for the business. Offering a little peek behind-the-scenes at Bla, not only does she outline the evolution of the company but also her career in the translation industry.

One of the most notable changes, of course, is the introduction of a new service, launched in early 2024 in the name of Bla₂, offering a translation service into multiple international languages. From Polish, Arabic, French, to Romanian to name only a few, we can now cover most European languages. We are glad to say that Bla₂ is rapidly gaining momentum with a growing portfolio of clients.

This exciting development comes at no detriment to our Welsh language translation offering, which remains a separate service. The demand for our Welsh language expertise seems to have ramped up, keeping our team extremely busy and we cannot be more grateful for all the support.

Our team’s passion towards languages is unrivalled and we hope that the high standards to which we work across all our service offerings demonstrate the pride we take in our work.

Yet to read Anna’s article?

If you haven’t already read Anna’s article titled Taking Care of Business, which offers an insight into how things have developed at Bla in recent times, then you can do so by clicking here.

Brand Licensing Europe, London

Last week, Anna and Elliw travelled down to London for two days to attend the Brand Licensing Europe Expo event in the very impressive Excel arena.

An important business event in the calendar, seeing a whole host of big brands come together under one roof to showcase their products, meet other companies, discuss ideas and network.

Networking experience

From the long-established highly recognisable brands to those who are newer on the scene, we thoroughly enjoyed being in the company of such passionate business professionals and brand specialists who truly are at the top of their game. A real networking experience, both Anna and Elliw enjoyed meeting new people and introducing Bla’s service to a fresh audience. We would like to express our thanks to all who took some time out of their busy schedules to chat with us.

A trip down memory lane

It was a very impressive event, offering a great insight into how these big brands operate in such a fast-paced and saturated market. We felt as though we were taking a stroll down memory lane, surrounded by such iconic brands. From Groovy Chick, Strawberry Shortcake to Paddington to name only a handful, the nostalgia was real.

A buzzing atmosphere bouncing with creativity, innovation and vision – a truly inspiring event.

At Bla, we are a very training-oriented company and have enabled many young linguists to start and develop a career in the Welsh translation industry over the years. We feel that supporting the next generation of Welsh Translators is essential, not only to future proof our company but also the industry and language standards in general.

We have seen great benefit from training our staff within the company – they get the opportunity to familiarise themselves with our approaches to translation, our clients’ house styles and the high standards to which we work to satisfy our clients requirements. Our Translation Manager for Quality, Nerys, is responsible for training and ensuring staff progress here at Bla and, drawing upon her highly respected knowledge and experience, she does a fantastic job at elevating and enhancing our team’s natural linguistic talents.

Elin, our Trainee Translator, is just one example of the many Translators who have had the privilege of being mentored by Nerys. In a few weeks’ time, Elin, who joined us in September last year, will also be starting a Professional Translation Studies course at Aberystwyth University, in addition to the training programme she follows in the office. Elin will be splitting her time between gaining practical experience through working here at Bla and academic study alongside other like-minded professionals of the Welsh translation industry – a fantastic opportunity to mature her already established skillset!

Here’s what Elin has to say about the opportunity to earn and learn at the same time:

“This course will be an opportunity to enhance my knowledge and understanding of the translation industry. I am looking forward to learning and developing as a Translator. By the end of the course, I aim to be confident in translating sector-specific specialist terminology. I hope that the information I will learn and the feedback I will receive will support me to go from strength to strength and help me to deal with translation challenges that arise as part of my work.”

We would like to wish Elin the best of luck as she starts her new course. If her infectious can-do attitude at the office is anything to go by, then we know that she will absolutely smash it!

If you have a business operating in Wales or you are based in the UK with an overseas target market, but you operate exclusively through the medium of the English language, perhaps you should read on as here we outline 3 simple steps to incorporate bilingualism or multilingualism in your business.

We know how busy you all are and that there aren’t enough hours in a day. Perhaps you have already thought about incorporating another language in your business, but you’ve never got round to executing it. You may be eager to break into a new market in a new country or, if you’re a Welsh company, you may want to capitalise on your Welsh identity but you haven’t a clue where to start. Being a bilingual or a multilingual business shouldn’t make you feel as if you’re opening a can of worms.

We want to see more businesses gaining the confidence to harness bilingualism and multilingualism, and enjoying the plethora of benefits that come with doing so. This is where we come in.

