5 Typical Hurdles in Business Translation and Localization

In today’s global market, businesses face the challenge of navigating cultural and language barriers to effectively communicate with their audience. Translation, which involves converting words or text from one language to another, requires deep linguistic skills, cultural knowledge, and precision. But just translating content isn’t enough. Localization is essential. This process tailors the content to a specific market, making it resonate more deeply with local audiences by incorporating familiar currencies, measurements, time formats, and culturally relevant imagery and colors.

Translation is part of localization, but localization goes a step further. It adapts the content to make it feel native to the audience. Understanding the vast number of languages worldwide helps highlight the complexities of localization. There are over 7,000 languages spoken today, with Papua New Guinea alone having more than 800. In China, a country with nearly 1.2 billion native speakers, there are around 200 dialects, though most people speak Mandarin.

As you begin localizing your content for different markets, you’ll encounter various challenges. One major issue is the use of figurative language. While figures of speech like similes, metaphors, and puns can make content more colorful, they can also confuse or mislead your audience if not properly translated. A phrase like “break a leg” could be misinterpreted or even offensive in other languages. Thus, creativity in language needs to be balanced with accuracy.

Ensuring your translator is not only a native speaker but also deeply familiar with the local culture is crucial. This cultural insight helps avoid misunderstandings and ensures the messaging hits the mark.

Sarcasm is another tricky area. Originating from the Greek word “sarkazein,” which means “to tear flesh like a dog,” sarcasm can be especially challenging to translate. Its biting and ironic tone can easily be misinterpreted, risking offense or confusion. If sarcasm is essential to the content, translators need to understand this stylistic choice upfront to find suitable local expressions that convey the intended meaning.

Compound verbs in English, like “fill out,” “stand up,” and “look up,” can also pose problems in translation as their meanings often don’t have direct equivalents in other languages. Similarly, words with multiple meanings — homonyms like “loan,” “suit,” “book,” and “trip” — can confuse translators. Heteronyms, which are spelled the same but pronounced differently and have different meanings, like “lead” and “minute,” add another layer of complexity.

Due to language diversity and cultural influences, not every word has a direct translation. Some words, like the Japanese “boketto,” which describes staring off vacantly into the distance, don’t have an English equivalent. These nuances highlight the importance of a thoughtful and culturally aware approach to localization.