Travelers between Finland and Russia: Translation needs Tutkimus- ja Analysointikeskus TAK Oy :: GSM +358 45 137 5099 :: info@tak.fi :: www.tak.fi
TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary... 1 Introduction... 2 Structure of data... 3 Trips to the neighboring country... 4 Purpose of the trip... 5 Length of the trip... 6 Accommodation... 7 Arranging of the trip... 8 Internet use... 9 Devices and Internet use during trip... 10 Mobile Internet connection... 11 Language related situations... 12 Language skills... 13 Native and foreign language during the trip... 14 Why foreign language was not needed?... 15 When foreign language was needed?... 16 Where did you get help?... 17 Most important situations where translation help should be available... 18 Electronic translators and dictionaries... 19 Dictionaries and translation software on the Internet... 20 Situations where electronic dictionaries and translation software has been used... 21 Languages used... 22 Satisfaction with electronic dictionaries and translation software... 23 Deficiencies in electronic dictionaries and translation software... 24 High quality - translation software and dictionary... 25 Most important interface features... 26 Other features... 27
1 SUMMARY ELECTRONIC TRANSLATORS AND DICTIONARIES Over half of the respondents haven t used any electronic dictionaries or translation software on the Internet. Google translate is the most used software by and respondents. Electronic dictionaries and translation software are mainly used at home or at work. A fifth to a quarter has used them while traveling. Almost three quarters of respondents have used electronic dictionaries and translation software for translations between and and over half have used them for translations between and English. respondents have used them more often on English translations. They have also used them to translate between English and. Most of the respondents have been mainly satisfied with electronic dictionaries and translation software. Deficiencies in electronic dictionaries and translation software relate mainly to too poor quality of the translation. About a third of the respondents and every seventh respondent would be ready to pay 10 euros for a high quality -- translation software and dictionary. Adding speech recognition wouldn t increase the share of respondents, who are interested in paying. Half of the respondents and about a fifth of the respondents would definitely use the software while traveling in the neighboring country, if it was available for free on the Internet. Most important features for the interface are clearly that it is fast and simple to navigate and generally simple to use. LANGUAGE RELATED SITUATIONS Half of the respondents have had service in while traveling in Russia. A bit less than two thirds of the respondents have had service in during their trip in Finland. About the same share of respondents have been in a situation during their travel, where their native language has not been enough. Main reason why foreign language was not needed during the trip was that service was received in native language. Almost half of the respondents had someone to translate for them. Less than a fifth said they didn t communicate with the locals at all. Foreign language was most often needed while shopping, dining or at accommodation. Depending on the situation, help was needed by no more than ten percent of the respondents, who had been in situations where language, other than their native, was needed. Almost three quarters of respondents, who needed help with language, got it from external interpreter. No more than fifth of respondents, who got in these situations, used dictionaries. Respondents feel that most important situations where translation help should be available are emergencies and healthcare. respondents can speak English better than respondents, even though the share of respondents who can t speak English is about the same. More respondents can speak well than respondents can speak well.
2 INTRODUCTION PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH A public electronic translation and dictionary software is under development. Possible target users are and traveling in the neighboring country. The purpose of the research was to find out what kind of interpretational or translational needs these travelers have. IMPLEMENTATION Research was implemented by interviewing and travelers leaving for Russia at the border station or in train. Interviews were done in April, May and June 2013. A total of 530 travelers and 87 travelers were interviewed. Research was implemented by Tutkimus- ja Analysointikeskus TAK Oy. RELIABILITY Sample error in percentage figures in this report for travelers is no more than 4.3 percentage points and for travelers no more than 10.5 percentage points.
