Consistency

Whether verb tenses, punctuation or tone of voice, the key to success this year is consistency across your multilingual content! While many languages may have a lot more verb tenses than others, it’s important to maintain the same tense throughout your entire translation piece. Whether the past, present, future, or whatever timeline Inception was in, a consistent verb tense helps the reader build a clearer picture of the text, ensuring a much less confusing read.  

Euphemisms have positive connotations. Use them carefully.

Ah euphemisms, the warm blanket of the language world. Euphemisms do a very good job at turning unappealing, aggressive phrases into more pleasant-sounding alternatives. “Spinning the truth” sounds a lot more fun than “lying to my face”. “Having a drink” sounds less worrying than “hitting the bottle”. Euphemisms are there to save you when you don’t want to sound too offensive. Mincing your words is sometimes a good option when playing it safe. However, different cultures have different norms. While an American might prefer to hear that they “put on a few pounds” instead of “got fat” (although we wouldn’t recommend going with either of those, the pandemic’s been tough on all of us), not all cultures would appreciate you hiding behind colorful language.

For example, the German language is very straightforward. While a non-speaker might comment on the length of some of their words, they are direct and to the point. The word “faux” is a perfect example. “Faux leather” products are being sold on both clothes and couches. Most clothing and furniture brands have chosen to stick to the term “faux leather” because it sounds somewhat exotic. Faux is French, and French is elegant, no? Maybe faux leather is an even more exclusive type of leather! The reality is a lot more boring. Faux is French for “fake”. Faux leather is nothing more but a rebrand of synthetic or artificial leather. However, the euphemism makes it sound a lot more appealing, especially to clients who don’t exactly know what to buy until they land on the French sounding product. Euphemisms only work when dealing with cultures that don’t appreciate bluntness. When translating for a specific culture, keep in mind their sensitivity to directness, or risk being told your work is “below par”. Sounds a lot nicer than “awful”, doesn’t it?

Resist the urge to rely on machine translations for help

 51 years ago, John Blakenbaker invented the Kenbak-1. It is recognized as the first personal computer in history, with an impressive 256 bytes of memory! (You could probably fit half an emoji in there) After half a century of developments, there’s not much left to the imagination as to what machines can do nowadays! Unsurprisingly quick and efficient, machine translation has been the go-to tool when it comes to localization. But is there something missing?

With that being said, machine translations lack the human understanding of certain cultural nuances and idioms. Here’s an example of a French to English Google Translation.

“Appeler un chat un chat” is a French idiom that implies telling it like it is. Google’s translation would be “Call a cat a cat” which is literal, completely missing the point. The English equivalent of “appeler un chat un chat” would be “calling a spade a spade”. Still feeling tempted to just drop that content there?

Humor is an unnecessary risk. Stick to the script.

As much as it pains us to admit it, humor has drawbacks. There’s a time and place for humor and more often than not, it won’t be in your translated texts. Some people rely on humor to make a reader feel at ease or sound more approachable. Truth is, it’s a powerful tool when writing content in a specific language. Translation is a whole other deal. While humor might be universal, cultures have very different senses of humor. Let’s not forget that what’s funny to some can also be wildly offensive to others. Even native speakers of the same culture can disagree on the definition of funny. The need for humor won’t arise very often, if at all, in works that need to be translated. If the text itself is already funny, you won’t need to add any additional humor. Stick to the script and keep it concise to avoid any cross-cultural hazards. Let’s keep the jokes for open mic night.

Video is the way to go

Written documentation isn’t the only thing that needs to be translated anymore. According to HubSpot, 54% of consumers want to see more video content from their favorite brands. Naturally, the growth of video marketing has opened up opportunities for companies and individuals alike to appeal to a more international audience. With that in mind, we have equipped ourselves to hop on the trend of video translation! Our tech-savvy team of translators have the technical expertise needed to meet your video demands!  

Keep an eye on the in-demand languages

As business opportunities open up in specific parts of the world, their native language translation will rise in demand. Keep an eye on the trends and understand the differences between different dialects. The five fastest growing languages are all expected to have the most speakers by 2050. We’ve made it our mission to stay fluent in languages such as French, Mandarin, and Hindi to stay ahead of the curve in a market that is already booming in demand. Our native speakers ensure that we’re well prepared for the opportunities that will inevitably arise from those linguistic regions.  

Localize, Localize, Localize!

Advertising content in a different currency than your target markets? We can understand your confusion! Localizing your content is an imperative decision to take in 2022. The headache of adapting product prices into local currency is a challenge we’re very familiar with. However, offering pricing in local currency boosts customer trust while increasing your chances of a successful purchase. It’s not only about currency. Every culture would feel a lot better opening a website and being greeted in their native tongue. Localizing even the tiniest of details builds brand credibility and engages your audience in a way a foreign language would not.