| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: As a consumer, how important is it that products and services have high quality translations? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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Simon Bruni 
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:18
Member (2009)
Spanish to English
One way of looking at it is that if the quality of the translation determines the value of the product, then it becomes important. A badly translated work of literature is worthless; it won't get published and if it does it won't sell. However, the value of a high-quality electronic device will not be affected by the quality of its accompanying material, I shouldn't think. Likewise, a poor product might do well if it has good advertising copy translated to a high standard.
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I was close to answering not important at all - in case of most products it would be the case, but afterwards I imagined for instance medical equipment for personal use with manual in Mandarin and poorly written Polish and I've changed my mind
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 01:18
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
Simon Bruni wrote:
One way of looking at it is that if the quality of the translation determines the value of the product
Thank you for raising a good point, Simon.
As translators, how can we sell an amorphous value such as "quality" to potential customers? It's very much like selling life insurance -- you don't need it until you, well, really need it.
For manufacturers, the "quality" of the English or whatever language they are marketing a product in becomes a problem when the proverbial whatsit hits the fan.
So, good translation and, by extension, well-produced marketing materials become a kind of insurance in themselves.
| | | | | A recent example | Aug 17, 2012 |
I was having some trouble with my computer, and investigation led me to check on some suspicious DLLs. Browsing on Google, I found a program named DLL-files.com Fixer, and gave it a try. I think it sniffed my IP and the interface came up in Brazilian Portuguese. I immediately noticed that it had been carefully translated by a competent professional. My immediate gut reaction was that if they were so ca... See more I was having some trouble with my computer, and investigation led me to check on some suspicious DLLs. Browsing on Google, I found a program named DLL-files.com Fixer, and gave it a try. I think it sniffed my IP and the interface came up in Brazilian Portuguese. I immediately noticed that it had been carefully translated by a competent professional. My immediate gut reaction was that if they were so careful with the translation, the programming itself should be just as good, so I bought it long before my usual due diligence on actual performance.
Later their tech support (in English) lived up to my expectations, and the program really does well what it is expected to do. I have not regretted my purchasing decision.
If that interface had been obviously machine-translated, or worse, had been translated by an ostensibly incompentent (hence cheap) human, to the extent of forcing me to switch it back to its source language, I'd have tested it for much longer before deciding to buy.
Conversely, I still have as a memento the instructions sheet for some gizmo, where the last phrase is "If diplay go blind you may meet dead battery, please replace it anew". Quite honestly, I can't recall what that gizmo was, as it probably met the waste basket long ago.
Since I live with the lessons I learn as explained above, this should be a lesson for developers who save money on translations, and later waste it in marketing. ▲ Collapse
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| It IS important | Aug 17, 2012 |
Here in Denmark we are used to the attitude that 'Everybody can English', and some who really can often read the instructions to new electronic devices in English or German as a matter of course. The Danish ones are often machine translated and useless, possibly even dangerous in the case of kitchen appliances.
But there certainly are exceptions. I have proofread for a colleague who translates Danish instructions into English and really specialises in translating the other way. Even... See more Here in Denmark we are used to the attitude that 'Everybody can English', and some who really can often read the instructions to new electronic devices in English or German as a matter of course. The Danish ones are often machine translated and useless, possibly even dangerous in the case of kitchen appliances.
But there certainly are exceptions. I have proofread for a colleague who translates Danish instructions into English and really specialises in translating the other way. Even I can work out what she means.
And it boosts my confidence in the product at once.
I go to a lot of trouble to make sure allergy information and food declarations in general are accurate. I know the agencies I work for do the same.
In spite of the fact that some 'real men' don't bother with instruction manuals, many other people do...
Then there is marketing and localisation. There is no need to repeat all the myths about advertising that misfired because nobody bothered to think of how the smart slogan would strike down in a different culture.
Happy translating for many years to come, everyone!
[Edited at 2012-08-17 14:15 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | The danger... | Aug 17, 2012 |
Christine Andersen wrote:
The Danish ones are often machine translated and useless, possibly even dangerous in the case of kitche appliances.
