I received today another application from someone wanting to work with me, as a translator.   As a professional translator. Delivering  work to actual clients.    Earning money. 

The email, a variation of many other I receive daily, reads as follow:
"Hi, my name is T., I currently live in .... , and I'm interested in working as a translator at your website. I don't have much experience (besides translating my own artwork and some school based projects), but I'm really looking forward to an opportunity to practice my English and French, and obtain some experience as well. As a consequence to my lack of experience, I don't really have a price established yet, but I hope that we can figure that out. Finally I hope to get a response soon, thank you for your time!"

It's to the point , in a good enough English and  polite,  3 things that are not always true  in such emails.
Still, it rubs me the wrong way.

Let's do an exercise  and change some words to  what they'd mean if my business was civil engineering:

​"Hi, my name is T., I currently live in .... , and I'm interested in working as a CIVIL ENGINEER   AT YOUR WORKSITE. I don't have much experience BUILDING  BRIDGES  (besides BUILDING THINGS WITH LEGO AND SOME SCHOOL CONSTRUCTIONS WITH KAPLA AND CARDBOARD), but I'm really looking forward to an opportunity to practice my SKILLS AT MIXING CEMENT AND TRYING WAYS TO STAPLE BRICK, CEMENT AND IRON, and obtain some experience AT PUTTING TOGETHER A BRIDGE FOR TRUCKS AND CARS TO CROSS THAT RIVER WITHOUT PROPER TRAINING FOR IT, WITHOUT INSURANCE OR BUSINESS COSTS.  As a consequence to my lack of experience AND LACK OF PROPER TRAINING AND LACK OF INVESTMENT IN THIS PROFESSION, I don't really have ANY IDEA HOW TO BUDGET MY EXPENSES, THE MATERIAL I NEED TO BUY AND THE VALUE OF MY WORK, but I hope that YOU CAN TELL ME ALL YOUR TRADE SECRETS SO I CAN GO AND ASK LESS AND GET YOUR CLIENTS. Finally I hope to get a response soon AS I NEED MONEY ASAP AND THIS IS SUCH AN EASY JOB, thank you for THE TIME YOU ARE GOING TO SPEND MENTORING ME FOR FREE WHILE STILL DOING YOUR OWN JOB!"

The saddest part of this misconception about what it takes to be a translator or an interpreter, is that it is commonly thought that anyone who speaks languages can do it. That it's easy. That there are only some business   tricks to it and no training or  true talent is needed. That it's really not that hard.
It  is so commonly though that not one of those candidates sees the absurd of their requests, and it's not entirely their fault (besides the fact that some are profoundly clueless of the working world regardless of the area)  when official professional sites, like employment agencies, offer advices on how to "make some money translating from home if you are unemployed and know a bit of X or Y language". 

So, dear wannabe translator or interpreter, do yourself a favor, go get some training, there are plenty universities  and professional workshops for specialisation, go read testimonies of seasoned professionals,  get into chat groups to get a grasp of the profession.
Look for a (properly compensated) mentor,  get some work done, deal with unhappy clients, get some praises for a work well done, get turned down 20 times before managing to get that contract you wanted, spend a few nights working to meet deadlines, struggle to get your payments on your bank account to pay your bills and rejoice when that huge invoice is paid in full before term... and then, then yes, come  and see me.
I'll be happy to  coach you  further and work alongside on real projects with real clients earning you  the money you'll deserve. 
Welcome the   this wonderful profession. 

An Author Asks: Why should a translator get royalties when the story is mine?
By Lisa Carter,   Feb 6, 2015  Intralingo Inc.

