As a marketer, there will come a time when you need to translate your content to another language, whether it’s for business-to-consumer, business-to-business, or government messaging. You are responsible and you will take the flak if something goes wrong. But each language has its quirks, its cultural nuances, and its hidden pitfalls. Sometimes idioms fall flat and formality turns robotic. Suddenly your carefully crafted English copy feels lost in translation. That’s where the real challenge lies. For example, how do you ensure that the translation of your English copy is accurate in meaning, has the same tone, and reads as well as the original? And how do you know what the translation says if you can’t read it? Addressing these concerns is a challenging process, which makes it clear that translation is not as simple a process as one might hope. For us, that is really where the fun begins!

Understanding the Complexity of Translations

As a provider of multilingual communication services, we often come across two types of translations: extensive texts like books, brochures, and flyers, and shorter texts such as advertisements, banners, and videos. The goal is to ensure that these translations are not only accurate but also resonate with the intended audience in a culturally relevant way. In an ideal scenario, assessing the translation is as simple as comparing and checking the translated version against the original English document to ensure that everything has been translated correctly. This straightforward approach is commonly used by our law firm clients, particularly when it comes to discovery documents and there is zero margin for error or creativity.

Marketing content, however, presents its own set of challenges due to the graphic design component of how to best lay out translations into creative assets. This process, known as typesetting, involves placing the translated text into design software like Canva, InDesign, Photoshop, or FinalCut Pro. The aim is to ensure that the translation matches the same look and feel as the English version. This step can be difficult because translations do not always take up the same amount of space in your artwork as the original English text. For example, English copy that takes 600 characters might only need half as many characters when translated into Japanese. On the other hand, a Vietnamese translation might expand to 700 characters and require additional line spacing to accommodate diacritics (accents). The main challenge in translating content into different languages lies in the fact that languages differ vastly from one another.

The Tip of the Language Iceberg

However, this is merely the tip of the iceberg, or in Chinese 冰山一角 (bīngshān yìjiǎo), which literally translates to a small, noticeable part of a problem, the total size of which is really much greater. The intricacies of typesetting translations involve decisions about line breaks, such as determining where lines should be broken and how these breaks might alter the meaning. It is about going beyond copying and pasting and involves considering typography to avoid jarring “widows” and “orphans” that disrupt the reading experience. The ultimate goal here is to strike a delicate balance between accurate meaning and clear communication. Achieving this sweet spot requires careful consideration of readability, word choice, and line breaks – all while staying true to the original English copy.

How Do I Know the Translation is Accurate?

One important question that arises when translating content into another language is how to ensure that the translation accurately conveys the original English message. This is especially important for advertisements and banners, and legal and compliance departments that often require translations to be back-translated for verification. Back-translation involves translating content twice, such as from English to Vietnamese and then back to English, to confirm that the translation reflects the original intent. However, it should be noted that this method assumes a level of linguistic symmetry that does not always exist across languages, as they often express ideas and concepts differently.

Imagine an English advertisement with the slogan, “Empower your journey.” Suppose it’s translated into Spanish as “Potencia tu viaje.” Then, for back translation, “Potencia tu viaje” is translated back into English as “Power your trip.” Notice the differences? While “Empower your journey” and “Power your trip” share similar themes, the nuances of “empower”, suggesting inspiration and encouragement, may not be fully captured by the more direct “power” in the back translation. Is this a case of the back-translation revealing a mistranslation in the original translation? Actually, this difference is not a sign of mistranslation. It is rather an indication that languages don’t always have a one-to-one word equivalent and that translation often involves the restructuring of thoughts and ideas. This is why relying on back translation to assess translation quality can be problematic, as it overlooks ideas, thoughts, meaning and how they are conveyed in another language. Clients may want to see the exact same words in English, but this is often not possible when translating between languages.

When evaluating back translations, it’s essential not to view discrepancies as errors but as reflections of the natural differences between languages. The goal is not to accomplish a word-for-word exact match but to ensure that the translated message is in line with the original English intent. This approach views deviations not as mistakes, but as opportunities to refine and clarify the translation, making sure that it correctly reflects the original English copy. By focusing on intent over literal accuracy, you can confidently rely on translations that have been carefully reviewed. This gives you confidence that your translated content is accurate and maintains the quality and integrity of your communications across different languages.

