Language is not just a tool for communication. Language shapes how we think. Language creates a conception of the world, leads to understandings between people, helps us reach agreements, and crosses continents. Not only that, language can dictate our worldview and can cause our thinking to change.
Noam Chomsky, an American linguist who identified how people think about language. According to Chomsky, languages are composed of a system of rules and principles that together create a mental representation in people’s minds.
Language rules are a purely mental construct built from the data we see. The rules of grammar, semantics, morphology, and most of the symbols that make up words in that language - these all create an inner representation of the universe
So how do we overcome the gaps between languages? How do we bridge two or more different languages when each has its own unique content, history, concepts, characteristics, locations and geographic measurements, currency, regional centers, and more?
The importance of localization
Localization, in this sense, is unavoidable. To reach new markets, you need to speak the local language, be familiar with the local idioms, approach the relevant audiences in a language they understand and, in fact, operate at a native level.
Any other translation - no matter how marketing-oriented - would defeat the purpose because it would sound labored, unnatural, and unfamiliar to locals. Whether your target audience includes teens, high-tech professionals, or seniors, the use of local expressions and familiarity with the history of the area and its residents and with major events in that country or region, are all essential to effectively conveying your marketing message in translation.
So how do you produce a superior translation?
Effective marketing translation services are offered by translators fluent in both languages, without cutting corners. And if you need translations into more than one language, you need multiple translators, each fluent in their respective languages.
Linguistic fluency not only involves a natural mastery of the structure and grammar. It also means being familiar with and attentive to the slightest nuances in meaning and context as well as correctly and comfortably using idiomatic and local expressions. It requires an in-depth knowledge of the culture as well. These are all essential elements translators use to create marketing translations that are effective and bring results.
