Translation is rarely as simple as matching a text word-for-word in a different language. In fact, achieving the highest translation quality often requires a blend of creativity and problem-solving. Why? Because professional translators must account for words that have a different meaning, depending on the context, cultural nuances, and much more.
In this article, we take a look at the six most common translation challenges and how they affect the translation process.
1. Troubles with Customizing Language and Word Choice
Not all language is literal, and many countries and dialects have their own figures of speech, metaphors, and unique made-up words. A figure of speech deviates from the literal meaning of a word or phrase, often in a culturally-relevant way.
Even countries that speak the same language have unique expressions that make little sense outside their borders. For example, Australians sometimes call traveling “gone walkabout”, which refers to the Aboriginal rite of passage that required male adolescents to go on a long journey.
We’re going to take you through some of the most complex aspects of language when it comes to translation:
Idioms
An idiom is a series of words in a fixed order that has a meaning that differs from each word on its own. For example, ‘a piece of cake’ in English refers to something that is easy.
Literally translating, “a piece of cake,” wouldn’t make sense in another language, so a translator will typically replace it with a similar idiom. In Mexican Spanish, people may say “pan comido” or a “eaten bread.”
However, some idioms don’t have a similar phrase in another language. When that’s the case, a translator may either paraphrase it or leave it in the original language and add a footnote with an approximate translation.
Irony and Sarcasm
Irony can be hard to grasp even for native speakers of a language! It’s used often though, like if a teacher asks a question and no one answers, she may say, “Don’t everyone speak at once.” She isn’t literally asking her class to stay quiet but is calling attention to the fact that no one has answered.
Similarly, sarcasm is often intended to be playful or teasing. Someone may say “nice shoes” in a mocking tone to indicate that they actually find the shoes ugly.
Some irony and sarcasm are untranslatable. In those cases, a translator may paraphrase the statement to convey the intended meaning. If it can be translated, the translator has to be careful to make it culturally relevant. Striking the right tone is essential when translating these figures of speech.
Metaphors and Similes
A metaphor uses a word in place of another to suggest a likeness. For example, you could say a new employee who pitches great ideas is “a breath of fresh air.” Similes serve a similar function, but typically introduce the phrase using the words like or as. If someone is persistent, you may say “he’s as stubborn as a mule.”
Like other figures of speech, metaphors and similes tend to be culture bound. This means translators must determine whether a phrase with a similar meaning exists in the target language. The phrase “stubborn as a mule”, for example, can be translated to “one’s head is stiff” in Japanese.
Tone and Diction
Tone is an essential part of any brand. It sets your brand apart from competitors and allows you to connect with customers on a more personal level. Tone of voice includes slogans and taglines, website copy, blogs, advertising campaigns, and other customer-facing communications.
To transmit a brand’s message correctly, translators must carefully reproduce the same tone of voice in the target language. That requires taking several stylistic factors into consideration such as:
- Vocabulary. Does the brand use complex vocabulary or plain language?
- Formality. Is the tone friendly or professional?
Other factors such as humor, slang, and cultural references can also be difficult—or even impossible—to perfectly replicate. When this is the case, a translator may replace a joke, colloquialism, or reference with one that will be better understood in the target culture.
Solution: Transcreation
Transcreation is known as “creative translation”. It is not word-for-word translation, but rather a way to adapt language while considering tone, context, and intent. It’s commonly used for marketing material, as it help maintain brand voice and identity.
This tool is crucial for multilingual and multicultural businesses and is provided as part of MotionPoint’s Beyond Words approach to translation. Learn more about transcreation here!
2. Solution Doesn’t Fit Your Needs
In the emerging field of localization, some companies opt for the largest, most well-known, or most affordable platform available. However, there isn’t a universal solution that suits everyone; what works for a Fortune 500 company might not be suitable for a startup in its growth phase. The key is to find a solution that meets the company’s current needs while also being flexible and scalable to support future growth.
With all the different technology options, like proxy, APIs, and connectors, you can’t possibly just go in blindly. You should speak with a professional who can assess your needs and recommend the right fit for you!
Solution: Make Sure to Shop Around
Do your research, and don’t just opt for the free options. Tools like Google Translate are great for quick uses, but they cannot perform how you need them to in website translation. If you want to see how translation and localization would benefit your brand, you can start with a simple solution like MP Express that uses AI to quickly provide a multilingual website for first time projects.
