People are still confused between translations and transcreations and hardly know the difference. The majority of business professionals either don’t know about transcreations, or they treat both translations and transcreations the same. It is high time to understand the similarities and differences between both these concepts.
Transcreations are one step above direct translations because they work very differently for your brand. Moreover, the tools and processes you use to do transcreations are also varied. Here we will talk about the major differences between conventional translation and transcreation and how they could influence your brand’s identity in foreign markets.
What Are Professional Translations?
In direct translations, translators simply swap the words from one language to another, considering the original text’s context. Translators typically use translation glossaries to get an idea about the context of any document translation. Brands use professional translations to translate business documents, articles, blogs, etc. Translations for critical content are done by certified translators only, such as translating clinical trials, medical reports, or warnings & side effects of a product. Moreover, document translations can be done by a cloud-based translation management system or through a language service provider platform.
What Is Transcreation?
Transcreation is an advanced form of translation that doesn’t have to be the direct translation of the provided source text. Transcreations consider the cultural aspect of target audiences and convert the source text into other languages considering all psychological, cultural, and emotional nuances in a region. The purpose of transcreation is to translate not just the words but also the meaning and emotions behind any text. In simple words, transcreation is a more creative approach to translation. Unlike direct translators, it is not recommended to use a cloud-based localization management platform; transcreations require high levels of human creativity and emotional intelligence.
3 Key Differences Between Translation and Transcreation
To better understand the key differences between translation and transcreations, you have to know how they work and when you can use them.
Require Different Skill Sets
The difference between a professional translator and a transcreator is very much similar to the difference between a writer and a copywriter. Apparently, both deal with the same stuff, but only when you look deep into their work; it is a huge difference between how they approach and do their work. Transcreation is like copywriters; just because you know two languages and have translation experience can’t make you a good transcreator. You must have a clear context of culture, emotions that a brand message wants to trigger, and a lot of creativity to be a good transcreator. On the flip side, to be a translator, you should have a good understanding of two languages with some industrial experience.
Promotional Vs Literal
The purpose of doing translations and transcreations is also very different. Transcreations are mostly for promotional and marketing purposes. At the same time, the purpose of translations is to make content understandable for foreign audiences. You can do translations for personal reasons, such as translating medical reports or legal documents. You can also do translation for professional reasons, such as brand translation, business financial document translations, etc. Brands use transcreations for promotional content, such as ad copies or website content. People also hire transcreators to convert literature work, such as books and poetry, to another language.
Cultural Vs Linguistic Understandings
To translate a document, firstly, you should be linguistically fluent in both source and target languages. Secondly, the translator should have good experience in the domain and industry. For doing transcreations, one requires the skills mentioned above, as well as a deeper understanding of the culture, social values, and mindsets of target audiences. Transcreations require a high skill set and extensive experience in the field to polish their craft enough to influence people’s behaviors and preferences.
It is the main reason why transcreation charges way more than translators. A transcreator may charge a higher fee to transcreate a three-word slogan than a translator who is translating a 1000 words business document. It is because good transcreation has a direct impact on your product sales and revenue; moreover, you can’t really measure the time required to get transcreation work done.
Conclusion
Translation and transcreations are quite different as far as the purpose and approach are concerned. Reading this article, you will have got a good understanding of both. Using a language service provider platform or a cloud-based localization management platform can help you manage both transcreation and translation tasks; however, as far as transcreations are concerned, you must avoid machine translation tools.
If you are looking for a reliable transcreation or translation management tool, MarsHub is quite a reasonable option available. MarsHub comes with multiple features to support your translation journey by organizing your day-to-day tasks. Using this platform, you can also effectively collaborate with other team members using a single platform.