Luciana of One Stop Language Solutions writes...
La Festa Degli Innamorati
Valentine’s Day is approaching and across the globe, in many countries and a plethora of languages, people are expressing their feelings through cards, messages, WhatsApps and emails!
In Italy, Valentine’s Day is called La Festa Degli Innamorati and is celebrated in a traditional manner with flowers and chocolates as gifts. In slight contrast, however, I came across a wonderful story about Japan’s Valentine’s Day tradition, which came about as a result of messages being lost in translation…
In 1968, chocolate companies in Japan started to copy Western traditions and customs. Mistakenly, however, board executives thought that it was women who gave men gifts on St Valentine’s Day, rather than the other way round.
Marketing campaigns jumped on this and started the idea of “giri choco” or “obligation chocolate”, whereby on 14th February women in Japan gift chocolate to male co-workers, bosses and even acquaintances out of appreciation and politeness. A slightly different take on our western St Valentine’s traditions!
The outcome for businesses of course still proved profitable, so despite the #translationfail you could still say all’s well that ends well. But this true story highlights where misunderstandings can so easily occur.
When thinking about your translation requirements, consider the following:
· Using native speakers where possible – cultural knowledge adds an extra dimension to translation enabling messages to be conveyed with the correct meaning;
· Looking for sector experience – using a translator with legal or medical knowledge, for example, will understand the technical terms and jargon associated with particular industries;
· Time and financial constraints – use an agency who have enough translators to be able to work to your time and budget requirements.
At One Stop Language Solutions we are here to fulfill all your translation and interpretation needs so you don’t need to worry about potential translation fails. Let us make language easy.
