Communication,
redefined.

Who We Are

Verbium is a boutique translation and language learning software development company dedicated to helping clients communicate globally by transcending barriers of culture and language. Whether you're looking to promote your company's products, publicize your organization's mission, or share your community's culture, we’re committed to helping you express, engage, and inspire as never before.

Drawing on more than 25 years of translation and software development experience and a commitment to providing exceptional service that’s earned us contracts with publicly traded companies in Japan, Asia, and the United States, we bring trusted, global expertise to every project, no matter how small or large.  

Like an in-house language specialist

In an industry dominated by large translation agencies that farm out jobs to an army of outside contractors, we’re the exception: a small shop with an overriding dedication to providing personalized, responsive service.

By interposing a salesperson and several layers of subcontractors between clients and the people who are actually writing clients’ documents, the agency model sacrifices quality by making translators not only less accessible, but also less accountable to clients. By contrast, Verbium strips away the middlemen and provides a single point of contact for questions, advice, and translation requests, ensuring your translator is never more than an email away. Think of us as your very own in-house translator.

The Bottom Line

We strive for accuracy, clarity, and pitch-perfect style, delivered on-time and at competitive rates, and we won’t rest until you’re able to communicate a message that's more than the sum of its words. Your document may not need to be translated as if it were literature. But you can rest assured that we'll treat it as if it does. 

Please scroll down for more about our products and services for specific fields.

Verbium has extensive experience with technical content, including in-house work for a major electrical measuring instrument manufacturer and content for major companies in the machine tool, industrial robotics, automotive, air-conditioning, and electronics industries. We’ve handled material ranging from internal engineering documents to spec sheets and product documentation, often including sensitive and confidential content. Beyond translation, we’ve consulted on the contents and layout of product manuals and on software UI design.

Our commitment to close communication with clients means we go the distance to ensure quality for projects that involve arcane or complex subject matter; we’ve visited client facilities, met with engineers, and undergone in-house training. This dedication to getting the job done accurately means clients can rest assured their message will reach their target audience with maximum clarity and impact.

In addition, aviation is a special area of expertise as our founder is a licensed pilot with about 500 hours of pilot-in-command time and more than 1,000 takeoffs and landings in light aircraft.

Services include translation, localization, copywriting, editing, proofing, and consultation.

From scientific papers to journal articles and graduate course learning materials, we have significant experience translating academic and scientific content. Clients have included researchers, professors, authors, and undergraduate and graduate programs at prestigious national universities and other institutions. Past projects include translating course content for Japan’s only Faculty of Textile Science and translating a 450+ page monograph charting the economic history of pachinko. A willingness to spend time on background research and a commitment to working closely with clients translates into English-language content that authors can be proud to put their name on.

Services include translation, copywriting, editing, and proofing.

For private-sector companies and organizations, we’ve translated annual reports, financial statements, CSR reports, ESG reports, internal rules and regulations, audit reports, contracts and agreements, governance documents, and speeches. For local and national government agencies, we’ve translated reports, policy documents, guidance, and speeches, including at the national ministerial level.

Precise communication is just as important in a business or government setting as it is in science and academia. Moreover, serial communications like annual reports and governmental policy documents demand special attention to detail, particularly with regard to nuances of language and consistency, since careless phrasing can invite misinterpretation. We navigate these challenges with care and in keeping with clients’ wishes.

Services include translation, copywriting, editing, proofing, and consulting.

From tourist guidebooks to museum exhibits and catalogs, we have substantial experience with cultural subject matter, including UNESCO materials, NHK scripts, restaurant menus, information about cultural and historic sites, and materials about folk festivals, cultural properties, Buddhist art and architecture, and shrines and temples. While the content of such materials differs in nature from technical and academic writing, we employ the same approach—personal service, meticulous research, and deliberate composition—to make potentially obscure content accessible to a global audience.

Services include translation, copywriting, editing, proofing, and consultation.

Clients in telecommunications, textiles, aviation, and other fields use Verbium’s language learning technology to fast-track fluency, proficiency, and confidence. Past and present products include:

• Englio, a turnkey language instruction suite with student and teacher components. Englio uses proprietary technology to break down language into manageable chunks so that students can learn underlying patterns and then practice listening and speaking until they gain confidence and fluency

• A custom version of Englio used by Shinshu University's Faculty of Textile Science and Technology and Global Leader Program for Fiber Renaissance to advance the English language skills of graduate students

• PocketATC, a mobile app that brings Englio’s underlying language-parsing technology to the field of aviation, where it helps student pilots learn complex radio phraseology and procedures for communicating with air traffic controllers, allowing pilots in training to master in-flight radio without leaving the ground and providing a more effective and less expensive way to gain critically important skills

• StepUp, a 1990s-era video-based English course, developed under contract to NTT

• RealTalk, an early Englio prototype for learning conversational Japanese