KEY CONSIDERATION #2:
UNDERSTANDING THE MEDIA CHALLENGES OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE LOCALIZATION
How easily will your client’s English media translate into other languages?
Few media production companies think about this suitability when they produce their client’s English videos. They often do not realize, at the onset of a project, that the media they are about to produce might end up in multiple languages. Even if they do, they rarely consider the complex nature of the localization process.
That’s why I believe... It’s important you have an understanding of what you’re getting and what the best practices are when producing various types foreign language projects.
This key consideration is designed to let you get a sense of what challenges we’re confronted with. That being said...
Let’s dive into WHY this matters.
The list below contains a FEW of the stumbling blocks we’ve seen over the years. We’ll also go over what we’ll need from you in order to produce a great product for your client.
Having just one of these snafus can cause unnecessary problems. Having more than one can trigger an avalanche of cost overruns is, I’m sure something we all would like to avoid.
The good news: If you know this in advance, you can avoid the turbulence for a smoother process and improved outcome.
Top 5 Biggest Derailments:
• Narration speed
• Source content readability, style and consistency
• English humor
• English slang words
• Acronyms
First let’s explore...
1. Narration Speed
Fast paced, English narration is enemy #1 for localization of a video. The common misconception about translating English into another language is that the new language will yield a script that is 20 to 40 percent longer.
While there is some truth to this, a professional translator who has experience with translating specifically for video can employ strategies to make the target language match the length of the English dialogue.
But narrations that are fast can make this more dif cult to accomplish. When you have English dialogue flying by at 180 to 200 words per minute, it’s extremely hard for the translation and therefore the language voice over talent to keep up.
Being able to keep pace in the target language and have it sound natural is critical for a positive “end user” experience.
We’ll address what the best practices are for this in another chapter.
2. Source Content Readability, Style and Consistency
I’m pretty sure you are already aware of this, but I’ve seen time and time again where the English script is not checked very well for style, consistency and readability.
If you want a well-adapted translated script, the original content must be easy to understand. When the language flows correctly in English, the translation will follow. Before you begin the translation, try addressing this so the translator doesn’t have to guess on the concept on the content.
Unclear English = Unclear Translation
3. English Humor
English humor can create serious problems. Why?
In my experience humor is the hardest thing to translate. Projects that have English jokes or funny phrases in them can be impossible to replicate in the target country. The concepts simply do not exist; a translation cannot be done.
When this happens, a decision will need to be made at the time of translation on how to deal with these untranslatable passages.
4. English Slang Terms and Phrases
English slang is in a similar category as humor. It’s very difficult – if not impossible – to translate. Once again addressing this during the translation process will save time and money during the language production process.
5. Acronyms
This is the most common issue we see. Because we live in a world that is loaded with them, it’s an important one. Decide in advance how acronyms are to be used in the new target language.
First identify:
“Will the acronyms in the project translate easily to the new target language(s)?”
This is usually NOT the case.
As we all know, acronyms are made to stand for a series of words. They can sometimes actually be an English word – and that’s where problems can arise.
THE PEPSI CHALLENGE.
The example that comes to mind is a Pepsi project that we produced in seventeen languages. Several acronyms were problematic, but I’ll use this one as an example.
The acronym was GOAL, which stood for:
Get Out And Look
It had to do with truck driver safety. It basically calls for the driver to get out of the cab and look at the back of the trailer to make sure it’s safe to back up.
The first language we produced was Spanish. We were lucky as it was not an issue. But once we went to the other languages it became a complete nightmare. It was impossible to do.
In most languages, the letters had to be switched, which destroyed the acronym. Or they were changed to something else which ruined the branding Pepsi was trying to achieve.
The dominoes started to fall, and the eventual fix was to get rid of the acronyms altogether. The sections with acronyms needed:
• Scripts re-written
• Video re-edited
• Voiceover re-recorded
As you can imagine, all this caused delays and extra cost. If acronyms will be part of the mix, also consider how they will be pronounced:
• Will the “target language” say the acronyms in English?
• Will the narrator pronounce the letters in English?
• Or will the narrator pronounce the letters in the target language?
Finally, Decide if the acronyms are to be converted into the target language.
These are not hard questions to deal with, but very important to know before you start production into multiple languages. If your client’s script has acronyms, decisions will need to be made on how to address them. Better to address beforehand than after the fact.
Aside from these 5, other challenges can come up, but they do not have the same impact as the ones described above.
Key Consideration #2 Take Away:
Successful planning prevents chaos.
At the onset of a project, Try to get a feel for potential issue that could arise and try to address solutions before production begins.
Consider in advance:
√ Recognize the narration speed
√ Check to content readability, style and consistency
√ Recognize if there are a lot quick video cuts
√ Recognize if there is English humor, slang and acronyms
Bottom Line.
Having a sense of potential issues gives you the advantage to address these and have a strategic translation plan in place to avoid them before studio production.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
You can contact me at Info@lrsrecording or call me at: 312-399-7490.
~All the best
Mark Ohlsen
Founder of LRS Recording, LLC
Studio: 312-294-0166
Email: info@lrsrecording.com
Skype: LRSARECORDING
Website: https://www.lrsrecording.com