A reader recently commented on my post 10 Truths on Royalties and Literary Translation, from way back in 2012. I wanted to raise this issue in a new post, rather than leaving it buried deep in the archives because it’s a hugely important topic.
Here is what author Alexandra Martins wrote to ask:
Hello, Lisa. I found this article, precisely when I was searching the net for the reason why would a translator get any rights to an author’s literary work.
I understand that translating something requires creativity and skills in writing. I understand that, and I think that a good translator should be well paid for his/her work. But only once.
I’m Portuguese and I wrote a novel. I created the story, wrote it down, put it on paper. I invented the story, the caracters, the action, everything. I and only I. It’s my work, it belongs to me, and nobody else. When I published it, anyone who bought it was actually being licensed to read my work. The only thing they bought was the paper and the ink. The paper and the ink belongs to them. The story is still mine. If a publisher was interested in publishing my novel and put it on sale in bookstores and other markets, I would not sell my story, I would only license it. Because, gess what? It’s my story. Nobody else’s. The publisher’s job would be simply to get the paper and the ink, so readers can read my story.
So please, help me understand: why should a translator (from Portuguese to English, for example) get royalties from a work that belongs to me? I understand translations are not easy, but all they are doing is translating words into another language. Telling my story in another language. MY story. Not theirs.
As for the creativity necessary to make he story appeal to English readers, isn’t it part of the job? I mean, if you don’t like doing that, look for another job. But having a share on a story, in whatever language, a story that you did not have a part in creating, I think it is very unfair.
Thanks.
-Alexandra Martins
Two readers (who are translators) shared their thoughts with Alexandra:
What an interesting point of view. Ages ago I wrote about why translation is creative. While it doesn’t answer your question directly, it might give you an idea of an answer. Hint: there is not one “correct” way to translate anything, especially in literature. So the translator creates something based on an original idea that is not his or hers. It is a heavily creative process. So the reader of the translation is given the licence to read the translation, just like the reader of the original is being licensed to read the original. [Emphasis mine.]
-Anna Lycett

‘There is not one ‘correct’ way to translate anything, especially in literature.’ @keycheck_t9n

Translating literature is a process that takes just as much creativity and skill as writing the original does in the first place. As the author, the idea of the story is obviously yours. But once it has been translated, every word of the translation is the result of my hard work. So the translation is my baby just as the story is yours.
Having a novel translated is an opportunity that opens up a market and audience that the author could not previously reach. This would not have much of an impact on sales of the original text, which is entirely the author’s. A 1-3% royalty is not much, especially as the amount of effort and creativity this kind of translation requires is comparable to that required for creative writing in the first place. The author would still get much more, on top of the sales they already get from sales in the original language.
If anything, I would argue that a translator should receive equal royalties to the author on the translated version. Sadly the world is not ready for that idea yet, though. People still seem to think that because translators make everything look simple and pretty, they’re not having breakdowns behind the scenes going “Argh this word equivalent is not really equivalent at all! How can I express this without destroying everything!?”. Just as authors have breakdowns over things like “Argh this character is supposed to _____, but no matter how I write this it doesn’t work!”. Just because you love the work doesn’t mean you don’t pull your hair out over it… [Emphasis mine.]
-Alison
I then happened upon this piece by Daniel Hahn, an eminent literary translator, on Words Without Borders. The article is about reviewing translations and how the translator should be credited, but the crux of Hahn’s argument is closely related to this topic. Here’s what he says:
So what makes me crazy is when the reviewer praises something that I did and gives the impression that I’m not there. By all means compliment the author on the tightness of the plotting, on the deftness of the characterization, and ignore me—they’re supported by my work, of course, but marginally. But a reviewer who thinks he can praise the rhythm, the texture, the beauty of the prose, the warmth and wit of the voice, without acknowledging who’s responsible—as though those things in an author’s original simply reappear automatically after the mechanics of translation have been applied to a text—that’s a reviewer who simply has no understanding of what translation is. There’s a reason the copyright in my translations belongs to me and not the original author. The plot and the ideas and the themes aren’t mine, but the words are, all of them, and the way they all fit together, too. And if that’s what you’re reviewing, I want credit. (Or, for that matter, criticism.)[Emphasis mine.]
As you might be able to tell from the added emphasis in the quotes above, I couldn’t agree more with what each of these translators has said. But that doesn’t mean I don’t see Alexandra’s point. It’s hard to understand all that goes into a literary translation unless you have been involved in the process, as a translator or as an author whose work has been translated. It is a complex process, not simply taking one word and giving it an equivalent in another language.


