How Cultural Sensitivity and Translation Are Inseparable

Understanding the differences between cultures helps us build strong relationships with people from different parts of the world. Thus, when deciding to deliver your message to foreign countries, you have to recognize that translating words from one language into another can never be enough and may lead to unintended offences and misunderstandings.

Therefore, you have to bear in mind that word-for-word translation will not be the best solution in many cases, especially if you decided to expand your business to foreign markets. In this case, you have to consider the cultural subtleties when it comes to translation.

In fact, mistranslations can lead to catastrophic and costly outcomes. For instance, when HSBC decided to expand to foreign markets, it translated its slogan “Assume Nothing” which reflects the bank’s investment strategy into “Do Nothing” which caused big confusion for the European audience and forced the bank to pay around $10 million to rebrand and change its slogan to fit both the local and international markets.

Addressing the sociocultural norms, history, values, and traditions of your target customers is essential to gain their acceptance and ensure a solid global presence.

In this blog, we will highlight some tips on how to handle cultural sensitivity in translation and how Torjoman exceptionally addresses this matter.

What is The Importance of Handling Cultural Sensitivity in Translation?

There are many cases where literal translation can never be sufficient to deliver the main idea of the source text. Thus, you have to rely on a well-versed and culturally equipped translator to help deliver your message successfully to the intended audience.

Now, let’s elaborate on some tips that help you have a culturally appropriate translated text.

Avoiding Misunderstandings

If you are planning to expand your business to overseas markets, you have to translate all your marketing materials into the target languages. However, literal translation can cause confusion for your target audiences and may quickly put them off causing you to pay extra costs than planned to reframe or rebrand.

Hence, make sure that you address all the cultural norms including idioms, figures of speech, and taboo topics when translating your materials into target languages. This helps you ensure that the translated text will sound natural and authentic for the target customers, and; consequently, win their acceptance and loyalty.

Hire a Trusted Translation Agency

If you want your message to travel across the world, hire a translation agency that has well-versed and cross-cultural translators that are able to address all the cultural nuances and cross all borders to produce high-quality translations that resonate most with your potential customers.

Do a Profound Research on the Target Cultures

Understanding the target culture including its traditions, values, habits, and even history is fundamental before starting your translation project. Getting a complete picture of the intended culture will help you adjust your slogans, brand name, and message if needed.

 Ask Some Native Speakers to Review Your Project

Before launching your marketing campaign, you can get feedback from native speakers of the target country. Certainly, they can understand to what extent the translation project will be appealing to the target audience.

Pay Equal Attention to Visual Elements

You have to pay attention to the effect of the usage of colors, images, videos, and any other visual elements on the target cultures. For example, the Indian McDonald’s website is colored red as this color is favorable for the Indians. However, if you open the Swedish McDonald’s website, you will find it dominated by yellow and green colors. These two colors symbolize a healthy lifestyle.

Why Torjoman is Your Cherry on Top

Torjoman’s team of professional translators are fully equipped to engage in culturally sensitive translation projects. They can help your message travel to the world by addressing any cultural differences so your text will sound natural for the target audiences.

At Torjoman, we have a localization team who are native speakers of more than 120 languages. They are fully aware of the culture of each language including traditions, habits, values, and preferences.

How Torjoman’s Team Navigate Cultures

·      Torjoman’s team helps you avoid any misconceptions by addressing all the symbols, colours, and social references to guarantee that your translated text will sound natural to target audiences.

·      Translators at Torjoman can maintain a solid brand identity for your business by delivering your message in a way that is respectful and appropriate for intended customers.

·      Whatever the kind or size of your localization project, Torjoman’s localization team has worked on over 46 million words in different projects in software, gaming, marketing, apps, and many more.

Summing up

If you are looking for a reliable translation company to take over your translation project, Torjoman will be the best solution. Contact us for a free quote now!