Many of us turn to translation to make our content accessible to the speakers of the foreign language. All of us hope that the translated parts are accurate. The translation is communication; so, when something goes wrong, the communication fails. In the case of businesses, poor localization means losing profits from sales. Thus, avoiding such situations is one of the first concerns when you try to translate yourself. Perfect word choices, simple grammar structures, and appropriate tone are some of the best tools to get your audience right. Many common reasons cause failure in translation. Here are the main three of them.
1. Lack of proofreading
If one does not proofread, they can end up with error-filled text. It may cause confusion and even laughter. Not proofreading may lead to several types of failures, which we will look at below.
● A typo. One of the common causes of translation failure is a typo. You typed in one letter instead of another, thus turning it to another word that does not fit the context. It may sound ridiculous or even offensive. Use Grammarly to eliminate such mistakes.
● Wrong pronouns. If you are unsure which pronoun should go after a certain word, consult specialists. The pronouns which do not fit the context sound lousy and unprofessional. Be specific and try to check pronouns options.
● Lousy grammar. Your overall message is fine, and basically, people will understand what you are saying. Still, it may be grammatically wrong. In sales or business websites, people may deter from buying your product or service if they see the incorrectly used tense.
● Incorrect tone. You may accidentally include the slang words or idioms that may not fit in. Specifically, this is dangerous in the business context, as it confuses the readers who do not understand why this “street” word is in the product description.
2. Machine translation.
Of course, Google Translate is good only when you know how to Google Translate. In many cases, the machine is correct. However, it may ruin the sentence structure, which usually results in nonsense. It is hard to get what the author tries to say. Sometimes, it may create funny word structures that will make people laugh, take screenshots, and post your errors on their social media pages. Thus, Google is tricky.
Maybe, someday, we will have a perfect Google translation. Unfortunately, today, we still risk having a lousy one. Now, I have advice for you. Turn to TheWordPoint to edit and proofread your text thoroughly. You may order a translation from scratch from a professional service if you want to make your content perfect.
3. Trusting the wrong people.
Take your time to choose your translation company. I mean that. There are many proposals on the market, but not all of the companies should be trusted. Carefully investigate the reputation of the company, its ratings among the others, and read reviews. All of this will help you make your final choice. Ask if the company has native speakers to do the translation or simply to proofread your text. Be attentive. Here are some examples of failures of big companies.
● Honda. The Japanese car company failed once with the name for the new car. A Honda Jazz model named Honda Fitta caused confusion and laughter in Sweden. In Swedish, “fitta” is a word that relates to women’s genitals. They should have gone with simple Honda Jazz instead.
● McDonald’s. One may think that this company is a marketing professional which never fails. It is present in all parts of the world with its powerful legal base and impeccable localization. But they are not free from failures. For example, when the company introduced its Big Mac to France, they called it “Gros Mec,” which meant “Big Pimp.” I wonder if anyone bought the burger.
● Pepsi. In their attempts to break into the Chinese market, Pepsi tried translating their famous “Come alive with Pepsi.” In English, this slogan is joyful and upbeat. However, in Chinese, it sounded like “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead.” The thing is, they did a literal translation. Don’t repeat such mistakes.
● Marvel Entertainment. This film company, with its exciting superhero movies, gained broad recognition in the last ten years. A recent film Avengers: Infinity War was a great success worldwide due to its great plot, actors, and special effects. However, its translation team failed in Korea. Actually, it failed to the point of Koreans starting a petition to fire the translator.
The translation may go wrong due to many factors. But the main of them is people failing to take time, money, or human resources to translate correctly. Take Coca-Cola: they translated their name to Chinese as “Bite the wax tadpole,” because they did not localize. Be sure to use reliable translators. Do not trust machine texts, and if you do, proofread it. Sure, there are other machines apart from Google, which may be more or less advanced. But still, always have the person to re-read and correct the final result. If you translate by yourself, use Grammarly and proofread it again. It is better to double-check than lose your target audience.
BIO
Henry Mcdowell is a translator and a part-time blogger who writes for educational companies. His areas of interest include essay and research writing, as well as copywriting. On his personal page, he tells about his travels and reviews films.