Translation is a complex process, not simply exchanging one word for another. @intralingo

In December last year, British art critic, novelist, paint and post John Berger had this to say in an article in the Guardian:
The conventional view of what [literary translation] involves proposes that the translator or translators study the words on one page in one language and then render them into another language on another page. This involves a so-called word-for-word translation, and then an adaptation to respect and incorporate the linguistic tradition and rules of the second language, and finally another working-over to recreate the equivalent of the “voice” of the original text. Many — perhaps most — translations follow this procedure and the results are worthy, but second-rate.

‘True translation demands a return to the pre-verbal.’ – John Berger

Why? Because true translation is not a binary affair between two languages but a triangular affair. The third point of the triangle being what lay behind the words of the original text before it was written. True translation demands a return to the pre-verbal. One reads and rereads the words of the original text in order to penetrate through them to reach, to touch, the vision or experience that prompted them. One then gathers up what one has found there and takes this quivering almost wordless “thing” and places it behind the language it needs to be translated into. And now the principal task is to persuade the host language to take in and welcome the “thing” that is waiting to be articulated.
Wow. Well put.
What I’d like to emphasize to Alexandra — and all authors — is that literary translators are not trying to take anything away from the writer. Quite the contrary, we’re hugely respectful of their work. We want to take nothing away, add nothing, yet convey every little last thing. A literary translator attempts to portray every single nuance of writing style, plot and character development in another language, for another culture. And that is precisely what makes our work so very challenging.
Translators are not martyrs. We do this for ourselves, too. @intralingo
We go to these great lengths in translation, often for very little money up front, because we believe in the work, in the author, and we want to share both with a wider audience. Our work is about giving, offering a new work to a new world, expanding the author’s circle of readers, influence and, ultimately, income. But we are not martyrs, we do this for ourselves, too. We expect to earn a decent income and a certain amount of recognition for our efforts.
If you consider that royalties granted to a translator generally range from 1-3% when the book is published traditionally or up to about 25% when the work is self-published, it’s clear we’re not trying to usurp the author’s due. The author will always earn as much and usually much more than the translator. We understand the weighting, recognize that even in another language the translation is ultimately the author’s work. But without us, without our skill, insight and participation, there will be no work in another language, so it’s only fair that recognition should go both ways.
​
​https://intralingo.com/an-author-asks-why-should-a-translator-get-royalties-when-the-story-is-mine/

What happens when a word is not used anymore?
Does it just disappear into the deep ends of a dictionary  or does it  come back from time to time to remind us of tastes gone by?
To avoid their death, this Spanish group of word's lovers decided to create this virtual "Shop of  forgotten words" where anyone can "shop" for a word for the symbolic price of a share  on any social network. 
It's as amazing as it sounds. It makes one wish  that other language lovers in other countries would do the same. 
Have a look at their beautiful website and their  funny videos.

