Found in Translation: A Global Customer Experience

 

 

 

If you have eight seconds to get a customer’s attention, asking them to read content they can’t understand will fail you every time. Did you know that 87 percent of customers who can’t read English won’t buy products or services from English-language websites?

 

Multilingual Content Pays Off

When it comes to reaching new worldwide audiences, most global companies recognize the value of multilingual content. So much so, in fact, that translation memory databases are legally considered to be corporate assets.

 

According to bytelevel research, global organizations now support an average of thirty languages. 

 

What’s more, Fortune 500 companies with localized content are two times more likely to increase profit and 1.25 times more likely to increase their year-over-year earnings per share. 

 

 

Localization Goes Beyond Translation

The words “translation” and “localization” are often used interchangeably, but while their meanings are related, they are not one and the same. Translation looks at the word-level process of moving between languages. Localization captures not only language but also accounts for cultural nuances, meaning and impact.

 

Localization includes the subtleties of idioms, metaphors and tone, as well as the format in which the content is delivered, be it print, digital, or part of a user interface. 

 

For instance, the phrase “Like father, like son” localized for a Chinese audience would roughly read: “Tigers do not breed dogs.” While this translation doesn’t match up word-for-word, the connotation is carried through to the target language.  

 

Capturing Meaning Can Mean Headaches

Similarly, the context in which translated content appears needs to be localized as well. For example, the word “file” can be a noun or a verb. If the word is describing a collection of information stored on a computer or device under a single name, it would be translated into Swedish as “fil.” But if you are referring to the “file” drop-down menu in a computer document, the proper translation is “arkiv.” And if you’re using “file” as a verb, then the Swedish translation is “spara som.”