3 Atypical Places Where Translation is Typically Important
Translating personal communication or legal documents is a fairly common task. There are, however, many fields in which translators are needed that are not as common—and most companies don’t think of those other areas until they’re in desperate need of one. These three fields are not often thought of as significant in translation, but they are becoming more important than ever.
1) Food Products
For those who love to bake and cook, but have very little time to sit down and create a masterpiece from scratch, boxed mixes are a timesaver. From cakes to pizza kits, mixes can be found that require little more than tossing in a few additional ingredients to produce a delightful dessert or a main dish. When instructions are hard to read, however, all cakes and dinners can become troublesome. From unknown measurements to unknown steps to follow, food translation suddenly becomes an important need. And in a time when food allergies can cause life-threatening consequences, proper translation can literally help save a life.
2) Cosmetic Products
The [cosmetic] industry’s marketing strategies are hence heavily dependent on multicultural communication and translation is an inherent part of the process.
Ask anyone who has ever run out of makeup or face cream while on vacation: finding the exact replacement brand is imperative. If the exact brand is not available, substitutions can work as long as the ingredients are similar. Not being able to read the ingredients list can put a damper on finding the right substitution. Some people can have allergies to different chemicals and additives, but if those ingredients are listed in another language, it can lead to confusion and disaster. Sales are also a major factor in the need for translation, as many cosmetic companies have gone global. As Agnes Meilhac puts it, “the [cosmetic] industry’s marketing strategies are hence heavily dependent on multicultural communication and translation is an inherent part of the process.”
3) Construction & Contracting
The world has gotten a lot bigger and construction companies go beyond the local businesses to join with contractors around the world (think about Habitat for Humanity). Without the ability to translate construction documents across borders, from blueprints to legal contracts, the work can get very far behind schedule. According to Optima, “Outsourcing roles is a very common part of the construction industry, so there’s every possibility that hired experts in one country won’t speak the local language of the location they travel to work in.” Safety manuals are hugely important in construction and “having the information translated in both English and Spanish is also important if the contractor truly intends for the program to be understood by all employees in today’s diversified workforce.” (Jim Emmons).
If you have a business for which translation is an important part of who you are, what you do and where you want to go, contact ITC Translations to get you there. The industries we specialize in range from Agri-Food to Tourism and everything in-between for anything a business needs. Let one of our specialist translators take your business to the right place, no matter where in the world that place may be.
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