Programs like DeepL or Google Translate are practical: They transfer texts into another language in a very short time and are getting better and better at it. Employees with good foreign language skills can smooth out the final imperfections in the text and the translation is complete. So why hire an expensive translation agency when the linguistic aspect of international company work can also be so easily dealt with internally?
Externally effective texts must be translated professionally
In fact, the Federal Association of Translators and Interpreters (BDÜ) says very clearly: “At least for all translations or interpreting services that are effective to the outside world, it is urgently recommended to use professional language experts.” Because if you don’t present yourself professionally to the outside world and demonstrate a minimum of communicative competence – the correct use of language – you will quickly be left behind by the competition. Then you wish you had put more money into external representation.
In a LinkedIn article, Anna Haselsberger explains why in most cases it is not enough to commission your own employees with good foreign language skills to translate advertising and similar texts. The head of the AHA lacks employees who have foreign language skills but no training in the field of translation or proofreading! GmbH according to experience and linguistic sensitivity. In addition, they are often not given enough time for the translation and untrained translators are hardly qualified for the often necessary work with translation memory systems and terminology databases: “There is no question that the quality of laboriously developed slogans and advertising letters then suffers, if the corresponding text in the foreign language does not receive the same attention as that [Original]”Said the expert.
Appearances are deceptive: DeepL and Google Translate are not nearly as good as many believe
According to BDÜ and DVÜD (German Association of Freelance Translators and Interpreters), translation using platforms such as DeepL or Google Translate is also not advisable when it comes to external representation: because the translations of these tools for so-called machine translation are getting better and better become, big mistakes continue to happen that are hardly noticeable to the untrained eye. It is relatively common for DeepL and Google Translate to forget a negation or to assign a gender incorrectly, to forget whole clauses and to formulate them very clumsily. In addition, the programs do not know what the function of the text to be translated is and who it is intended for, not to mention the cultural differences between the target groups – these are also important aspects to be taken into account in a translation if an appropriate result is to be achieved.
Incidentally, the translation with one of the (often free) digital translation programs can also be legally problematic. Because the data entered is often stored in the cloud, companies should never translate sensitive information with such tools. Professional translation agencies take this into account. This is another reason why it is important to contact professional translators – the BDÜ offers a good platform for finding such translation agencies.
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