Advertising and corporate communication reach are now on a global scale. Your audience no longer has to be limited by location. Think about what this can mean for your business… what if the only thing holding you back from that global reach is the language barrier? With a good translation service, your content can be put into any language you are looking for which means you can reach any demographic, no language barriers. For instance, with a French translator, you open to new countries and a new audience to reach. The world becomes your market.
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This post has been updated in September 2021.
How Can Translation Services Benefit You and Your Business?
A good translation will not simply put your words into another language, but your content will contain the right nuances, dialect, and localization of the audience you are trying to reach. For instance, a French translator will adapt your content to the French culture so you don’t just maintain your content, but that content will also read well in a new language.
Voice over is a beautiful tool for connecting to an audience. Marketers put a lot of care into choosing the right voice, be it male or female, young or old, friendly and familiar or authoritative and educational. You don’t want this vibe getting lost in translation. A good translator can take your material and make it relevant and accessible to a new audience. This widens your reach and expands your market.
With online and electronic marketing, it’s easy to make your product or service available worldwide. But there is another facet to translation. More and more people are relocating and moving around the world. Even if you do business primarily locally, you can still reach a new audience with translation services. This helps you to include anyone, regardless of native language, into your audience.
Examples of Projects with a French Translator
We tend to think of marketing endeavors with a translator as it opens up a wider audience. For instance, if you have a product, say biodegradable soap, perhaps you want to market it on a global scale. If you have voice or written content on your website, you’ll want to include translations into different languages to reach anyone interested. A French translator could come in handy here.
Another example takes a different route. Perhaps your business has just partnered with a French company. If you have corporate videos that they need to view, a French translator will be perfect for recreating these. A translator will make sure the wording and nuances are appropriate. You don’t want to lose the tone or vibe you’ve set in the original video or audio, and a translator can help maintain them.
Video games are another example. Localization is important to expand the market, and according to Anthony Teixeira, a Professional French Translator, games tend to sell a lot better when they are available in the native language of people who play them. So it isn’t always a matter of reaching a different country or location, it can also be a matter of reaching a new audience in the same location. The localization of video games can increase sales and exposure. Word of mouth also comes into play as it can help build a community around your video game. This also applies to other products.
Any product or service would benefit from accurate translation. It can broaden the reach of your audience to an even greater degree. It can make your business more accessible and form a closer bond and community.
Key Aspects of the French Language
Speaking of a closer bond and community, as well as accessibility. French is the only language besides English spoken on the five continents. According to this article:
- More than 220 million people speak French on all the five continents.
- French is a major language of international communication.
- It is the second most widely learned language after English.
- French is the sixth most widely spoken language in the world.
- It is an official language in 29 countries.
French has some distinctive characteristics that unless someone has a background in French, they may not know. For instance, the last letter of a word is often not pronounced. There is also a nasal sound to the language, and different accents are used on particular letters. This, too, would be hard to emulate without a background in French, either as a native language or a fluent one.
Because of the popularity of the French language and the distinctive sounds within it, it would be beneficial to work with a French translator when producing in this language. Those distinctive French sounds and delicate pronunciations need to stay constant and authentic to make the right impression.
The Importance of the Right French Translator
Just like you’ve spent a great amount of time thinking about and choosing the right voice actor in one language, your translator needs to have the same thought behind him or her. The right translator will not only be able to carefully take the nuances and feelings from your original piece to your translated work, but they will also be able to make subtle changes to make it work better for that audience.
It is important to have someone fluent in both languages so they can recognize those nuances and touches you’ve worked hard to incorporate and convey. Bilingualism is an important trait here. The article, Types of Bilingualism and Benefits of Knowing Them shares that there are many benefits of bilingualism. The most obvious advantage is understanding and using different languages. So it’s not just enough to have a fluent French speaker for a French translation, but the speaker must also be fluent in the original language.
In addition to bilingualism, you’ll want a similar voice to the original one. If you chose a young, male actor for a certain reason, maintain that in the translated piece. Switching up to an older female, no matter how good her language is, could drastically change the feel of your production.
There are also different types of translations. You know you need a French translator, but what is the purpose of your piece? Here are some different types of interpretive translation from Translation Service – What to Look For:
- Simultaneous interpretation
- Consecutive interpreting
- Escort/travel interpreting
- Whisper interpreting
- Scheduled telephone interpreting
- On-demand phone interpreting
There is also document translation along with website translation and website localization. Each of these is a different specialty without a one size fits all solution. It’s important to take the time to find the right translator for the job.
The Importance of Credibility and Authenticity for a French Translator
Especially when you are working with a voice translator, the credibility and authenticity need to be there. That is why you need to be choosy with your translator and pick someone who has not only a good grasp of vocabulary and grammar of the language, but also cultural differences, inflection, and nuances. A good French translator, for instance, should be able to detect things like empathy, sarcasm, or irony as well as incorporate it into the French translation.
The more credible and authentic your translator is, the more connection will occur between your company/project and your audience. You want the audience to relate and connect to the speaker. Credibility and a natural authenticity can do this. If your speaker sounds fake, contrived, or unnatural, a dissonance will exist that you don’t want.
Remember, just because someone can speak a language doesn’t mean they’re a great translator. Just like with your original voice over, you want someone who has a professional tone, enunciates well, and uses excellent diction. They should understand varying tones, intonation, idioms, and common usage. And they should be able to translate in a way that the integrity of the original is intact and the new piece makes sense. The translation is a reflection of you and your work, make it sparkle.
To use a Translation Service or Go It Alone
Now that you know the importance of both the translation and the translator, you may want to consider working with a voice pro and a translation service. A service can set you up with just the right French translator, or any other language, for that matter. They’ve already checked out their translators’ backgrounds and experiences. They should have voice over demos for you to listen to before committing to a translator. That saves you a lot of work. A top agency will know how to match your needs to a reputable translator.
The more you know when you approach a service, the better your experience will be. For instance, you know you want your piece translated into French, but do you want a male or female voice? And when do you need the final translation? What about your budget for this? Big, small…? Do you need any other translations? Who maintains rights on the finished piece? Can you revise or edit it? So much to think about it, but when you do it beforehand you’ll be better off.
You could try to find a translator on your own. There are plenty of independent translators looking for work. However, you may not find the competence or professionalism that you can with a service. You’ll have to do more work, as well. But for some, this is part of the fun and they have the wherewithal to find a great translator on their own.
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Final Thoughts
French is an international language and is often the language spoken at international events, like the Olympics. By translating your content into French, you broaden your market, create new loyalties, and make your company and product/service more accessible. But you don’t know French. That’s where a French translator enters the picture, speaking fluently and maintaining the integrity of your work. Whether you find a translator on your own or employ a translation service, look for the best translator your budget allows. The doors and opportunities a French translation can open have the ability to increase your business and audience in ways you didn’t even imagine.
Bon chance!