STRUCTURE OF DATA 3 FINNISH RUSSIAN FINNISH RUSSIAN sex count share count share border station count share count share male 57 69 % 281 57 % Nuijamaa 9 11 % 390 74 % female 26 31 % 209 43 % Vaalimaa 6 7 % 97 18 % age count share count share Vainikkala 20 24 % 18 3 % 15-34 21 24 % 153 31 % Imatra 2 2 % 0 0 % 35-54 38 44 % 277 56 % Niirala 48 56 % 24 5 % over 54 27 31 % 65 13 % vehicle count share count share education count share count share passenger car 54 65 % 395 81 % university 24 29 % 369 72 % bus 7 8 % 37 8 % university of applied sciences or equivalent 16 19 % 98 19 % train 20 24 % 18 4 % other 44 52 % 44 9 % small bus / taxi 0 0 % 37 8 % profession count share count share other 2 2 % 0 0 % worker of white-collar 46 53 % 213 42 % travels count share count share executive or entrepreneur 14 16 % 219 43 % alone 51 61 % 73 14 % pensioner 19 22 % 35 7 % with family 14 17 % 313 60 % other 7 8 % 43 8 % with other friends 14 17 % 166 32 % family's monthly income count share count share on a group holiday 7 8 % 19 4 % 2 000 / 80 000 rub or less 17 23 % 271 66 % 2 001-4 000 / 80 001-160 000 rub 38 51 % 113 28 % over 4 000 / 160 000 rub 19 26 % 24 6 %
4 TRIPS TO THE NEIGHBORING COUNTRY
% of respondents PURPOSE OF THE TRIP 5 75% 7 62% 31% 28% 35% OTHER - to pick up family at airport - hockey wc - to visit grave 15% 6% 6% 4% 3% 9% 1% 3% business shopping for fuel other shopping trip holiday visiting family / transit trip to "open" visa other friends Almost two thirds of the respondents were going to Russia to buy fuel. A quarter was on a holiday. Three quarters of respondents were on a shopping trip and a third on a holiday.
% of respondents LENGTH OF THE TRIP 6 7 72% 56% 26% 12% 8% 8% 7% 5% 5% 1% 0 nights 1 night 2 nights 3 to 7 nights over 7 nights Almost three quarters of the respondents and a bit over half of the respondents were on a day trip. The trips by respondents were longer on the average.
% of respondents ACCOMMODATION 7 100 % 90 % 80 % 70 % 60 % 50 % 40 % 45 % 55 % OTHER - by family - rented flat - ferry 30 % 29 % 20 % 15 % 18 % 18 % 10 % 5 % 5 % 8 % 3 % 5 % 0 % hotel own house or own apartment rental cottage friend's place camping area car other cottage About half of the respondents stay in a hotel. Roughly a third of the and a fifth of the respondents stay at a friend s place. 3 %
% of respondents ARRANGING OF THE TRIP 8 84% 7 16% completely independently used the help of a travel agent About a tenth of the and a sixth of the respondents used the help of a travel agent to arrange their trip.
9 INTERNET USE
% of respondents 7 DEVICES AND INTERNET USE DURING TRIP 10 : Do you own following devices and did you use internet with them on your trip? : Did you have following devices with you on the trip and did you use Internet? 74% 52% 37% 32% 39% 26% 17% 9% 15% 4% 15% owns / had on the trip used Internet owns / had on the trip used Internet owns / had on the trip used Internet LAPTOP TABLET SMART PHONE Three quarters of the respondents had a smart phone with them on their trip, but only half of them used it for Internet, whereas ninety percent of the respondents, who had a laptop with them, used it to connect to Internet. Nine out of ten respondents owns a smart phone, half owns a laptop and a quarter owns a tablet. A third of the respondents, who own smartphone, used it to connect to Internet during their trip.
% of respondents MOBILE INTERNET CONNECTION 11 7 65% 31% 35% 38% 44% 34% 15% 8% Wi-Fi at accommodation other public Wi-Fi (cafe etc.) own mobile subscription (roaming) local prepaid bought at the destination Two thirds of the respondents and a third of the respondents have used their own mobile subscription during their trip. About a third of the travelers use Wi-Fi at their accommodation.
