Providing a faithful translation not only helps you stand out among the competition, but also brings several benefits through translation accuracy.
When something is poorly designed or not functioning properly in your company, it can become a significant problem, as it greatly affects your reputation and hinders the sale of your product. The same applies to communicating messages, which aim to reach the appropriate audience without allowing room for misinterpretations that could cause issues in their reception.
Many of us have witnessed the funny or even uncomfortable consequences of translation errors in commercials, television programs, and even the news. Despite companies translating materials all the time, why do they not notice whether their final translation is accurate or not? This, of course, can create numerous headaches for both the translator and the company, as well as for consumers.
Therefore, let us explain why it is of utmost importance to maintain faithful translation in order to protect your business’s reputation.
What Faithful Translation Means for your Business:
Inaccuracies can cause a great deal of frustration, which can be observed in something as simple as a style guide. When style guides are poorly designed, it can lead to headaches as the instructions will not be fully understood, resulting in errors in the produced content. Furthermore, it requires you to rework the activity, wasting your valuable time.
In the world of translation, it is important to ensure that the information matches what is being conveyed in the source language. For instance, if a website contains a link leading to a specific destination, the lack of a faithful translation might mislead the consumer into thinking they are accessing something different. Similarly, when translating performance data, it is crucial to input the correct information, allowing employees to understand their strengths and weaknesses.
Translation accuracy involves not only proficiency in the languages being worked with but also an understanding of the culture of the target country for the information. Without faithful translation, a business could lose more than just a piece of information in their product advertising; it could lose a significant number of customers who had the desire to acquire what is being offered, ultimately impacting its reputation.
Why Should you Strive for Faithful Translations?
People Seek Quality
Every client who utilizes a translation service does so with the expectation of receiving a high-quality final product, meaning that the document was translated accurately. This ensures that the message the client wants to convey to their consumers will have quality and make a positive impact on the target market. Clients pay for quality, and they deserve it. However, if a translator fails to deliver faithful and precise translations, it diminishes the overall quality.
On the other hand, if the final product fails to meet expectations, the client is likely to notice, resulting in a loss of time and money. Furthermore, they may need to hire another translator or editor to review and correct the information. This highlights how the translator’s lack of precision can have the opposite effect on the following point.
It Enhances Reputation
When searching for a translator, reputation is everything to the client. If a translation service has a poor reputation, such as delivering documents late, disregarding style guides, or lacking linguistic accuracy, it is unlikely to be considered by consumers.
If a translator ever presents a document as a high-quality translation when it is lacking in many aspects, it will generate mistrust in the client, potentially leading to negative reviews. Clients spend years building their reputations, so it is crucial for them to work with a reliable translator.
It Prevents Misunderstandings
Services that provide translation accuracy prevent misunderstandings between clients and consumers. To illustrate this point, consider translating a legal document, such as a letter between politicians or even a death certificate. Lack of precision can result in serious misunderstandings. Words are powerful, and their misuse has caused problems among people.
Moreover, if you’re translating for a large company project, failing to deliver faithful translations will impact a significant number of employees. If a translator produces a final document without translating it correctly, it could lead to a loss of revenue for the company, potentially resulting in reduced future work opportunities and staff layoffs.
Is it Viable to use Computer-Assisted Translation Tools?
Computer-assisted translation tools, or CAT tools for short, are excellent for making translations faster. They make use of translation memories, which can be built from your previous work or those of other translators. However, it is important not to confuse them with AI translation, as the latter can still make many errors and requires human knowledge to provide good output.
High-quality translations will always be those that offer accuracy and fidelity, both in terms of language and in capturing the essence desired by the client. Therefore, always make sure to deliver a good job by verifying that there are no errors. This can also be achieved with the help of other tools or by having another colleague translator review your work.
If you are looking to accurately translate your website for your business, Altura Interactive offers quality, reliability, and precision.
