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Lost in translation

Posted on 24 Oct 2005 at 16:05

Paul Ockenden looks at multilingual requirements for global websites, while Mark Newton continues his server move to Canary Wharf

If one more person tells us that 'the language of the Internet is English', we'll scream very loudly. Sure, English once was the lingua franca of the Net - hardly surprising given that HTML and the World Wide Web were invented and developed in English-speaking parts of the world - but that was many years ago and nowadays the Web has grown up and moved on considerably. You'll now find swathes of content written in Spanish, Japanese, French, Chinese, Portuguese, Korean and many more languages. And why? Because web users are no longer exclusively English speaking and respond best to content in their own native language. In fact, in many cases they may only understand content in their mother tongue. So if your website is selling products or services to a global audience, it's no longer appropriate to assume that just because they have access to the Net they'll be able to understand English. That simply isn't true.

Nowadays, to claim that English is the language of the Net is at best slightly crass, reminiscent of that Little Englander mentality that makes some Brits a bit of a global laughing stock - it's the online equivalent of speaking slowly and loudly so that Johnny Foreigner can understand you. When it comes to website development, it usually implies laziness or perhaps is an indication of someone looking to save time and budget. But if your site is global, language becomes an issue that needs to be addressed rather than swept under the carpet.

The problem, as always, is the dent it will make in your production budget. Although there are specialist website translation agencies out there, many of them charge almost as much again as the site cost to create. Our clients often ask about using translation software, which they see as a cheaper option, but in reality that isn't an option at all. We've all seen those instruction manuals that come with cheap far-eastern electronic goods, and they're never 100 per cent comprehensible.

If your client needs further proof that machine translation isn't viable for an important website, simply point a browser at either http://babelfish.altavista.com or www.google.com, the online translation tools provided by the two leading search engines. Both seem to use similar translation engines: Alta Vista's system is credited to Systran, generally thought to be one of the better translation software vendors, and, although Google doesn't let on what powers its system, it produces such similar results that we suspect Systran is working behind the scenes there too. Type in the text 'When translating websites, automated tools are not an option. It is important to use native speakers,' and translate it into Italian, then copy the Italian version back into the translation tool and convert it back to English. You'll end up with something like 'In the translate the websites, the tools automate to you are not an option. It is important to use the aborigines.'

What should they do then? Well, we're lucky that the UK is a magnet for people of all nationalities, and London in particular is crammed with language schools and people who speak more than one language. Many of these people are keen to pick up some extra cash to support their studies - it's no coincidence that most of the world's DVD subtitling is done by companies based in and around Soho. But London is far from unique, and many other towns and cities have language schools. Just look in your Yellow Pages, knock on a few doors and you'll find people willing and able to help with your website localisation for a fraction of the cost professional translation agencies would charge.