12 LANGUAGE RELATED SITUATIONS
% of respondents 13 LANGUAGE SKILLS 100 % 5% 4% 90 % 16% 19% can't speak 80 % 70 % 16% 46% 60 % 50 % 51% 95% 83% 96% marginal 40 % 30 % 68% good or excelent 20 % 10 % 0 % 29% 18% 14% 1% 2% 6% respondents respondents respondents respondents respondents respondents ENGLISH FINNISH RUSSIAN native language respondents can speak English better, even though the share of respondents who can t speak English is about the same. More respondents can speak well than respondents can speak well.
% of respondents 14 NATIVE AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE DURING THE TRIP 7 51% 61% 55% 64% Has had service in home country's language in the travel destination. Has been in a situation during the trip where a language other than native language was needed. Half of the respondents have had service in while traveling in Russia. A bit less than two thirds of the respondents have had service in during their trip in Finland. About the same share of respondents have been in a situation during their travel, where their native language has not been enough.
% of respondents, who didn't need foreign language 15 WHY FOREIGN LANGUAGE WAS NOT NEEDED? 76% 7 56% 44% OTHER - I speak and - I was using gestures 15% 19% 15% 8% 7% I didn't communicate with the locals at all during my trip. I got service in my native language. A person in my travel party translated. other Main reason why foreign language was not needed during the trip was that service was received in native language. Almost half of the respondents had someone to translate for them. Less than a fifth said they didn t communicate with the locals at all.
arranging of trip (bookings etc.) traveling and vehicles (planes, trains, buses etc.) accommodation dining (restaurants, cafes etc.) shopping (stores, markets etc.) banks, currency exchange etc. emergencies (police, ambulance etc.) healthcare (doctors, drug stores etc.) car repairs, maintenance etc. other repairs (shoes, electronics etc.) missing items search of information (location, hours, directions etc.) business meetings customs other % of respondents, who needed foreign language WHEN FOREIGN LANGUAGE WAS NEEDED? 16 7 - was in a situation - needed help - was in a situation - needed help OTHER - private meetings - at gym - for work - at post office - at church - at gas station Foreign language was most often needed while shopping, dining or at accommodation. Depending on the situation, help was needed by no more than ten percent of the respondents, who had been in situations where language, other than their native, was needed.
% of respondents, who needed foreign language and got help WHERE DID YOU GET HELP? 17 7 71% OTHER - friends - other people - gestures were enough 39% 17% 17% 9% 14% 13% external interpreter dictionary dictionary or translation software on Internet dictionary or translation software on mobile device other Almost three quarters of respondents, who needed help with language, got it from external interpreter. No more than fifth of respondents, who got in these situations, used dictionaries.
arranging of trip (bookings etc.) traveling and vehicles (planes, trains, buses etc.) accommodation dining (restaurants, cafes etc.) shopping (stores, markets etc.) banks, currency exchange etc. emergencies (police, ambulance etc.) * healthcare (doctors, drug stores etc.) car repairs, maintenance etc. other repairs (shoes, electronics etc.) missing items search of information (location, hours, directions etc.) business meetings * customs other % of respondents MOST IMPORTANT SITUATIONS WHERE TRANSLATION HELP SHOULD BE AVAILABLE 18 75% 7 49% 53% 16% 16% 9% 8% 11% 24% 21% 16% 17% 21% 19% 2% 24% 19% 14% 11% 13% 12% 5% * Healthcare and customs were only included in survey. Respondents feel that most important situations where translation help should be available are emergencies and healthcare.
19 ELECTRONIC TRANSLATORS AND DICTIONARIES
% of respondents 20 DICTIONARIES AND TRANSLATION SOFTWARE ON THE INTERNET Have you ever used following dictionaries / translation software? 7 56% 35% 29% OTHER - fi.ru - ilmainen sanakirja - sanakirja.org - tablet - mobilephone 11% 8% 4% 4% 5% 5% 12% Google translate Yandex Perevod ABBYY Lingvo Translate.ru (Promt) other none Over half of the respondents haven t used any electronic dictionaries or translation software on the Internet. Google translate is the most used software by and respondents.
