Being as accurate as possible when trying to get a message across is crucial no matter the language being conversed or written. So, when it comes to promoting your product or service to an overseas audience, for example, cutting corners and being lazy with translation can end up with extremely poor results that harms not just a company’s sales, but also their reputation.

Recently, the errors of poor translation became all too real for Mexico’s tourist industry. VisitMexico.com found themselves with multiple translation errors across pages concerning the English language version of the website. Well-known place names ended up with literal translations, such as Puerto Escondido becoming ‘Hidden Port’, Torreon becoming ‘Turret’ but also some stranger ones such as Tulum translated to ‘Jumpsuit’. The reason for the poor translation? It appears machine translation is the culprit after the outsourcing of the translation was given to a third-party and not accurately checked, with even the Mexican Tourism Department having to issue a statement to apologise and claim sabotage.

In a separate example of common translation mistakes, a Canadian brewery recently had to apologise due to the name of one of their beers which uses a Māori word. The beer was named ‘Huruhuru’ which the company, Hell’s Basement Brewery, said was named after a feather. Referring to how light their beer was, they used a Māori word as it is a New Zealand hopped pale ale they were selling. However, in Māori ‘huruhuru’ means ‘pubic hair’. The brewery acknowledged when they named the beer, which has been on the market for a couple of years, they should’ve made the necessary checks to avoid embarrassment and causing offence. As you can probably guess, the beer is currently being rebranded.

Avoid Common Translation Mistakes

In both situations, accuracy was not followed through to ensure common translation mistakes were being avoided. Both companies had to publicly apologise and go through expensive rebranding and website changes as a result. Here at Talking Heads, we see this all too often when translation is not completed professionally and is either rushed or heavily reliant on machine translation. When it comes to Tourism Sector Translations, tourist boards can’t afford to make these mistakes, especially post-coronavirus when tourist levels are already low globally and travellers are looking for trust from the information they are getting from your website. Similarly, with E-commerce Translation, when looking to market your products or services globally, being aware of localization and that some words do not translate directly, with many brands having to adjust the names of products and services accordingly, is vital.

Our translation services use a global team of linguists to provide accuracy throughout the process, ensuring your brand avoids common translation mistakes like the ones mentioned. We have helped many companies successfully create a global brand and we take the time to understand your needs with a personal, human approach. The costs of relying on machine translation to translate a whole website is extremely costly to rectify when things go wrong, and risks offence being caused unwittingly.

Take the care and attention translation needs and contact us today to find out more about our services at Talking Heads.