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.
A good article, I agree with all you are saying. I would add that translators may also have to work with given styles, terminolgy and do their own research, so it’s very much more than a simple re-wording into the target language.