Through our work with a variety of organisations of all sizes and from all sectors within the UK, we know first-hand the perceptions some may have of being a bilingual or multilingual business: “translation services are expensive”, “we don’t have time to manage translations on top of everything else”, “investing in a different language won’t lead to business benefits”.

To help relieve these perceptions, we have put together 3 easy steps to incorporate another language to your business, to show you just how easy and stress-free it can be. Our aim is to increase confidence levels amongst organisations to make more use of languages. Here goes:

1. Provide email signatures bilingually/multilingually and start your emails with a greeting in the language of your target market
   Even if you are unable to send the email in their language, by demonstrating an effort to include the target market’s language shows respect for their identity. It can have a very positive effect on the recipient(s) engagement with you and may improve their perception of you/your company. Languages are closely related to human emotions – an easy strategy that you should be capitalising on
2. Introduce grammatically correct Welsh signage in your buildings
   If you have an establishment or a building in Wales, this can be a very simple but effective way of demonstrating how your organisation values bilingualism in Wales (top tip: the English language signs at your establishment should not be in a more prominent position than the Welsh language signs. Be aware of this as it could lead to unfavourable attention). Please consult us to ensure that all Welsh language signage is correct!
3. Share bilingual or multilingual social media posts
   Use it correctly and social media can be a business’ best friend. From improving brand awareness to attracting more traffic to your website, it’s no revelation that the benefits are vast. Why not make the most of your social media platforms by sharing bilingual or multilingual content? Doing so can improve customer engagement, grow your market, and lead to an increase in sales. Supporting your bottom line with top marketing tactics.

So, there you have 3 simple, non-invasive and highly effective steps to start to incorporate bilingualism or multilingualism to your business. Have a go and experience the benefits for yourself.

Our experts at Bla are available to help you to navigate your language requirements. All you need to do is share your goals with us, and we will do the rest, leaving you to focus on your duties. Contact us by completing our online form and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Bla recently provided Welsh translations for a popular national brand on their expansion as they introduced a café at some of their stores.

Amongst other signage to be displayed in their cafés, one of the most prominent signs they needed translated was as follows:

Take a Break

Our Translators worked as a team to offer a fitting Welsh translation. Having thought of a few strong contenders, they drew upon their professional experience to narrow down their options and select the best translation for this client, which was:

Saib am Sbel

The important thing here is that the translation resonates with Welsh speakers from all parts of Wales and across all Welsh generations, in a country where countless different dialects all exist inherently. We are confident that no Welsh speaker will be turning to the English to understand this Welsh sign!

The signs can now be seen in selected stores in Wales. They have taken their place perfectly and have been warmly welcomed by Welsh speaking customers. One of whom even shared a photo online, praising the company for investing in a professional Welsh language expert to ensure a correct, impactful and familiar-feeling translation – localisation at its best.

If you are a business operating in Wales, then it is in your best interest to demonstrate awareness of the area in which you trade. The easiest and fastest ways of doing this is by incorporating Welsh language signage in your buildings. This is such an impactful means of showing that you as a company value your customer base, their language, their culture and their way of life.

We have all seen incorrect Welsh signs being circulated on social media, but this is a great example of a national company going about things the correct way. We are thrilled to have contributed our expertise to this project.

A successful translation once again by our dedicated team and another happy client!

Contact us to discuss any localisation requirements you might have!

You might have seen on our socials that we have recently re-introduced Bla₂, our international languages unit, which is very exciting.

We had initially lunched Bla₂ at the beginning of 2024 following our success in the Association of Translation Companies’ Awards Ceremony where we were named Translation Company of the Year.

As we have been such busy bees with our Welsh translation service (which, not to worry, will be continuing at the highest standard with no change in how we work), we weren’t able to invest as much time as we would have liked on developing our international languages unit. As such, we required additional staff to support our expanding operations.

And so began our recruitment campaign to appoint both Welsh Translators and a Business Officer. With great success, we welcomed 3 new linguistic staff and Elliw, our Business Officer, last year. They all hit the ground running and have since settled in nicely.

With Elliw’s help, we have been able to invest more time and effort in further establishing Bla₂, exploring more exciting sectors and meeting even more like-minded professionals in the international translation industry. As such, our new service is in full swing.

To learn more about Bla₂, the languages we cover, and to request translation work, head over to our Contact Form and one of our advisors will be in touch as soon as possible.

We can’t wait to hear from you!