For the past one and a half year, I’ve been doing translations within the igaming industry. This has given me a great insight in and knowledge of the world of igaming, games and sports. However, it has also made me a bit of a nerd, when it comes to finding/seeing translation mistakes, as it can be quite amusing to see other’s mistakes.

Typical mistakes

The typical mistakes that you see in both slots, letters, promotions and on the website are mistakes in stock phrases, words that are used in a wrong context, word division and wrong sentences order. These mistakes often occur, because the sender uses non-native speakers of the target language or persons that do not have good linguistic knowledge of languages to translate the text.

I some cases it might also be machine translations – which I’d only recommend you use, in case you find yourself facing some text that are written in a language foreign to you and you need to get a quick overview of the content. Don’t use it as a cheap solution to get your text or homepage translated for professional purposes.

Image is everything

When communication to your target audience always remember, that the small details counts towards the big picture. It’s not always good enough to have the latest and most beautiful slots or graphic. When sending e-mails about term & conditions, promotions and offers it’s always good to makes sure that the above mentioned mistakes do not occur (stock phrases, context, word division, sentence order).

Mistakes in the games

The two images attached show examples of word division and words used in wrong content, respectively. The images are examples of translations from English to Danish.

In the first image you see the word “Gevinstoversigt” (Pay table) – here divided ‘Gevinstov-ersigt’, which isn’t correct and makes it harder for the reader to understand – it should have been divided ‘Gevinst-oversigt’. A mistake that could have been avoided, if the slot itself was proofed after the translated terms had been adapted to the Danish version.

The mistake in the second image is the word “Drej” (turn) – it could be argued that the word is actually okay here, seen as the wheels do turn. However, the more common used term in Danish is “Spil” (play) or the adopted English term “Spin”, which are the two I would go for.

I also question the translation “Indsats En” (Bet One) – as this is an unnatural word combination in Danish – instead I’d suggest; “Sats én”.

Written language

When it comes to communicating to the target audience, it is also very important to make sure that the written language is fluent; without wrong stock phrases, spelling mistakes and wrong sentence order. The receiver might perceive this as unprofessional or as a scam. I would most certainly think twice before depositing any money.

Native speakers

If possible, get a native speaker of the target language to translate or at least to proof your text. This way you avoid stupid or embarrassing mistakes, which in some cases can damage your image. See also my post on translations gone wrong.