3. Delays to Launch
Translating your website manually without appropriate translation tools causes launch delays and extended timelines. This combination often increases translation time, leads to poor-quality translations that require revisions before deployment, or forces translators to work with complex source code, making it difficult to fully comprehend and accurately translate the source language.
The longer it takes to launch your multilingual site, the more business you miss out on. This is especially true if you’re entering new markets to keep up with your competitors. As they say, time is money!
Solution: Get Translation in Instantly, or At Least In Less Than 60 Days
With MotionPoint, you don’t need to worry about handling any part of the technical process. Our technology enables fast and accurate translation, giving you a fully translated website instantly, or if requires full professional translation in 60 days or less! Depending on the complexity of your project, you can be up and running in no time!
4. Having No Experience
If you’ve never translated a website, you’re not alone. Around 75% of marketers have never translated their business website. This leads to a lot of misunderstanding and confusion.
The biggest mistake that marketers make when translating a website for the first time is thinking they can just set it and forget it. Once the site is translated, they think it’s done. But there are always going to be ongoing marketing and translation needs. They never think about driving traffic, content updates, and SEO optimizations.
Solution: Consider Multilingual Marketing Services
It’ll benefit your brand to have a partner that offers an all-encompassing multilingual and multicultural digital content experience. MotionPoint’s Multilingual Marketing services help inexperienced marketers navigate international SEO, content creation, performance marketing, and more!
5. Untranslatable and Complex Words
Some words or phrases are untranslatable because they’re too specific, compound, or technical in nature. For example, the Danish word hygge, which evokes feelings of togetherness, warmth, and coziness, has no equivalent in English. It comes from the Danish custom of investing in self-care and quality time with loved ones during the country’s long, cold winters.
A compound word is a combination of two or more root words that creates a new one. Some compound words, like toothbrush and candlelight, are easy to translate because the meaning is literal. However, others such as butterfly and carpool, can’t be translated literally. A carpool isn’t a pool with a car in it, nor are any flies made out of butter.
Sometimes a compound word has an equivalent term in the target language. In Spanish, butterfly translates into mariposa. Other words, such as carpool don’t, which means the translator will need to describe the meaning instead.
A technical translation is the translation of a technical document. Examples include proposals, reports, instruction manuals, and software specifications. To ensure accuracy, translators use a translation glossary that defines all the commonly used terms. It’s particularly helpful if the author of the document works with the translator to develop one.
Solution: Hybrid Approach
To tackle untranslatable words, translators may use an adaptation instead of a literal translation. For example, American Thanksgiving is often translated into “Day of Gratitude” in other languages. In other instances, translators simply “borrow” the word and use it as if it belonged to the target language. Examples of borrowed words in English include déjà vu, bona fide, karma, and schadenfreude.
A hybrid approach allows you to enjoy the benefit of more affordable translations—without sacrificing your brand message. Here’s how it works: human translators adapt nuanced content, where context is crucial, and machine translation adapts less brand sensitive content, where word choice isn’t as important. This option offers the best of both worlds for projects such as website translation.
6. Accounting for Cultural Nuances
Translation alone doesn’t always address all the cultural nuances you may need to consider. When this is the case, your translation project will need to undergo a process known as localization to adapt the entire user experience. Think of localization as an umbrella term that includes translation underneath it. For example, website localization may involve:
- Translating content to account for a local or regional dialect.
- Adapting design elements such as colors, images, and layout.
- Altering currency, time and date formats, and units of measurement.
- Altering legal information such as privacy policies.
Although localization involves additional work, it’s the best way to ensure your project has a “native” look and feel. This helps you drive engagement and build brand loyalty in the target market.
Solution: Human Post-Editing
Translators understand the nuances of language and culture and can address the most common translation problems. Although machine translation continues to improve, it’s still unable to account for cultural aspects of language. Utilizing Machine Translation with Post-Editing (MTPE) in your translation process can ensure cultural relevance, helping your website.
Partner with Professional Linguists
Despite advances in technology, human translators will likely always play a role in overcoming language barriers. As you evaluate translation options, consider whether the project requires an understanding of tone of voice, technical vocabulary, or cultural differences. If so, you’ll likely need to work with professional linguists to achieve the translation quality you desire.
At MotionPoint, we combine the latest technology with a network of world-class human translators to address any translation challenge. From website localization to superior multilingual content, we get your brand message across in any language. Contact us today to learn more about our innovative translation solutions.
Last updated on September 07, 2022
