Archives de Tag: brochure

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Regional Languages & Bilingual Complaints

According to the Penarth Times, the town council of Penarth (Wales, UK) will have to translate its Summer and Christmas festival brochures into Welsh after receiving complaints, including from the Penarth Welsh Language Society. Read article here.

The Welsh Language Act 1993, which the town council is subject to, states that organisations must prepare a Welsh language scheme that ensures both English and Welsh are treated equally in public services.

It shows that offering English-only communication isn’t necessarily a great option. Companies, town councils, among others should cater to other linguistic needs. Preserving language diversity is important. As there is a Welsh medium school in Penarth, it does make sense to develop materials in the local language to make sure that the language can be used and practised is all parts of life, not just within the walls of schools.

Did you know that Icelandair, Iceland’s main airline, has implemented a unique program to promote its language to tourists? The airline uses every opportunity to teach its passengers about the national language. From the moment you use the entertainment system to your own cushion, you can learn some Icelandic words.

Promoting local languages is a great way to boost tourism, upgrade your image and offer a one-of-a-kind experience. Think of Ireland. Isn’t it absolutely lovely and authentic to soak in the true Irish culture when visiting a small town where even road signs are written in Irish? After the era of mass consumption, there is now a move back to authenticity and uniqueness. For more info on that new phenomenon, read my previous article about Translation in the Retail Industry about highly personalised offers.

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Petit guide de l’acheteur de traductions

Cherchez-vous à élargir la présence de votre entreprise au marché international ? Dans ce cas, il est dorénavant essentiel que vous vous internationalisiez aussi sur le plan linguistique. Si vous vous adressez à votre nouveau public dans sa propre langue, vous aurez plus de chances de le séduire et de vous implanter avec succès. Pour cela, il vous faut traduire, entre autres, vos brochures, votre site Web, votre blog, et même votre communication sur les réseaux sociaux !

Pour une communication internationale réussie, il est indispensable que vous vous posiez toutes les bonnes questions en amont. La première impression est cruciale, alors mettez toutes les chances de votre côté et sollicitez les services d’un traducteur qualifié et compétent.

La traduction de vos supports est un investissement, et non un coût.

Dans ce sens, la Société française des traducteurs (SFT) a élaboré un petit guide de l’acheteur très complet et informatif. Pour le consulter, veuillez cliquer ici.

La traduction de vos documents ne consiste pas uniquement à changer des mots d’une langue à une autre. Toute une stratégie doit être mise en place pour garantir une communication efficace, ciblée et adaptée à votre nouveau public. Que ce soit au niveau des slogans, des images ou du style de rédaction, vos documents doivent être soignés et refléter avec précision l’image de votre société. Cela exige une véritable collaboration entre le traducteur et l’entreprise qui s’ouvre à l’international.

Vous voulez vous donner une image internationale ? Bannissez l’approximation. Car dans de nombreuses cultures, les gens n’apprécient guère qu’on déforme leur langue. Charmant ? Non, ils trouvent ça méprisant.
 
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The Art of Translating for the Tourism Sector

It’s official, France is the #1 destination for tourists with more than 84 million people visiting the country in 2013. They’re mostly from Germany, the UK, the US and China. Therefore, offering multilingual content is necessary to properly welcome these numerous international guests. So, if you’re still unsure about your areas of expertise, here’s a sector you should consider. However, translating touristic texts isn’t as easy as it may sound.

In fact, it is a very demanding task involving various notions: translation, localisation, transcreation and adaptation, as explained in this academic paper on quality in the translation of tourist discourse on the Web, by Patrizia Pierini, published in the Journal of Specialised Translation.

Translation is in high demand in this industry, and it includes a wide range of content –  1362514234xwt2dinformational, promotional, commercial. Depending on the aim and scope of the material, a translator has to apply the proper strategy to ensure that it has the same effect on the target audience as the source text did on the original audience. And in order to achieve just that, there is no such thing as a standard procedure; and the exact purpose of the communication strategy has to be clearly established by the client so that the translator can take the proper decisions. He/she may need to adapt/localise the text – changing currencies, dates, the measurement system (metric, imperial) – but also ensure the proper tone is applied (depending on the target culture, the source text may be considered too straightforward and aggressive, requiring an important stylistic realignement).

The ultimate goal is to create the same effect on the reader – persuasion – in order to enhance the client’s conversion rate and turn readers into paying customers. In that regard, Pierini mentioned the AIDA approach ⎯ capture Attention, create Interest, increase Desire and motivate to Action.

Every translator working on this type of content has to constantly keep in mind the socio-psychological needs of the potential tourist. One has to strive for a translation that sounds like an original text, not a translation. And that’s why clients need to think local. Indeed, for a touristic text to be persuasive, it has to be relevant to the target audience, not foreign. And only a native has the extensive knowledge needed to convey accurately every nuance and localise appropriately.

Localisation – What does that mean? Pierini gives a compelling answer:

Localisation involves taking a product and making it linguistically and culturally appropriate to the target locale (country/region and language) where it will be used and sold. For example, the French spoken in Canada is a different locale to the French spoken in France.

According to a recent survey by TextMaster, mistakes and errors in translation account for a loss of about €120 million each year. So, a competent translator with excellent writing skills can seriously consider this sector a viable option!

Ready to make people dream?