http://www.latiendadepalabrasolvidadas.com/shop/?swoof=1&product_cat=rapeables

LISA FELEPCHUK - FEB 13

If, instead of calling your significant other or child by their first name, you substitute an endearing pet name–honey, babe, pumpkin, sweet pea or the like–chances are you’re improving your bond without even realizing it. Because cutesy nicknames create intimacy between two humans. Research tells us that couples who use pet names report feeling more satisfied within their relationship than couples that don’t.
And, as you may have guessed, it’s not just North Americans who use these endearing words to describe their most favourite humans. Cultures all around the world use similarly charming and silly phrases and words the same way English speakers do. However, when pet names are translated from their native tongue into another language, they don’t always sound so sweet. In fact, some sound downright insulting.
Language learning app Babbel rounded up a handful of adorable pet names from Italy, Germany, Japan and beyond; we’re not suggesting you use them though, as translating them directly may not go over so well with your SO this Valentine’s Day (or any day). Here are 12 international pet names that get lost in translation.
MICROBINO MIO – ITALIANLike most Italian words, microbino mio rolls off the tongue. It sounds beautiful and sexy and cute all at once when said out loud, but the direct translation is “my little microbe,” so might be best saved for a science buff and not a germaphobe.
SPATZ – GERMANThe German word spatz translates to “sparrow,” which is actually quite a lovely pet name, but the way it sounds when pronounced in English is so similar to our word “spat.” It feels dirty, and not in a sexy, meet-me-in-the-bedroom-in-five kind of way.
CHANG NOI – THAIIn Thailand, chang noi is the way to call someone a “little elephant,” which is probably cuter than calling them a big elephant. But these massive mammals aren’t as celebrated in English culture as the are in Southeast Asia, so it loses some of its importance and appeal.
SÖTNOS – SWEDISHNobody wants to be told they have a pig nose…in English at least. In Sweden, however, the Swedish term sötnos, which means “sweet snout,” is often used as a term of endearment.
MON PETIT CHOU – FRENCHFoods that are cute and/or sweet often make good pet names: sugar, pumpkin, honey. Not so adorable: a head of cabbage. But in French, mon petit chou literally means “my little cabbage.” Even more adorbs: chou chou, which can be used for short.
MON SAUCISSON – FRENCHAnother French food nickname that shouldn’t be translated? Mon saucisson, which means “my little sausage.” If you don’t want to hear, “Are you calling me fat!?” accusations, avoid naming your bae this one.
DROPJE – DUTCHDropje (pronounced “drop-key”) is a traditional Dutch black licorice candy that only the locals seem to enjoy. It makes sense, then, that the word dropje is also used as a form of endearment, even though it directly translates to “little licorice candy.” If you’re going to use it, make sure the intended recipient actually likes black licorice.
MEDIA NARANJA – SPANISHIf you consider your partner your other half, then they’re your media naranja. Sort of. The direct translation of this Spanish pet name literally means “half an orange,” as in your lover is the other half to your orange. Cute, right?
PATATINA – ITALIANPotatoes are delicious, but would you want be referred to as a round and bulbous root vegetable? Maybe not. Patatina translates to “little potato” and definitely sounds more playful in Italian.
PUS – NORWEGIANPus is the way Norwegians say “kitten,” but again, our English meaning of pus makes one think of an infected sore. And there’s nothing less attractive than calling someone a word reminiscent of an oozing scab. However, the pronunciation in Norwegian puts emphasis on the “u,” so when said properly, it sounds more like our English word, “puss.” Meow!
TAMAGO GATA NO KAO – JAPANESEProbably one of the most bizarre translations is Japan’s pet name, tamago gata no kao. In English, it literally means an egg with eyes. But, wait–in Japanese culture, oval-shaped faces are prized, so an egg-shaped face is a compliment, but it sounds completely strange in English.
MURU – FINNISHMuru is short, sweet and fun to say. But when translated from Finnish to English, it loses a lot of its charm, as it means breadcrumb. Delicious, yes, but “breadcrumb” just doesn’t have the same ring to it as muru.

​​http://www.theloop.ca/lost-translation-pet-names-countries-dont-work-english/?utm_content=buffer8ced3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
​

“As computers behave more like humans, the social sciences and humanities will become even more important. Languages, art, history, economics, ethics, philosophy, psychology and human-development courses can teach critical, philosophical and ethics-based skills that will be instrumental in the development and management of AI solutions.
“If AI is to reach its potential in serving humans, then every engineer will need to learn more about the liberal arts and every liberal arts major will need to learn more about engineering,” 

(I am however  baffled by this : "The researchers found that the median wage of a humanities major in 2015 was $52,000, or about $8,000 lower than the median for all college graduates. They do better, however, than graduates who majored in the life sciences, the arts or education."   So, according to this research, arts or education are not part of humanities studies...   Then, what are they part of ? They are not  "STEM" either, so what? )

Report busts myth of unemployable humanities grads

Originally published February 12, 2018 at 6:00 am

No, they’re not all working as baristas. When it comes to pay, job satisfaction and career advancement, humanities majors do just fine, a new report says.
Share story
 
