Translating personal website - DIY or get someone else to do it?
Thread poster: Joe Jarvis
Joe Jarvis
Joe Jarvis
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:02
French to English
+ ...
Oct 18, 2017

Currently in the slow but steady process of creating a personal professional website and know having versions into both the source languages I work with would be very helpful in addition to my target language (English). Has anyone done this, and did you translate the website yourself to cut costs or take the noble, more professional example of getting someone who translates from your target language into your source language to translate it for you (in part or full)? I obviously feel confident e... See more
Currently in the slow but steady process of creating a personal professional website and know having versions into both the source languages I work with would be very helpful in addition to my target language (English). Has anyone done this, and did you translate the website yourself to cut costs or take the noble, more professional example of getting someone who translates from your target language into your source language to translate it for you (in part or full)? I obviously feel confident enough in my own language skills to write a CV etc, but feel that I would at least want somebody to proofread the texts and that I may as well get other professionals to work on it (it may save some time in any case).
Thanks in advance for your replies.
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Rebecca Hendry
Rebecca Hendry  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:02
Member (2005)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Definitely get someone else to do it Oct 18, 2017

You're selling your language skills, after all, and if a potential customer only understands your source (non-native) language they might be put off by stilted copy in that language. It shouldn't be a vast expense, and would be well worth it.

How can we complain when people translate into non-native languages and then not practise what we preach?


 
Joe Jarvis
Joe Jarvis
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:02
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Oct 18, 2017

Rebecca Hendry wrote:

You're selling your language skills, after all, and if a potential customer only understands your source (non-native) language they might be put off by stilted copy in that language. It shouldn't be a vast expense, and would be well worth it.

How can we complain when people translate into non-native languages and then not practise what we preach?


Thanks Rebecca. That's kinda what I thought.


 
Carlos Alvarez
Carlos Alvarez  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:02
Member (2005)
French to English
+ ...
I agree with Rebecca. Oct 18, 2017

I agree with Rebecca, and if for some reason you can't find anyone, and feel compelled to go down the DIY route, make sure you stress that you only translate into English.

 
Maria S. Loose, LL.M.
Maria S. Loose, LL.M.  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 16:02
German to English
+ ...
Get someone else if targeting direct clients Oct 18, 2017

If you are targeting direct clients in Germany or France you should definitely have it translated or revised by a professional (unless you can write really well in these languages). Clients in these countries would call into doubt your professional skills if they read something that sounds odd to them, because they don't distinguish between translators who only translate into their native language and those who translate both ways. It's different with agencies.

[Edited at 2017-10-18 16:13
... See more
If you are targeting direct clients in Germany or France you should definitely have it translated or revised by a professional (unless you can write really well in these languages). Clients in these countries would call into doubt your professional skills if they read something that sounds odd to them, because they don't distinguish between translators who only translate into their native language and those who translate both ways. It's different with agencies.

[Edited at 2017-10-18 16:13 GMT]
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Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:02
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Translator or proofreader? Oct 18, 2017

I doubt anyone would advise not getting help from a specialist. But who? You could go for a translator to translate the content. Or you could write new content in the source language and get a native-speaker professional to check it.

 
Roni_S
Roni_S  Identity Verified
Slovakia
Local time: 16:02
Slovak to English
Copywriter Oct 18, 2017

I recently made a list of points I wanted to get across and passed this list on to a copywriter/content writer native in my source language, who created authentic, natural sounding content at a reasonable price. In the past I've written content directly in my source language and had it polished by a native grammarian, but my non-nativeness really shines through in my syntax no matter how hard I try to hide it and a 'corrected' text is never as good as one produced from scratch by a native.
... See more
I recently made a list of points I wanted to get across and passed this list on to a copywriter/content writer native in my source language, who created authentic, natural sounding content at a reasonable price. In the past I've written content directly in my source language and had it polished by a native grammarian, but my non-nativeness really shines through in my syntax no matter how hard I try to hide it and a 'corrected' text is never as good as one produced from scratch by a native.

So yes, your instinct is correct and it really is worth it to have it done properly.
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Kristal Fellinger
Kristal Fellinger  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 16:02
German to English
+ ...
Get some outside help Oct 18, 2017

I've been having exactly this same coversation with myself recently, and I'm currently leaning towards getting a German copywriter who can take my ideas and really localize them to be most appropriate for a German target audience. I can easily write convincing copy in English, but the tone probably needs to be a little different for German. And I may need to address different issues for my German clients than I do for English-speaking ones. At any rate, I would recommend that anyone in our posit... See more
I've been having exactly this same coversation with myself recently, and I'm currently leaning towards getting a German copywriter who can take my ideas and really localize them to be most appropriate for a German target audience. I can easily write convincing copy in English, but the tone probably needs to be a little different for German. And I may need to address different issues for my German clients than I do for English-speaking ones. At any rate, I would recommend that anyone in our position get outside help of sone kind, as any errors or non-idiomatic renderings would reflect poorly on you as a language professional. Best of luck in getting everything set up!Collapse


 
Mario Chavez (X)
Mario Chavez (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 11:02
English to Spanish
+ ...
Good advice Oct 18, 2017

Sheila Wilson wrote:

I doubt anyone would advise not getting help from a specialist. But who? You could go for a translator to translate the content. Or you could write new content in the source language and get a native-speaker professional to check it.


If I understood the original posting's intent, there's the desire to have one's website in both languages as a way of marketing one's services. The proof is in the writing.

However, my personal experience tells me that I need to use the language of the clients I want to market my services to. Since 100% of my clients are located in the United States, and knowing that Americans have a monolingual mind (yeah, I know, gross generalization), then my website is published in English.

It depends on the intended audience, of course. Maybe I would take a different tack if I lived in a multilingual society (where there are several official languages, for instance).


 


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Translating personal website - DIY or get someone else to do it?







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