I once had contact with an electronics importer here in Brazil. They were starting business with - believe it or not - a Chinese manufacturer of [u]good quality[u] electronic products, extremely affordable as usual. Incidentally, decades ago my ex-wife had a stereo made by them, and it was really awesome. They offered warranty, etc. etc. The importer had tech service people specifically trained, everything as it should be done.
Their first transaction involved 60,000 mp3 players, plenty of features, retail price was 1/3 of the competitors'. In the ensuing Xmas season they sold like hot muffins.
As it was the first deal, the manufacturer chose to be nice, and included without asking a printed user manual in Portuguese in each box, however it had been machine-translated.
The importer soon discovered that 2 out of every 3 buyers actually read the instructions. Two-thirds of those units had to be repaired/replaced under warranty. Whoever read and followed to the dot the machine-translated instructions provided... "toasted" the circuit upon their first attempt to use it!
AFAIK that quite promising importer is no longer in the importing (nor apparently any other) business. They had contacted me regarding the translation of the second product they would be importing, which never happened. Months later their former finance manager contacted me from another company, regarding the translation of a completely different thing.
| | | | Mario Chavez (X)
Local time: 12:18
English to Spanish
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| translation quality is a misnomer | Aug 17, 2012 |
A product can be made according to high quality standards because it has measurable traits such as size, shape, product content, etc. If the body of a Gibson guitar is made of pinewood, it would be of poor quality.
Services that have measurable traits are also amenable to quality standards: How long does it take for the technician to diagnose or repair a problem depends on his training and experience. The better trained or expert, the less time it would reasonably take him to solve ... See more A product can be made according to high quality standards because it has measurable traits such as size, shape, product content, etc. If the body of a Gibson guitar is made of pinewood, it would be of poor quality.
Services that have measurable traits are also amenable to quality standards: How long does it take for the technician to diagnose or repair a problem depends on his training and experience. The better trained or expert, the less time it would reasonably take him to solve the problem.
Translation, on the other hand, has no measurable traits. Some people and some companies think otherwise and say that 1,500 - 2,500 words translated a day is a kind of measurement. Well, sometimes a competent translator will translate 3000 or 500 in the same period of time. It's not entirely predictable.
What some call translation quality is a subjective perception. I prefer to use the term "translation excellence." ▲ Collapse
| | | | Allison Wright (X)
Portugal
Local time: 17:18
Julian Holmes wrote:
This reminds me of a similar story where a consumer (good old America!) sued a Japanese manufacturer (?) of microwaves for not stating in their user's manual that microwaving live animals was dangerous. Apparently, Fluffy or whatever was in one when he/she pressed the start button. Poor Fluffy!
This explains why the English (but not the Italian) version of a manual for an Italian-made dry cleaning machine I had to operate once stated, "No animals should be placed in the drum" with an arrow pointing to the drum on the diagram. Children, presumably, could be.
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Manuela R wrote: Some customers perceive the quality differently depending on time: When choosing a translator according to the tariff: not important at all. When they pay: curiously quality is crucial.  Manuela
That's a good point! So true.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 18:18
Spanish to English
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Ty Kendall wrote:
....until you actually need to read the instruction manual (or whatever it is) and then all of sudden it becomes rather important.
We all buy products based on the basis of the products themselves but why should the quality stop there? Badly translated small print just tells me that this is a company that cuts corners where they think:
a) it won't be noticed much
b) it doesn't matter
neither of which instills much confidence in me of their quality assurance procedures...and also makes me question what other corners were cut in the production of the product itself.
This is more or less what I was trying to say, but expressed more succintly
| | | | Yaotl Altan
Mexico
Local time: 10:18
Member (2006)
English to Spanish
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| Very important | Aug 17, 2012 |
A wrong translation could mean that we have bought a bad product.
| | | | Anthony Baldwin
United States
Local time: 12:18
Portuguese to English
+ ...
sometimes when they have really bad translations, it can be very amusing.
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