Beyond Translation #1 Why do we need writing professionals?
Translation is more necessary than ever. Today, cross-border communication is constantly increasing. Translation is a crucial skill, and it’s essential to employ professionals who read and write good English.
There are many styles of translation, suited to many purposes. “Direct” translation and “free” translation. Fast, factual translations of e-mails. Legal translations of contracts and patent regulations, and more.
But what about translated ads, catalogs, and Websites for English-speaking consumers? Isn’t it good enough to simply translate original Japanese into English and upload the text into a Web server?
Unfortunately, many people believe that translation copy is good enough for advertising. Such copy is often like the funny English-style copy around us here. Many Japanese readers think it’s English. But for native English readers, it’s just Japlish.
From the view of professionals who manage language-oriented businesses, this is the result of over-trusting translation. It’s easy to imagine the Japanese language base for such copy. But English has its own logic, phrasing, and aesthetics, just as Japanese has its own unique forms of expression.
When it comes to planning ads, if the target language is a foreign one, people who can’t read or speak it tend to make easy judgments. That happens because they’re not able to judge the true quality of a foreign language.
In the language industry, it’s commonly said that excellent translation is the result of communicating not only word meaning but also context. However, even if context is captured, the text created may not be good enough for advertising. This is an unfortunate conclusion
