Translation mistakes - Pepsi and Coca-Cola

How many times have we witnessed companies losing hold in a particular market because of poor translation of their marketing ads’?

Perfectly manufactured products and their creative campaigns do take risks due to some careless translation mistakes or blunders. One simple example of this is the Pepsi Ad in China- the translated slogan of "Pepsi Brings You Back to Life." read, "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave." in Chinese. Funny to read, but a blunder when the sales were counted!

The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered as Ke-ke-ken-la.  Unfortunately, company did not discover until after tens of thousands of signs had been printed that the phrase means "bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax" depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 Chinese characters and found a close phonetic equivalent, "ko-kou-ko-le,"  which can be loosely translated as "happiness in the mouth.

The most common mistake made by companies is not using the right translator for the job. It is a misconception that people who are able to speak the language can translate well. Translation is a special skill set and is not available to everyone. To do a good translation, you need to have sound knowledge of both the languages and a little bit about the customs and cultures too. Cultural sensitivity is also an important factor to consider while translating. Language translation services should be offered only when you have the writing skills, thorough knowledge of the language and an eagle's eye when it comes to details.

Translation mistakes happen if you use automatic translators like Google translate. These kind of automatic translators are good for beginners, but not suitable for business standards. A professional language translation service helps you with your advertising and marketing materials. Professional translators have expertise in that particular language and thus, have the skill and talent to translate perfectly. An education in that particular language will teach you that common phrases in English that are so perfect for the situations do not always have the same meaning in the other language. The perfect English phrase might mean something totally irrelevant or have a negative impact.

Translators too have their limitations, when it comes to the particular field of expertise. For example, an expert translator with a legal background might not have the expertise to translate medical texts. Find the right translator for the kind of project. Language translation services usually have experts with experience in all fields like technical, legal, engineering, accounting and medical etc. You need to be aware of the terminology and the style of writing in that particular field.

Inadequate experience will definitely show and the end result will look like something done by a foreign person to the target audience. Always choose the keywords with care while translating. Straight dictionary translations may not be perfect for all keywords. Local knowledge about the colloquialism and abbreviations of a particular country might help you with an appropriate translation.

While translating a foreign language, avoid using literal translations. This is especially true with slogans. Word for word translation does not usually work. A marketing slogan usually sets the tone for the particular product. Based on the culture and customs of that particular country, a slogan has to convey the message across clearly.

Product and company names too need a careful scrutiny. The language translation services should take care of the connotations or double meanings, some words have in certain languages. For example, an advertisement by Clairol- they introduced a curling iron with a name, "Mist Stick" in Germany. In German, Mist is also slang for manure. This way poor knowledge of the language and minor errors can easily become blunders and affect your sales in that country.

Thorough checking and rechecking of the translated material is a must. It is very common to miss few words or phrases in the first draft. This should be worked on until a natural sounding translation is achieved. This can be further polished and fine-tuned to make it apt to the people of that particular country. This perfection is achieved when more than one person works on a particular translation. 

A second mind looks at the draft with a fresh perspective and can identify the errors missed by the first translator. The translated material reaches a foreign audience where that particular language is their native language and they can spot an error easily. So, the language translation services need to look at an assignment with great care and make sure that the final draft is accurate literally and appropriate culturally.

Translation is a tedious job and needs adequate time. Many people underestimate the time required and end up with work filled with mistakes. Ideally, a 300-word document needs at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours and the technically difficult texts need more time. This is the time required for the first draft. After this, allow ample time for the second translator to check and make corrections. Some professional translators put aside the finished work for some time and come back to it after some time. This way, when they re-check the same document after a while, they can look at it in a totally different perspective and look of the quality of expressions. This time, any embarrassing words or words with different meanings can be identified.

Professional translation services give a lot of importance for checking and re—checking a translated document. In this modern age of innovations and technology, it is a big mistake not to avail the help of proven editing and checking systems. This improves the overall quality of translation and almost nullifies the chance of errors. Language translation services should invest in these editing and proof reading systems for better quality of work.

One simple mistake that can be easily avoided is assuming that countries speaking the same language are similar in all aspects. Every country has its own distinction when it comes to the culture, style and way of living. If you are translating marketing material, be doubly sure of the words and expressions used. The product and the selling strategy might be looked at in a totally different way by the two countries.