Understanding Linguistic Structures: SVO vs. SOV

While carefully reviewed back translations offer a degree of confidence in the translation, differences in word choice and structure compared to the original English often raise concerns. It’s important to remember that languages do not often have linguistic parallels, and they express ideas and meaning differently. Let’s explore these underlying differences, looking at the subject-verb-object (SVO) structure. English, for instance, uses the SVO structure. For example, the sentence “I love you” consists of “I” as the subject, “love” as the verb (the doing word), and “you” as the object. This forms a complete sentence, and the word choice and pairing make sense to English speakers. But languages like Korean prefer subject-object-verb (SOV) sentence structure. Leading to a seemingly odd “I you love” in a very literal back translation for this example. This isn’t a mistake; it’s just a different way of saying the same thing but in another language. Now, delving deeper, using Chinese, which follows the same language structure as English SVO, you will see how translations restructure thoughts and ideas to convey the meaning and concept. This can result in a back translation that significantly differs from the original English text.

• English original: “Break new ground.”

• Chinese translation: “开辟新天地。” (kāipì xīn tiāndì.)

• Back translation to English: “Open up new skies and earth.”

The original English phrase “Break new ground” is an idiom that means to do something innovative. Its meaning is associated with the act of venturing beyond known boundaries, forging a path where none existed before. The Chinese translation “开辟新天地” literally means “to open up new skies and earth,” which is a poetic way of expressing the idea of pioneering new boundaries or initiating new ventures. Both sentences fundamentally convey the same meaning of innovation and discovery, but the Chinese translation uses more grandiose and metaphorical language, showcasing how translations restructure thoughts and ideas to convey the underlying meaning and concept differently. Again, does this mean that the Chinese translation is wrong? No, it is just that languages don’t always have a one-to-one equivalent and that linguistic symmetry does not always exist across languages.

Let’s now consider SOV languages, like Japanese, where the placement of the verb at the end of a sentence can have a significant impact on the message’s rhythm and emphasis. Take the phrase, “The company launched a new product.” In Japanese, this might be translated as “会社は新しい製品を発売しました。” (kaisha wa atarashī seihin o hatsubai shimashita), which translates back to English as “The company a new product launched.” While the meaning remains the same, the shift in structure can impact the flow and emphasis of the message. This structural shift highlights why it’s so hard for marketers to assess and provide guidance to translators. In a back translation, what is wrong, and what is right? It’s not just about matching words; it’s about understanding the cultural nuances and rhythms woven into each language.

Enhancing Readability for CALD Audiences

The varying structures of languages brings us back to the topic of the importance of line breaks. Typesetting of languages must consider how a particular language communicates ideas, thoughts, and meanings. As you now know, misplacing a line break not only affects the readability but can also alter the intended meaning of the content if broken in the wrong spot. When you engage a multilingual communications provider, what you pay for is the expertise and understanding in:

• Adjusting sentence structure within the creative asset without altering the meaning.

• Using synonyms that fit better within the allocated space.

• Creatively rephrasing content to align with visual elements.

That is why we advise our creative agency and marketing clients that it should come as no surprise that the translation process requires a collaborative effort from translators, designers, and English copywriters. This collaboration ensures that the final product—whether a printed brochure, an online advertisement, or a subtitled video—respects the linguistic characteristics of the target language while retaining the original’s English essence.

If all of this sounds a bit too hard, you can always trust and rely on us to help. As you’ve seen, the process involves a complex interplay of linguistic skills and cultural sensitivity. It involves the careful placements of line breaks, modifying sentence structures without changing the intended meaning, and working together in a team. Although it may seem challenging at first, it can be a rewarding experience, as it allows you to connect with multicultural audiences both locally in Australia and around the world.

We hope the above pointers will help you in your next multicultural marketing campaign. Let us guide you if you are unsure what steps to take next. Email info@chincommunications.com.au or call 1300 792 446.

The post When Your Carefully Crafted English Feels Lost in Translation appeared first on Chin Communications.

If you are hosting guests from overseas who may not speak English well and you want to make sure they are welcomed and included in your event, you must consider interpreting services – especially simultaneous or ‘live’ interpreting (also called “conference interpreting”).

In an increasingly globalised Australia, events drawing attendees from different countries and language backgrounds rely heavily on experienced simultaneous NAATI interpreters. Think industry summits in tech or finance, sporting competitions, bilateral meetings and even workshops and large-scale events.

