translations

Igaming language

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.


 Fruity Friends_orddelingIn 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.

Drej vs spil

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.

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Free translations?!

Don’t deny it, at least once you have visited a free translation tool such as Google translate or Bing (see also my post on translation tools). Even as a professional translator I’ve been there – I often find myself using Google Translate, when I have to figure out what a certain word is called in Greek or what a Greek word means.

However, when it comes to creating a good image or website in multiple languages, then you have to think twice, before using a free translation tool to translate the context.

Good or bad Language?language

First of all, if you want to look professional, then don’t have pages with bad language. By bad language I refer to incorrect use of words, sentences that don’t make sense to a native and language that obviously has been translated directly or by a machine.

How often have you come across a homepage or email, where the language was so bad, that you immediately lost all trust in the sender, because it seemed unprofessional or untrustworthy?

Yes, we all make mistakes, you’ll most certainly also find minor mistakes on my homepage, but there is a difference in how the mistakes come across. If it’s just a few typing errors or general bad language. Even in the newspapers you can find typing errors. Some people even make a sport of finding errors in papers.

A good image might cost a littleimage

Secondly, if you don’t posses the language skills yourself, get a professional/native to do it or at least proofread it. It might cost a little to get a job well done, but in the end your image will benefit.

Just have a look at my post on translations gone wrong, I sure hope these mistakes haven’t been made by professional translators! A good translator isn’t one that only knows the language in which they translate between, but also the culture, habits etc.

Not just a spoken/written language

Thirdly, all professional translators have to go through a wide range of topics in order to earn their degree. It’s not just enough to know the language as such, as already mentioned above. Just to name a few topics; politics, culture, economy (both inland and for companies), law, knowledge of businesses and what is included herein.

By choosing a professional translator you therefore get a person, who possesses a wide range of knowledge and who knows, how to acquire the right information/knowledge in order to secure high quality. Many translators specialize within certain topics, either by choice or interest.

That being said, you might also come across some good autodidact translators, who either work within the field of the sought expertise or have a great interest in the subject.

The BIG picturebig picture

Finally, always think about the picture you want to send the receiver. Do you want to compromise quality and get a quick solution that might end up cost a lot more than expected?