Translation is an effective tool used extensively by the companies to market their products globally. Social media like Facebook and Twitter are now the best sources of global marketing. Understanding the nuances of a language and their impact on the target society makes the translation perfect. Avoid the usual mistakes and make a powerful impression on the natives with your beautiful translation.

French language translation and its neighbours

France is one of the most historically inhabited locations in Europe west of Italy, with evidence of older and older habitation being discovered on a nearly daily basis. Originally called Gaul, it was one of the most valued provinces of the Roman Empire during its glory days. After the fall of the Roman Empire, and the onset of darkness and chaos, it was a French tribal king, Clovis, who brought the first semblance of order to the expanses of Europe, and throughout continued history up to today, France has played a pivotal role in the evolution of culture, science and politics.

It is a nation of sweeping, forested valleys, vistas of snow-capped mountains and beautiful, sun-drenched Mediterranean shores. Bordered by Germany, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland, France has had an influence on the development of many of its neighbouring cultures, and vice versa.

As a result, the French language (one of the more beloved Latin languages of linguists) has seen its share of changes, as well as offshoot dialects over the years. Originally descended from a form of vulgar Latin, just as Spanish, Romanian, Portuguese and Italian, French therefore shares quite a few similarities to these other languages. As a result of this, as well as its proximity to the sources of these languages, many dialects of French borrow heavily from these other linguistic influences.

In France providence herself, there are in fact over 20 dialects of French alone. The most widely spoken, especially internationally, dialect of French in its motherland belongs to a group of languages known as the oil language family. This is a more formal set of French dialects, with stricter grammatical rules and is often associated with higher society in time past. This is a sharp contrast to the Occitan family of French dialects that are commonly associated in history with rural and peasant populations, especially before the revolution of the 18th century. Other notable dialects of French in the oil language family include Norman, Lorrain, Picard and Champanois (spoken in the famous and beautiful Champaign Valley among other locations).

In sharp contrast, Occitan languages are far less formal, and are not heavily used in any exported speech or communications outside of the country. These languages are spoken in the southern region of France known as Occitania, on and around the border with Spain. During the Middle Ages before the establishment of a proper French nation, this language family was actually more widely spoken than the oil language family entirely. Notable dialects in this family include Vivaroalpenc, Linousin and Gascon.


This set of language families is most noted or its pronunciation of letters and sold bowls that in proper French are silent, such as pronouncing "Bizet" as "biz-ett" rather than "bee-zae". There is also a notable reduction of glottal harshness in this family of languages than is seen in the oil language or the Franco-Provencal family of languages. This is probably the easiest family of French languages for the uninitiated to learn, due to its severely reduced rigors of mastering pronunciation. 

Many schools abroad teach this family of languages for the first couple of years for serious French students, before moving on to the more proper Lorrain or Norman. Occitan cultures are a proud, and very self-reliant group of Southern French and Northern Spanish people and proudly speak their dialect.

Franco-Provencal languages are actually the result of isolated, smaller pockets of Latin derivatives being absorbed by the expansion of France under the Carolignian dynasty during the days of the Holy Roman Empire, of which France was the seat. These languages tend to vary wildly, the time has tempered them to match most standard French dialects' level of glottal pronunciation as well as inflection. However, many conjugation rules will vary randomly from one dialect to the other, with no commonality between them. These are often seen spoken in the more rural areas far removed from population canters. A few noted dialects in this group include Bressan, Jurassien and Savoyard. These obscure dialects have been made largely famous due to their exposure through dramas such as those by Aleixandre Dumas.

However, when nearing borders with other nations, a phenomenon known as slippage occurs with language. In slippage, the languages of the two nations gradually bleed together due to continued communications in exchanges between neighbours who just happen to be on the other sides of the border.

There are two noted groups of these languages in French, German and Italian, though linguistic experts have identified concrete French roots in the Spanish dialects of Catalan and Basque as well. These slippage languages' status as dialects of French or the other component language is still debated heavily among linguists, and most likely a resolution to this debate will never be reached. Noted languages in these groups include Corsican (Italian), Alsatian and French Flemish (Germanic), as well as Ligurian (Gallo Italic).

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