For instance, at the Mastercard Summit 2023 in Sydney and at Cisco Live in Melbourne, CHIN supplied conference interpreters in multiple languages along with simultaneous interpreting equipment. Both events welcomed international guests, customers and partners to learn about products, trends, and initiatives. Given that not all participants were fluent in English, the presence of simultaneous interpreters was critical to ensuring clear understanding for all guests. It was one of the main reasons why both summits were such successful events. Not only that, doing it ‘live’ or in real time meant that no time was lost through interpreting and everyone felt included.

Unfortunately, more often than not, booking simultaneous interpreters often becomes an afterthought relegated to event agencies. This can result in last-minute scrambles, searching Google for a trustworthy and respected translation company that can provide a pair of NAATI-conference interpreters. In the worst-case scenario, the necessary interpreting equipment may not even be available for your event. Imagine the frustration and missed opportunities: key presentations lost in translation, missed networking opportunities, and valuable insights inaccessible to a portion of your audience – embarrassing. It’s a scenario no event organiser wants to face.

To ensure this doesn’t happen at your event, plan ahead and talk to your language translation provider as soon as possible. Below is our advice to our clients and points to consider when booking simultaneous interpreters for your event.

7 Pointers for Booking Simultaneous Interpreters for Your Event:

1. Book experienced simultaneous interpreters

Ensure that you ask for CVs and confirm that the interpreters you hire have simultaneous interpreting experience. Simply having a NAATI qualification is not enough when it comes to conference interpreting. We’ve seen far too many examples of ambitious interpreters accepting a well paid simultaneous interpreting booking only to quit after 10 minutes because they couldn’t do it. So, be sure to do your due diligence before hiring interpreters for your event.

2. Event interpreting is a two person job

Simultaneous interpreting is a mentally strenuous task. To get an idea of what it’s like, imagine turning on the radio and repeating every word that the presenter says, live, word for word. Doing this without missing a single word for even 2 minutes can be difficult for those who are not trained. Now, imagine doing the same thing but converting English into another language! That’s why it’s necessary to have two simultaneous interpreters booked for any event. They work in tandem, each interpreting in 20-minute blocks, to prevent mental fatigue and maintain the best performance.

3. Plan for essential interpreting equipment

It is important to ensure that the language company you hire can provide simultaneous interpreting equipment. Depending on your requirements, you can choose from microphones, interpreting desks, soundproof interpreter booths, headphones with pocket receivers, or even remote interpretation or tour guide equipment for factory or site visits. It is essential not to underestimate the importance of having the right simultaneous interpreting equipment.

4. Plan for the set up and pack up time

In addition to sourcing the equipment is setting it up at the venue. Your language partner should be able to assist you with this process, known as bump in and bump out. The team usually takes 2 to 3 hours to set up booths, microphones, interpreters’ desk and to test receivers and transmitters. It’s important to know venue policies regarding setup times, as some venues have strict policies. It’s also a good idea to obtain a map of the venue including loading bays to plan the location of the interpreting booth. We recommend placing the booths in clear sight of the platform where speeches will be given. If there are presentations, please ensure that interpreters have a copy.

5. Partner with the venue’s audio-visual team:

When confirming venue details, ensure you clarify the availability of an audio-visual team to handle interpreting booth audio connections. Although this may seem like an afterthought, it’s better to have it sorted out beforehand so that the team responsible for setting up can get in and out as quickly as possible on the first day. We can advise on best practice.

6. Have instructions for attendees

Provide easy-to-understand instructions on how to use the headsets to access the translated audio feed. It is also recommended to train event organisers on using the headsets so they can assist attendees with any issues they may have. In addition, have a process for collecting the headsets from attendees. This is a very common issue where headsets are taken by mistake, and the event organisers are required to pay for replacements as outlined in our contract. Each receiver costs around $600, so it’s important to ensure all are returned. The interpreting company can take care of the collection, but this comes with additional fees. So, it is important to know who will handle the collection of headsets.

7. Provide interpreters with materials

Simultaneous interpreting is a highly demanding task that requires a lot of mental effort. That’s why interpreters need any materials that can help them prepare in advance, such as agendas, presentations, speeches, and information that will be covered during the event. This allows interpreters to create glossaries, ensuring that they use the correct industry-standard terms in the other language and guarantee consistency in word usage by both interpreters.

We hope the above pointers will help you at your next event. Because every attendee deserves to have a clear understanding of what is discussed,  no matter what their native language is. By working with the best simultaneous interpreters, such as those provided by CHIN, you can ensure that your event shines – let us guide you there! Email info@chincommunications.com.au or call 1300 792 446.

The post Why Choosing Quality Simultaneous Interpreters Matters appeared first on Chin Communications.