Kinds of Translation | Mr Woods Bersetz

Classic translation, adaptation, transcreation or machine translation?

Translations (derived from Latin translatio = carry across; imagine a boat ferrying messages to another linguistic shore) serve many purposes. In some cases they require thorough research, in others a considerable degree of creativity. The latter this applies especially to marketing texts.

There are various kinds of translations:

Translation very close to the original text

This is also known as literal translation, although this is a misnomer because it isn't possible to translate one-to-one from one language to another. English and German, for example, have different grammars, and their preferred and mandatory word orders also diverge. Many German words and concepts also lack precise equivalents in English. So adhering extremely closely to the source text inevitably results in unnatural, stiff, hard-to-understand language. And the problems don't stop there. I only mention this category here because, unfortunately, most translations fall into it!

Classic translation

This involves converting a text into another language so that the information it contains is carried across completely and undistorted. This approach is taken with many types of documents including technical and scientific texts, legal documents and correspondence. To do this well, translators need appropriate training and many years of experience. They should be familiar with the subject matter and investigate and use the right terminology. The goal is to correctly and smoothly express the content and information of the source text in the target language in such a way that it reads smoothly and naturally, in other words without shouting "I'm a translation!" at the reader. To achieve this, it's often necessary to find creative solutions.

Transcreation (also known as adaptation and localization)

My specialty. This approach goes a crucial step further. It enables you to communicate in ways that resonate with people in a certain market in another country. Transcreation fills your brand message with life by reflecting the target group's culture, mentality, values and perspective.

It's often necessary to more or less extensively reword parts of texts. The more sensitively this is done, the better. The point is to breathe life into your advertising messages.

Whether you want to reposition a luxury brand, launch a new flagship product or unlock a culturally sensitive market, transcreation involves skillful use of language to maximize the impact.

The chief benefits of this approach are that:

→ It increases your brand's value by adapting how it is presented and perceived to match another culture's core values.

→ Appropriately phrased translations penetrate more deeply into the minds of your target group and have a much greater emotional impact.

→ You avoid the risk of completely missing the mark by failing to address the target country's culture and mentality. This way, your messages arrive in the minds of people.

→ Your prospects of success increase accordingly.

Machine translation with AI

If you want to crash and burn, go ahead and rely on AI. Contrary to popular opinion, so-called machine translation is still completely unsuited for publication. But you already know that or you probably wouldn't be here reading this!

Translations are supposed to build bridges between societies, mentalities and ways of life. A skilled translator takes into account the context, target group and desired impact. It's essential to not only communicate information but also to craft texts that have the desired emotional impact while considering cultural and linguistic nuances.

Practiced human translators think as they go, research the subject matter, understand and appropriately interpret culture-specific references, subtle allusions and secondary meanings, contact the client if questions arise (and they almost always do) and appropriately formulate the target text to meet their goals.

By comparison, AI regularly crashes and burns. And the associated risks are simply too large to ignore.

I've often been asked to correct translations done with AI. They typically contain so many major errors that my editing work winds up costing more than if I had done the translation myself from scratch. It's quite clear that no genuine intelligence is behind AI.

You deserve better!