Why Bad Translation Isn't Always the Translator's Fault

Introduction

In the field of translation, rendering text from one language into another is more than just replacing words. A truly effective translation captures the style, flow, tone, and intent of the original material as a whole. By contrast, even the most advanced software is prone to errors because machines follow a fixed set of codes and rules. Human translation, when done well, tends to deliver higher quality and fewer errors. But does that mean clients are always satisfied with the results from human translators? Consider the following scenario.

A Shopify store owner who wants to grow his audience decides to hire a professional translator to translate his blog. He wants to add one or more new languages and expects a better result than machine translation would provide. The translator works diligently and puts in genuine effort. Despite this, the store owner is disappointed with the output. He hires a second translator, only to find similar errors appearing again.

Have you ever been in a similar situation? If so, this article is for you.

What Is a Bad Translation?

A bad translation is any translation that fails to accurately represent part or all of the source text in the target language in the way it was intended. This can result in mistranslation or in ideas and messages being conveyed incorrectly. Interestingly, a translation can contain no technical errors and still be a bad one if it misses the tone, intent, or cultural context of the original. A bad translation of your products and services will reflect poorly on your business and ultimately cost you customers.

Simply replacing one human translator with another does not guarantee a better outcome if the underlying issues are not addressed. That is where the following three elements come in.

In this article, you will learn about three essential elements that, when carefully applied, will help prevent your translations from falling short.

Brief Your Translator on Your Business

Asking a builder to construct your home without providing architectural plans or a clear brief would lead to disaster. The same principle applies to translation. Expecting a translator to produce an accurate, brand-aligned output without giving them sufficient context about your business is setting both parties up for failure.

You should provide your translator with information about your unique selling propositions (USPs), your business model, your objectives, your target audience, and any other factors that are central to your brand. A human translator is like a skilled professional with the right tools who still needs a clear brief to deliver the right result. Withholding key information about your business will do more harm than good.

Human translators perform significantly better when they are given all the details they need upfront. The next time you hire a translator, do not hold back important context, no matter how minor it may seem. The quality of the final output depends directly on how well the translator understands your core objectives and brand vision.

Provide Clear Cultural Guidelines

A professional translator should be fluent in both the source and target languages. However, fluency alone does not guarantee familiarity with the structural, cultural, and environmental nuances that influence how each language is actually used. When these nuances are missed, local readers of the translated material may find the output jarring or, in some cases, offensive. Inaccurately translating or representing certain terms can become a contentious issue, particularly among audiences from different cultural backgrounds.

A clear example of this is the difference between American English and British English. In the United States, “vacation” and “apartment” are standard terms, while in the United Kingdom, the equivalents are “holiday” and “flat.” If your target audience is British, your translator needs to know this, even if both terms are technically correct in standard English. Word equivalents in a target language may not always carry the exact same meaning, convey the right intent, or produce the desired impact for your specific audience.

Always provide your translator with upfront guidelines that account for the cultural and, where relevant, religious sensitivities of your audience. This enables them to make informed decisions throughout the translation process and deliver an output that truly resonates with the people you are trying to reach.

Clarify Whether You Need a Literal or Contextual Translation

A word-for-word translation, also known as a literal translation, renders text from the source language into the target language without accounting for the intended meaning of the original. The image below illustrates this with a simple example: the English phrase “How are you,” when translated word for word into French, does not produce the natural French equivalent Comment ça va.

Literal translation is not always the best approach, particularly when dealing with idioms, colloquial expressions, or conversational content. Translating an idiom word for word can reproduce the individual words while losing the meaning entirely. That said, literal translation is often recommended for technical materials, academic papers, scientific documents, and legal texts, where strict adherence to the source text is required and no deviation is acceptable.

This is not the case for blogs, web pages, and other marketing content. In these contexts, the best approach is usually to convey the meaning and tone in a natural, conversational way rather than adhering rigidly to the original phrasing. ConveyThis delivers high-quality automated translation with the added option of professional human review for exactly this kind of nuanced content.

It is also worth remembering that brand names, trademarks, and taglines are often deeply tied to cultural and social context. The values, traditions, beliefs, and expectations of your target audience all influence how your brand is perceived. Some businesses prefer translations that remain as close to the original text as possible for this reason. If that is your preference, communicate it clearly to your translator at the outset. Without that guidance, the translator may make stylistic choices that do not align with your brand’s voice or intention.

Conclusion

A translator may deliver a poor result not because of a lack of skill but because they were not given the information, context, or direction needed to do the job well. Accurately representing your brand, its tone, its values, and its messaging across languages requires proper briefing, cultural guidance, and clear expectations about translation style.

It is also worth considering whether the translator you hire has experience in your specific industry or sector, as prior knowledge of your business context can have a significant impact on the quality of the output.

Before you fault a translator for a poor result, ask yourself whether you applied the three elements covered in this article. In many cases, a bad translation is not entirely the translator’s fault.