Our history
In the early 1990s, three entrepreneurial language fans got together and developed a complete language service for companies: language training courses, translations, and interpreting. It’s now nearly thirty years later, and ElaN Languages is a leading player in the language business. We have offices in Brussels, Flanders, Wallonia, and the Netherlands, with a network of 40 full-time employees and 1,800 freelancers. And that same innovative spirit from the early years is still going strong. Here is a list of the major milestones in our history.
1990 – The early days
Wim Vanschooren, who was moonlighting as an independent translator for several SMEs in the region, founded ElaN Languages in the late 1980s as a hobby. In September 1990, ElaN Languages took on an even broader company form, thanks to the partnership with Eric and Peter Vaes, who were both then active in academics.
2000 – Quality pays
ElaN reaped the rewards of its high-quality service: the company received the Qfor quality label for training organisations in 2000.
2003 – And… action!
The ElaN Movie Nights are born. Every Monday, this film society welcomes ElaN customers and movie fans to The Roxy Theatre in Beringen for a movie from the non-commercial circuit.
2007 – La douce France
ElaN Languages spread its wings and went international. ElaN France was a fait accompli with the establishment of a branch in Pierrelatte, right in the heart of the Provence. The French subsidiary primarily aims its commercial arrows at major French companies.
2008 – Highest quality translations
It was a first in Belgium: ElaN Languages obtained the EN 15038 European quality label in 2008. You could call it the ISO standard for translation agencies.
2008 – From Russia with love
ElaN Languages continued its international expansion. After ElaN France, we opened a second branch in Moscow. With ElaN Russia, our language services agency is now present in one of the world’s fastest growing markets.
2009 – Crossing the language border
By establishing the branches in Brussels and Louvain-la-Neuve, ElaN expanded its service provision within Belgium too. This expansion allowed the company to meet the language needs for an increasing number of customers in the Brussels and Walloon regions.
2010 – 20th anniversary!
ElaN Languages celebrated its twentieth anniversary with all the bells and whistles.
2011 – Language lessons for footballers
Josip Skoko, Nicolas Lombaerts, Youri Tielemans, and Romelu Lukaku. Those are just some of the elite football players that have taken a language course at ElaN Languages. Watch this video to find out why Lukaku didn’t go for German…
2012 – ElaN 2.0
ElaN goes full speed ahead with its digital services. By launching the MyElaN online platform, the company began offering a handy, user-friendly solution to every language question, from requesting quotes to follow-up on translation projects and language training courses.
2013 – ElaN Netherlands
After France and Russia, ElaN Languages opened another branch in the Netherlands. The expansion to the Netherlands tied in with the company’s strategy to serve its customers digitally too.
2015 – ElaN vs. Google
Our promotional video, ‘Taste the Translation’, highlighted our free translation tool, in which it went toe to toe with the goliath of Google Translate. And came out the winner. The video was showered with awards at the advertising festivals in Berlin, Cannes, and New York. Watch the video here and the sequel here.
2016 – Belgian consolidation
It became apparent in an increasingly more international setting that all the back-office functions for our branches in Russia, France, and the Netherlands would have to be moved to our headquarters in Belgium. But this hasn’t quenched our thirst for international expansion…
2016 – Reinventing language training
Our language training department launched the innovative ROE (‘Return on Expectations’) learning model. This training concept allows ElaN’s trainees to get even better results from their language training programmes.
2017 – ISO 17100
Our translation department obtained the international ISO 17100 quality standard certification for translation service with flying colours. Yet more proof that our translations are always of the best quality. ElaN Languages has held the European EN 15038 quality label, the predecessor of the ISO 17100 standard, since 2008.
