Scweppes Tonic Water, Lost in Translation – Translation Mistakes
November 28, 2008 by Beverly Cornell
Filed under Translation Mistakes
In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name into Schweppes Toilet Water.
Be sure to have your translation company translate the words and their meaning before you take your product or service into the global market.
Colgate, Lost in Translation – Translation Mistake
November 10, 2008 by Beverly Cornell
Filed under Translation Mistakes
Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious pornography magazine. Not a very good job of localizing the name for the target market.
When taking your products or services global be sure to not only translate but also research the target market to make sure that there aren’t any Lost in Translation moments for your brand.
Coca Cola Lost in Translation- Translation Mistake
October 18, 2008 by Beverly Cornell
Filed under Translation Mistakes
The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered as Ke-kou-ke-la. Unfortunately, the Coke company did not discover until after thousands of signs had been printed that the phrase means “bite the wax tadpole” or “female horse stuffed with wax” depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 Chinese characters and found a close phonetic equivalent, ko-kou-ko-le, which can be loosely translated as “happiness in the mouth.”
When taking your product or service global be sure to not only translate the words but also their meaning in the local market – otherwise all the work you have done to enter the new market may be a disaster.
4 Foreign Language Translation Tips
October 16, 2008 by Beverly Cornell
Filed under Technical Translation Services, Translation, Translation Mistakes, Translators
When translating your website, marketing materials, documentation, owner’s manuals, user guides and instruction booklets it is important to keep the following items in mind.
1. Hire a professional subject-matter expert who is a native speaker of the language you need translation for. Your company’s international reputation and brand are in the hands of your translation team. A reputable translation agency will have the experience, software and team to handle your specific project.
2. Foreign language translation is not just typing your document into another language. Your entire document’s meaning can be mistranslated and could cause legal trouble and lose of sales. Experienced translators are intimately familiar with both the language and the subject matter – while non-native translators may miss a phrase or a word’s culture-specific meaning. This could change the entire meaning of the document. The art of translation should be left to the professionals.
3. Use a human translator. Instant computer translated documents can have humorous-yet disastrous results. If your original documents took you several days or weeks to prepare – be wary if your translation doesn’t take some time to translate as the same care should be implemented for your translated documents.
4. Do not be tempted to use cheap and fast translations that may actually be SPAM. These translations can mean huge problems later. There should be a balance between the price, the turn around time and the quality of the translation. Technical translations can be more time consuming. Be realistic with your deadlines.
3 Tips for Successful Foreign Language Translation
September 24, 2008 by Beverly Cornell
Filed under Translation, Translation Mistakes, Writing for Translation
Translation of your English text can be a big endeavor. Keep these translation tips in mind to help you save time, money and confusion.
1. Keep your target market in mind. Creating copy for global audiences should not include acronyms, puns, plays on words and national contexts as these will lose impact when they are translated into a foreign language.
2. Proofread your English source documentation. This will help the foreign language translator understand your text and prevent delays and confusion. In addition, be sure to have your translations proofread. An omitted word, a spelling error, and incorrect punctuation can harm your organization’s reputation in your new market. First impressions are everything.
3. Translating from English into a foreign language typically means an expansion of text. Translations typically require more words to communicate the same thing in English. This concept is called the expansion factor – a 250 English word document could expand to as much as 400 words after translation. This is important for two reasons. One – be sure your formatting and layout allows for text expansion – so leave plenty of white space. Additionally, check with your translation or language service provider charges by source or target word as that will effect your costs.
Taking the time to translate your documents with these tips in mind can help your organization take their products/services global.