By 
Katherine Long 


Seattle Times higher education reporterThe American Academy of Arts & Sciences wants you to know that studying the humanities is not a career-killing dead end.
In “The State of the Humanities 2018,” released last week, the national academy makes the case that humanities majors are doing just fine when it comes to pay, job satisfaction and career advancement.
And the report comes on the heels of a new Microsoft e-book on artificial intelligence, which discusses an important role that the social sciences and humanities will have in the development and management of artificial intelligence.
The academy’s report, which is based on U.S. census data and Gallup polling of workers nationwide, aims to show that humanities majors find jobs after college, don’t make that much less than other college graduates and are generally happy with their jobs.
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Unlimited Digital Access. $1 for 4 weeks.The researchers found that the median wage of a humanities major in 2015 was $52,000, or about $8,000 lower than the median for all college graduates. They do better, however, than graduates who majored in the life sciences, the arts or education.
They’re also paid significantly more than those with only an associate degree or high-school diploma.
Almost 87 percent reported they were satisfied with their job in 2015.
The report measured financial satisfaction with a survey that asked respondents for a yes-or-no answer to these questions: “I have enough money to do everything I want to do” and “In the last seven days, I have worried about money.” While 42 percent of humanities majors said they had enough money, their financial satisfaction wasn’t too far below that of engineers, 51 percent of whom said they had enough money to do what they wanted to do.
Unemployment among humanities majors — as in all fields — rose during the recession but is down now, to just about 4 percent among workers ages 24 to 55. And about 14 percent had jobs in management.
The picture isn’t all rosy. More than a third of humanities majors said there was no relationship between their job and their degree. About a third with bachelor’s degrees were employed in sales, service, office and administrative support jobs.
Humanities majors who went on to get an advanced degree, beyond a bachelor’s, generally did better, with higher median salaries and a closer match between their degrees and their occupations.
In its new book, Microsoft called for more liberal arts majors to study computer engineering, and for more tech engineers to take classes in the liberal arts.
Sign up for Education LabAn easy way to stay connected to education. Delivered to your inbox Thursdays.

Sign up“The Future Computed: Artificial Intelligence and Its Role in Society” includes an introduction by Microsoft President Brad Smith and the company’s executive vice president of Microsoft Artificial Intelligence, Harry Shum.
“Skilling-up for an AI-powered world involves more than science, technology, engineering and math,” the two executives wrote in a blog post about the book. “As computers behave more like humans, the social sciences and humanities will become even more important. Languages, art, history, economics, ethics, philosophy, psychology and human-development courses can teach critical, philosophical and ethics-based skills that will be instrumental in the development and management of AI solutions.
“If AI is to reach its potential in serving humans, then every engineer will need to learn more about the liberal arts and every liberal arts major will need to learn more about engineering,” Smith and Shum wrote.

Katherine Long: 206-464-2219 or [email protected]. On Twitter @katherinelong

https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/report-busts-myth-of-unemployable-humanities-grads/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article_left_1.1

How Starwood Optimized Its Website Translation Speaks to an Industry Becoming Fluent in DataSean O'Neill, Skift
 
- Apr 06, 2017 1:00 am 

"Starwood recently changed its approach to the translation of websites for its 1,500 properties. Its move is a case study in how many hotel groups are getting savvier about using data to boost bottom line results."

— Sean O'Neill

Before its acquisition by Marriott was completed last September, hospitality company Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide changed its approach to a problem that many chain hotels face — how to maximize the value of its spending on translation services for its property websites worldwide.
There were two aspects to the question: Was Starwood overspending on the translation of some of its branded websites, relative to how much business it was bringing in from the speakers of those languages? And was it failing to translate other websites and thus losing customers who were turning elsewhere and instead booking stays at properties that offered online information in their native tongues?
It’s not often that hotel executives offer a peek into their thinking about challenges. So it caught Skift’s eye two weeks ago when Ora Solomon, director, global product management, digital, gave a presentation about Starwood’s effort at the CMO Digital Insights Summit in Atlanta.

To be sure, the approach Starwood took is not the last word in how hotels can approach similar challenges. In fact, Marriott’s approach to translations will likely be different than what Starwood took, a spokesperson for the merged brands said.
Starwood’s experiment, whatever it’s ultimate fate, illustrates a broader industry trend that’s one of the hotel trends we’re watching in 2017: More and more hotel groups are relying on data instead of instinct to drive decision making.


