The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is only a few days away. This is the first Olympic Games ever to be held in South America.

This years games has not been without its controversy, with political, economic and health crises dominating the headlines, not to mention the doping scandal casting a shadow over the sport, in particular track and field, with 113 Russian athletes banned from participating.

As August the 5^th gets ever closer, organisers are hoping to put these problems behind them, with all eyes on the opening ceremony, which is set to be a spectacular event.

There are 206 countries participating, competing for 4,924 medals across 42 sports in just 17 days, with multiple languages, transcribers and commentators all over the globe are poised ready to get talking and typing. With all the different languages and accents, it isn’t always going to be plain sailing for transcribers.

Here are a few things that they will be looking out for in order to present a professional service to the Olympics and the public.

• Accent- With 206 countries taking part, there will be many different accents to look out for, the ways in which words are pronounced
• Dialect – The distinctive grammar and vocabulary associated with a regional or social use of a language, transcribers will need to listen hard to ensure that the correct message is conveyed
• Idiolect – an individuals’ distinctive and unique style of speaking
• Paralinguistic – A persons’ body language, facial expressions and gestures (all other non-verbal communication) that add emphasis and meaning to the speakers message
• Time coding – This is particularly important when it comes to subtitles, which determines the start and end times going through the footage frame by frame

It is going to be a busy and challenging few weeks for transcribers across the globe, communicating all of the stories, interviews and live action of the games, but should be very rewarding and enjoyable, watching all those athletes battle it out for that all important Gold Olympic medal!

Get on the podium

Everyone strives to be the best they can be, our day to day lives can be our own Olympic event, both business and personal. We all train hard to get to where we want to be, we focus on delivering and achieving our goals despite the hurdles that life throws at us.  Getting onto that podium can often be a challenge but not impossible and when we do win that first place, deadline, get the deal we feel like a gold medal winner.

If you find yourself with too much to do and too little time, then Fingertips Typing can help. Visit Fingertips Typing Services.

Written by: Cerri Killworth, Transcriber for Fingertips Typing Services.