Language Translation services are meant to help people understand a piece of writing.  So the translator acts as a go-between, conveying what the writer wants to say to the audience.  He  or she is a messenger, taking the message from the writer to the audience.

Understanding the Translator or Writer

There are many reasons why it’s important to understand the writer.  Words are slippery things which can mean one thing or the other, depending on the context in which they are used.  When you’re translating Ancient Greek, the word “logos” can be translated as “language” or “thought.”  When you’re translating English, the word “date” can refer to a dried fruit or an outing involving two people looking to get romantically involved.  So it’s important for the translator to understand where exactly the writer is coming from.  This will help them to decipher the writer’s true meaning.

The examples used here are simple ones but when it comes to more complex forms of writing, like technical or medical text, it may be necessary to read more of what the writer has written in order to get an understanding of their thought and style.  Even if the material being translated is promotional or marketing-oriented, it can be dependent on slang or inside jokes that the translator is unaware of.  So it’s important to clarify these before providing language translation services.

Understanding the Audience

This is the other important part of providing languagetranslation services.  Eventually, everyone writes and translates for an audience.  The aim is to reach that audience and make them understand what is being said.  You want the audience to respond positively to the message imbedded in the writing.  So you need to avoid slipups which can happen if the audience places a different connotation on the words being used in translation.

What is the audience like?  Where do they come from?  What age group do they belong to?  What’s important to them?  And do they use a standard form of the destination language or something slightly different?  Accuracy in word usage is very important if you want the audience to respond to the translation.

Marketing Language Translation Tips

When providinglanguage translation services, it’s important to understand the audience who will be reading the translation in the destination language.  Often, language translation is used for marketing and advertising purposes.  And when it comes to spreading the word about your product or service, certain qualities about the target audience have to be taken into consideration.  If you have a brand name and a certain company image, you want to stick to it without turning off your target demographic.

• Younger and older generations –  If the audience you’re trying to reach is young, they’re more likely to respond to slang and be in touch with trends.  For such an audience, it might even work to retain the same slang words that are being used in the source language or to replace them with other slang words.  For an older demographic, you’ll want to keep the translation more formal.
• Exposure to media –  When you’re translating for a particular audience, you need to think about how familiar they are with your subject matter.  The greater the audience’s exposure to media, the more knowledgeable they’re going to be about current affairs and trends and the less you’ll have to explain any references to them in your translations.
• Cultural background – Different cultures value different things.  For example, data shows that Americans are more individualistic whereas the French value politeness and etiquette.  This doesn’t mean that there aren’t any polite Americans or individualistic Frenchmen out there but the two cultures are different and you have to consider what they value when translating.  If it’s possible to have two different translations of the same thing but one might have more meaning for the people who will be reading it because of their cultural values, then it makes sense to go with that.