PUTTING A MORE ACCURATE PRICE ON TRANSLATION
Starwood has 1,500 properties around the world, half of which are outside the U.S. Obviously it has been expensive for the company to translate the individual details of each property across its 11 brands.
To contain costs, its policy had been to provide translations for nearly all of its properties in four common languages — German, French, Spanish, and Japanese — regardless of the revenue that speakers of those languages generate for each of the properties.
It also made rough guesses about when to offer translations in up to seven other languages, such as Simplified Mandarin (which it did for 452 hotels) and Portuguese (which it did for 237 hotels).
The problem was that Starwood wasn’t sure it had the best coverage. For example, its Aloft Charlotte Uptown had received a Japanese translation, even though all nine of its Charlotte’s properties had received less than about $20,000 of revenue from Japanese guests in 2014.
On the other hand, many Italians visit New York City. Yet Starwood had provided few Italian translations for its properties there.
To get the translation mix right, Solomon believed that Starwood needed to “come up with a translation model that was scalable, given that non-English revenue share was growing, and competitors were investing to win,” she says. At the time, the Starwood sites had 200 million visitors a year, representing about $4 billion a year in revenue.
So in 2015, the company hired a math star on a temporary contract to come up with a more data-driven approach. Along with other Starwood employees, the person came up with a mathematical model that weighs revenue over two years, versus the full on-going cost of translation at the market level, such as of French translation for a hotel in Kansas City, Missouri.
The results were striking. The formula predicted that, for 11 Starwood properties in the San Francisco area, spending on Japanese language translation produce revenued that was, collectively, 42 times the money spent on translation.
In contrast, investing in Japanese translation in Dallas didn’t deliver a good return on investment. Based on the data at the time, the cost of offering translations for the 17 Starwood properties then in Dallas would have meant that every dollar spent on translation would have yielded only a $2 gain in annual revenue.
Similarly, the company had spent on Dutch translation for only two of its properties worldiwde. The formula recommended it invest in Dutch translation for 161 properties if Starwood wanted to capture at least 60 percent of the possible revenue.
In total, approximately $600,000 investment in translation services could produce $45 million in additional revenue from guests who decided to book at Starwood instead of somewhere else that had a website in their native tongue.
The formula also predicted where Starwood could cut back on translation spending without hurting revenue. The company had been translating all of the websites of its properties into Japanese. But by only translating 611 properties that have high inbound traveler volume, the company could capture 97 percent of the revenue that it would have otherwise.
Overall, by dropping its policy of translating all of its websites into four core languages, the company would save about $300,000 a year without a loss to revenue.
Solomon says the initial results in 2016 for the $600,000 expense on expanded language translation were on target with the forecasted model. The company executed the program in phases, to limit up-front investment. The staged approach delays the effort to analyze the formula’s success until enough time has passed for comparative information.
Solomon says it is already clear that the cuts in the former four core languages did not negatively affect conversion rates online. The decrease in core translation has put minimal revenue at risk. She says, “We didn’t lose as much of the even minimal revenue loss that the model predicted, and we saved money, which we could redeploy.”
As with many aspects of the Marriott acquisition of Starwood, Marriot says it is “assessing and evaluating Starwood’s business applications as they would apply to the newly merged companies.” A spokesperson says that “Marriott has a system for determining the timing and scope of new websites and apps in new languages. Translations are going through that process, and we will await the outcome before commenting further.”
Regardless of the fate of its specific experiment, Starwood’s effort underlines one of the major hotel industry trends of this year: Hotels are getting smarter about how to interpret all of the data they have been collecting.

https://skift.com/2017/04/06/how-starwood-optimized-translation-spending/

10 marketing slogans – lost in translation
August 6, 2013 10:38 am
​
“Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave.”
It is hard to believe that this translated slogan has been used in China to promote the famous cola. The soda selling giant translated the original slogan “Pepsi brings you back to life” into Mandarin meaning “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave”.
Surprisingly, this is not an isolate case. Numerous world-famous companies failed to transpose accurately their original slogans into other languages, risking offended consumers and low sales figures.
The potential of going global with a brand has never been as attractive as it is now: establishing an international customer base, favourable economic conditions in other countries, competitive cost of goods and so on. Companies enter the international market in the hope of successfully selling their products worldwide and aim at achieving the above listed advantages of expanding overseas.
When companies decide to do so, their success depends on how well their product is received by customers in each market. This means that advertising campaigns need to be reviewed, adapted if necessary and translated. Nevertheless, preparing international marketing campaigns is not as easy as literally translating from one language to the other.
It is important to consider cultural values, norms, rules of conduct, humor and slang when promoting a product abroad. This is especially the case for slogans that represent the corporate identity of a brand.

