International Translation Day – a useful reminder
Everything has to have a day now – for example Oct 8th is celebrated as Pet Obesity Awareness Day, Emergency Nurses Day and World Octopus Day! Around 20 years ago International Translation Day was started. It’s celebrated on 30 September, which is the feast of St. Jerome, who translated the Bible and is the patron saint of translators.
Like all the other celebration days International Translation Day serves a purpose – reminding us of the importance of translators in smoothing the path of international communication – but isn’t this something that businesses need to be aware of every day? “A dog is for life, not just for Christmas”, and in the same way “good translation is for every communication, not just on International Translation Day”.
Any business which works abroad, or is planning to work abroad, should build good translation into their planning. In the same way that your marketing needs to be consistent, so does your translation. An occasional foray into French is hugely undermined if in between times you are sending your French clients information in English. If your catalogue is translated but the cover letter is not, or if your website navigation is translated but not the internal pages, you are sending a clear message of half-heartedness in your approach to that market.
Another way companies skimp on a real commitment to translating for their clients is by using machine translation or free translation systems, on the grounds that it is “better than nothing”. Sadly, in many cases, nothing would be better – a poor translation speaks volumes for how much you care for your overseas clients – you don’t care; you are half-hearted about serving them!
In the same way that puppy purchasers are making a commitment for the life of the dog, businesses need to commit to good translation for as long as they are doing business overseas.
Don’t skimp – use proper translators! If you want to be a business that genuinely serves your overseas customers contact Accutranslate today!