Given the global nature of business, marketing and communications pieces written in one country are often consumed in another. Sometimes, it becomes necessary to translate documents. Other times, the document is used as is.
A marcom document created abroad and used in the U.S. without change may still work. For example, an American reading a website written in British English may stumble a bit at certain words and phrases, but he’ll understand what the writer intended.
Even if he reads a halfway-decent translation from a foreign language, he’ll get the gist of the piece.
But if the marketer wants the communication to have an impact, the translation must be perfect. Here’s why:
In any writing, you want the words to be “invisible.” By that I mean, you want the reader to get the effect of the words rather than have him or her think, “This is a wonderful/terrible piece of writing.”
Non-standard English on a website or brochure draws attention to the words. Instead of absorbing the meaning of the words, the reader gets distracted by thoughts like, “Ah, this seems to be written by someone whose first language isn’t American English.” That adds an extra, unnecessary step between your text and its comprehension.
For best results, the translation should be done by someone who is more fluent in the language being translated into.
To be sure, many foreign companies with badly-written marketing materials sell their goods and services in America every day. It may be that when we know we’re dealing with a seller whose first language is not English, we make allowances.
But everything else being equal, the company with the brochure that has fewer language mistakes will get the business first.
Tags: communication style, translation, Writing