Advertising campaigns need to be reviewed, adapted if necessary and translated
​
The objective of a slogan is to differentiate a product or brand from other competitors in a positive way. Unfortunately not all companies take this into account. A failing international marketing slogan can be traced back to mistranslation, lack of cultural understanding or even intentional translation errors to catch the customers´ attention.
Here is a compilation of the 10 funniest marketing translation blunders. They are classic examples of how failed translation can be crucial to a brand’s reputation.

1. “The Jolly Green Giant” for Green Giant in Arabic directly translates to “Intimidating Green Ogre” (Source: White M. (2009) “A short course in international marketing blunders” Marketing mistakes made by companies that should have known better. World Trade Press).
2. Braniff International Airways´ slogan Fly in leather came out as “Fly naked” Spanish (“Vuela en cuero”). (Source: Brady, D. (2011)”Essentials of international Marketing” ME Sharpe).
3. Mitsubishi launched the rover vehicle “Pajero 4WD” in Spain ignoring the fact that the word “pajero” means “jerk” in Spanish. The car´s name has then been changed to Mitsubishi “Montero”. (Source)
4. The Italian mineral water company promoted their water Traficante in Spain not knowing that the word “traficante” means “drug dealer” in Spanish. (Source)
5. When Kentucky Fried Chicken opened their first store in China, it did not take long before they discovered their slogan, “finger lickin’ good” translated to “eat your fingers off.” (Source)
6. In Italy a campaign for Schweppes Tonic water translated the drink´s name into “Schweppes Toilet Water.” (Source: Haig M. (2004)”Brand Failures: The Truth about the 100 biggest branding mistakes of all time” Kogan Page Limited).
7. Pepsodent promoted its toothpaste in a distinct area in Southeast Asia by highlighting that it “whitens your teeth.” This campaign entirely failed because the locals chew betel nuts to blacken their teeth as it is considered attractive. (Source: Verderber K. and R., Sellnow D. (2012) “Communicate“).
8. IKEA named one of its new desks “FARTFULL” to promote “fährt” (speed) given the desks’ wheels and the design. (Source: Rasmussen R., Mylonas A., Beck H. (2001)”Investigating Business Communication and Technologies” Cambridge University Press)
9. The Brewing Company Coors translated its slogan “Turn it loose” into “Suffer from diarrhea” in Spanish. (Source: Haig M. (2004)”Brand Failures: The Truth about the 100 biggest branding mistakes of all time” Kogan Page Limited).
10. An American T-shirt designer printed shirts for the Spanish market to promot the visit of the Pope. Instead of “I saw the Pope” (el Papa), the shirts read “I saw the potato” (la papa). (Source: Ardagh P., (2009) “Howlers, Blunders and Random Mistakery”).

All of these marketing blunders are examples of how even the smallest translation error can have a great effect on a brand´s success overseas. Translation mistakes like these can be prevented by avoiding literal translation, checking pronunciation in other languages and researching the country´s cultural norms and values.
What about you? Have you come across any other marketing blunder?

Article written by Sandra Nunes Teixeira, student intern at TermCoord, Master student in the“Multi-learn programme”

http://termcoord.eu/2013/08/10-marketing-slogans-lost-in-translation/

Where are you from? Where is your home?