% of respondents, who have used them 21 SITUATIONS WHERE ELECTRONIC DICTIONARIES AND TRANSLATION SOFTWARE HAS BEEN USED 88% 7 68% 53% 43% 22% 19% 19% 13% at work at home while traveling in the neighboring country (Finland / Russia) while traveling elsewhere Electronic dictionaries and translation software are mainly used at home or at work. A fifth to a quarter has used them while traveling.
% of respondents, who have used them 22 LANGUAGES USED 7 59% 37% 72% 72% 34% OTHER - Chinese - Estonian - French - German - Greek - Italian - Latvian - Spanish - Swedish 13% 9% - English - - English - - - other - / - other Almost three quarters of respondents have used electronic dictionaries and translation software for translations between and and over half have used them for translations between and English. respondents have used them more often on English translations. They have also used them to translate between English and.
% of respondents, who have used them 23 SATISFACTION WITH ELECTRONIC DICTIONARIES AND TRANSLATION SOFTWARE 100 % 90 % 13% 5% extremely unsatisfies 80 % 70 % 60 % 62% quite unsatisfied 50 % 40 % 71% quite satisfied 30 % 20 % 34% extremely satisfied 10 % 0 % 16% Most of the respondents have been mainly satisfied with electronic dictionaries and translation software.
% of respondents, who have used them DEFICIENCIES IN ELECTRONIC DICTIONARIES AND TRANSLATION SOFTWARE 24 7 63% OTHER - difficult to understand phrase translation - translation is not always correct - no Hebrew 25% 15% 11% 5% 5% quality of translation is too poor : using them abroad is too difficult : poor Internet connection abroad when needed, using them is too complicated other Deficiencies in electronic dictionaries and translation software relate mainly to too poor quality of the translation.
% of respondents HIGH QUALITY FINNISH-RUSSIAN TRANSLATION SOFTWARE AND DICTIONARY 25 7 Maybe Definitely If there was a high quality -- translation software and dictionary (: for mobilephone)... 37% 32% 33% 33% 35% 16% 32% 33% 22% 13% 14% WOULD YOU BUY IT FOR 10? WHAT IF IT ALSO HAD SPEECH RECOGNITION? IF IT WAS ON THE INTERNET FOR FREE, WOULD YOU USE IT WHILE TRAVELING IN FINLAND/RUSSIA? About a third of the respondents and every seventh respondent would be ready to pay 10 euros. Adding speech recognition wouldn t increase the share of respondents, who are interested in paying. Half of the respondents and about a fifth of the respondents would definitely use the software while traveling in the neighboring country if it was available for free on the Internet.
% of respondents 26 MOST IMPORTANT INTERFACE FEATURES Choose three most important interface features: 85% 7 76% 72% 62% 32% 21% 13% 27% 27% 7% 9% 8% 11% fast and simple navigation simple interface intuitive interface manual black-and-white interface color interface possibility to change font-size Most important features for the interface are clearly that it is fast and simple to navigate and generally simple to use.
27 OTHER FEATURES What other features would you like to have? all variants of words using audio samples auditory phrase availability bar code scanning to know the name in calculator, alarm clock, notebook calculator, currency converter close translation correct pronunciation ease of operation easy to use easy to use easy to use on mobile without Wi-Fi Fast and accurate translation fast, easy to use video lessons Good accurate translation GPS GPS navigation GPS-navigation GPS-navigation, Wi-Fi Grammar high quality idioms illustrations Internet key conversational phrases keyboard maps more languages more words and phrases Multi-language translation navigator not to use battery/other resources too heavily offline offline mode photo camera phrases and its application pronunciation read books; watch movies; listen to music reliability reliability reliability speed program the correct translation The simpler, the better understanding a sentence updates updates available voice recognition volume working without internet