Tricky Translation Tips for Businesses

Last Updated On: December 14, 2021 by The Migration Translators

Many businesses now have the opportunity to expand their sales to a much wider international market than ever before. In many cases, international expansion is almost mandatory if a business is not to lose out to its competitors. When the expansion is to a country where a similar language and culture exists, then there is no reason to use any sort of professional translation services. However, there are potentially huge markets opening up in Asia and in that case, there will be a significant language barrier to overcome and effective and culturally appropriate translation will by necessity become one of the important ingredients in an effective overseas marketing strategy.

Many businesses are forced to think about the importance of translation too late – usually when their product does not fire up in the new market they are targeting, despite the demand being there. This is usually because the company hasn’t bothered to consider the fact that most consumers take notice of information that has been provided in their own language. What other tips might expansion minded businesses find useful?

Tip No 1: In-house translators are not always the cheapest option

Some businesses might be tempted to use their own staff as translators, known as “in- house” translators, but this is not necessarily a cheap or effective option. Professional translation services in Sydney, or any other city in Australia for that matter can be used whenever a translation project is needed, but there is no need to pay them when translation is not needed, or pay them holiday and sickness benefits and any other perk which must be paid to your own staff.

Tip No 2: When translation accuracy is critical use a professional translation service

Many professional translators belong to an officially recognised organisation like the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). Using a NAATI translation service is a guarantee that the translation will be done correctly and efficiently. When your business expansion depends on official document translation, for example when negotiating with overseas government agencies licences and rights to operate as a business.

Tip No 3: Avoid over reliance on machine translation

Machine translation or automatic translation has its place in the overall scheme of things, but is best left to translators themselves. Good translators will use computer aided translation tools to reduce their workload, especially when they do a lot of work for the same company and many of the documents they translate are repetitive. The temptation for some businesses is to use an online or automatic machine translation themselves without considering that it has to be part of an overall translation project and not an absolute substitute for human translation. Over reliance on MT will result in clumsily worded phrases, even gibberish at times, cultural insensitivities and end in negative sales growth in that particular market.

There are many other tips which can help companies aiming to expand their business away from home. They all boil down to the same main message which is that using a professional translation service is a wise investment in future business growth and not a waste of resources.