​As a language professional, you might have had to answer these questions more times than you'd wished.
If you travelled extensively, lived in more than one country, raised a family somewhere else than your country of birth, created emotional and affective bonds with people in other countries, found a kinship somewhere unexpected, then you know how hard it is to answer.
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"Home […] is not just the place where you happen to be born, it’s the place where you become yourself […]
For more and more of us, home has really less to do with a piece of soil, than […] with a piece of soul […]”
(Iyer, 2013)

http://termcoord.eu/2016/06/going-dutch-or-having-a-french-shower-idioms-using-other-nationalities-and-countries/

“Going Dutch” or “having a French shower”: idioms using other nationalities and countries
June 28, 2016 2:47 pmFacebookTwitterGoogle+WhatsAppLinkedInEmailWordPressTumblrWe all know that all “roads lead to Rome”, which “was not built in one day”, but what about “smoking like a Turk” or “speaking Chinese”?
Idioms. We all use them, but where do they come from? The easiest answer would be that they come from historical events and from the proximity of one country to another. The English-speaking people have a saying about the French, “don’t leave like the French” which means leaving without saying Good-bye! The Spaniards say “despedirse a la francesa“, to “leave the French way”. On the other hand, the French say the same thing about the English (“filer à l’anglaise“). The Germans blame it on the Polish, “einen polnischen Abgang machen“,“make a Polish exit” and the Poles throw it back at the English “leave in an English way”, “wyjść po angielsku”.
We Romanians had a lot to deal with the Turks, so we say, “he eats like the Turks are fighting on his mouth” (“se bat turcii la gura lui”) to describe someone who eats very quickly. In addition, when someone sits with their legs crossed, they are “Turkish sitting” (“stă turceşte”) and when someone does not understand something obvious we implore “don’t be a Turk” (“nu fi turc”). I was surprised to find that Slovenians have the same saying but about the French, Croatians about the English, Polish people about the Greeks and Greek people about the Chinese. In addition, “Θες ν’ ακούσεις κάνα τούρκικο τώρα” in Greek, “You want to hear some Turkish now?” means “do you want me to swear?”. And what about “pardon my French”? It is not that someone is excusing themselves for their level of the language? Indeed, it is also related to swearing.
Have you heard about “smoking like a Turk”? Well, if you are Romanian, Italian, Slovene, Croat, Luxembourgish, Macedonian, French or German, apparently you would use this idiom when you refer to someone smoking a lot.
To refer to something that they don’t understand in writing, the English would say “it’s all Greek to me”. At the same time the Greeks say the same thing, but referring to Chinese. As do the Portuguese, Bulgarians and Spanish, people. The Finns have a slightly different saying about the same thing, to “speak pig’s German” (“puhua siansaksaa“) – namely, when someone says something completely weird and incomprehensible.
For the Spanish people, the English are punctual, so they say “punctual as an English man”, while in Romanian, Estonian and other Baltic languages, they say the same thing, but about the Germans. When Italians describe one’s punctuality, they say “punctual like a Swiss watch” (“puntuali come un orologio svizzero“), the Poles say “to work as in a Swiss watch” (“chodzić jak w szwajcarskim zegarku“) referring also to the accuracy of a Swiss watch. The same goes for Portuguese people who say, “Certo que nem um relógio suiço“ (“right as a Swiss clock”).
“Going Dutch” means splitting the bill in half at the restaurant, and “having a French shower” means to spray on too much deodorant instead of washing oneself. This is the first time I have heard that, but it seems that it is a popular idiom. In Sweden, the idiom is “take a Turkish shower” (att ta en Turkdusch). The French people also have an idiom about showers but it’s “prendre une douche écossaise“, (“take a Scottish shower”) which describes someone experiencing a hot and cold alternate water temperature when showering.
It was an interesting journey to find and read about all these idioms. Do you know some idioms we have not mentioned?
Sources:

• Idioms
• 10 idioms in English using nationalities and countries
• European nationality related idioms
• Idioms using nationalities and countries

Written by Raluca Caranfil
Communication Trainee at TermCoord
Journalist & Student at the University of Luxembourg

The decision to  start my own language expertise business was long matured and deeply desired.
Not only I would be able to set my own goals and rules, but I would do it  using all the experience and strengths  I developed  for years.  What fun and joy it will be.
I can't wait to talk to you, dear clients, and together  find the  best possible answer to your needs.
Thank you beforehand!
Elsa
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