May 2017 - Delingua

The translation of marketing texts and the localisation of marketing communications are complex processes. Although the translation of text intended for marketing a product or service is a translation, just as the translation of, say, medical documentation or contracts, the translation of marketing content is different. More important than translating the words is conveying the ideas found in the source language into the target language in a way that both promotes sales and reads as fluently as possible. Translators of marketing texts are, above all, excellent writers who are able to create marketing content that is catchy and interests the target audience.

When a company enters new markets, it needs marketing material that is suitable for that specific market. It’s only natural, then, that the first texts to be localised are often related to marketing. Typical places to start are websites, brochures, packaging texts and advertising campaign materials. At Delingua, we are very familiar with these text types as our project managers, translators and editors work with them on a daily basis.

Delingua’s Top 6 tips for ordering translation of marketing texts:

Analyse the source text

First of all, you should make sure that all of the text serves its purpose in the target market as well. For example, references to public figures, phenomena or cultural conventions of the company’s home market are not necessarily recognisable to people who live elsewhere. If the source text contains humour, it’s a good idea to consider if the tone and style are appropriate for the target market. In addition to these general points, there may be more language-specific questions to consider. For instance, in Finnish, there is only one gender neutral pronoun used to mean both ‘he’ and ‘she’. Therefore, characters may appear in Finnish texts whose gender remains unknown to the reader, but in other languages you may need to make a choice between genders.

If you feel that a standard translation is not enough to convey your message to the target market, the answer is possibly transcreation, that is, a more creative form of translation where the text is thoroughly reviewed and edited to fit the target culture and its conventions. With transcreation, collaboration and dialogue with the author of the original text is necessary to achieve the desired end result.

Before starting the translation work, it’s important to determine the extent to which you’d like the text to be edited, in order to make sure that the end result matches your needs. It’s much more cost-effective to make the text meet your requirements first time around. Negative feedback from target market customers and editing the text after the product or service has been launched is significantly more expensive.

Determine your target group

Tell your translation agency which market area and target group the translation is aimed at. For instance, is your software company’s English-language material primarily aimed at all international visitors to a trade fair or at Scottish consumers? In many cases, the first marketing content is written with an eye on a group of experts, retailers or wholesalers rather than actual consumers or end customers, which will affect not only the tone of voice but also the use of specialist terminology. If this is the case, make sure to get this information passed on to translators. In the case of languages that are spoken more widely around the world, it’s also important to let your translation agency know which language variant you prefer.

Ensure the use of desired terminology

If the marketing text is the first or one of the first pieces of material from the company written in the target language, it’s a good idea to first discuss the desired target language terminology with the translation agency and decide on preferred terms before starting the translation work. If texts related to the product or service have already been localised in the target language but no marketing content has been written, it’s a good idea to decide on whether the same terminology should be used in marketing materials or whether they should first be reviewed with an eye on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Multilingual SEO is one of the most inexpensive and effective ways of ensuring the success of your marketing efforts in new target markets. We always consult target market specialists in marketing content translations.

Schedule enough time for the translation

The translation of marketing content takes more time than many other text types. We want to choose the translator who best knows the conventions of both your home and target markets and who is therefore able to produce the best translation of your text. With this in mind, you should leave some room in the translation schedule as the translator may not be available immediately.

If you choose one of our optional services, copy-editing or transcreation, for your marketing content translation, you should schedule some extra time for this as well.

Tell us about any character count limits

Is your idea to fit the marketing translation in an elaborately and skillfully designed brochure or on side of a package? In such cases, it’s especially important to let the translation agency know if the target language text has to fit in the same space as the original. It’s also worth keeping in mind that it’s best if the translator can work directly with the layout file. At Delingua, we can also create layout files for your target-language material or review your final layout to make sure the material looks as good in the new market as in its country of origin.

Decide if you need translations for slogans or taglines

Slogans rarely work when translated. If your company has a great slogan in English, for example, it usually takes at least thorough editing to localise it into the target language, and sometimes it’s best to create a completely new slogan in the target language. International marketing textbooks are filled with examples of translated slogans with catastrophic outcomes. Therefore, when deciding on the translation of a slogan, in addition to translating, make sure that language specialists in the target country are consulted.

With a professional localisation and translation partner, you’ll get your message across in the target market and grow your sales. We hope that these tips are useful for the next time you order a translation of marketing content!

There are different types of assessment. A student assesses their own learning and language skills based on the feedback given by other students and the teacher. Small mid-course tests and then a final exam direct the student’s learning and reveal to the student what they have already learned and what needs more practice. The teacher assesses the students constantly and through this the teacher gains valuable information on what the students have already learned and what they still need to work on.

The purpose of assessment is to support learning, and it should be present in every class. This means that assessment is not the end goal of the learning process but an important part of the learning and teaching process. The basis for all assessment is the vision of what is being assessed and what kinds of conclusions the results are aimed at.

What is CEFR?

When assessing language skills, Delingua follows the proficiency scale in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The CEFR is a common European framework on learning, teaching and assessing languages, which was developed by the Council of Europe. It defines and describes the six proficiency levels of language skills, from basic user to proficient user on a scale of A1 to C2. The framework works both as a self-assessment tool for students and as a common basis for all European countries when planning language syllabuses, learning materials and teaching.

Language skills are made up of different areas: understanding spoken language, speaking, understanding written text and writing. Language is produced by speaking or writing. When reading or discussing with others, one needs the skills of understanding text and speech. To support both the skills for producing and understanding language, the language learner needs both grammatical and lexical knowledge.

All areas of language skills are equal and as important, and they should be assessed equally. It is also important to remember that even though the teacher has various assessment tools, they still need to create their own method of assessment. If the teacher’s hands are tied, assessment will not work in the intended way.

An A+ performance

The ability to use language in the way that fits the situation — and through that to reach the goals one has set for oneself — is an important part of language skills. Students may have different goals, ranging from knowing how to small talk in a different language to understanding professional vocabulary. Assessment supports the student in creating and reaching these goals.

First and foremost, language is a means to communicate, and the simplest way to measure how successful the communication has been is to see if the message has been understood in the way the user meant it. In this sense, it does not matter whether all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed or whether the verbs are used in the right tense. At its best, assessment supports learning when the student gets

feedback based on it. The purpose of supporting assessment for learning is to show the quality and strengths of language skills, not the quantity or deficiencies.

A good assessment is encouraging, diverse and trustworthy. The authenticity of the assessment tasks also needs to be taken into account, that is, whether one needs to use language in real life to perform the task. It is also important that the person doing the assessment collects knowledge about the student for the assessment. The assessment needs to be based on a demonstration of diverse competence and on different types of learning situations. It is as important to collect knowledge as it is for the teacher to think ahead to how the student will take the feedback. Good feedback encourages the student to push forward.

Do you need help with improving your language skills?  Learn more about our language training services or contact us and we will tailor a training package just for you.

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Six useful tips for the translation of marketing texts

How and why are language skills assessed?