Here in the 21st century, with Europe’s borders open like never before, we have experienced a huge increase in tourism. Travel in Europe is no longer something surprising, and thanks to the popularisation and widespread study of English, it is easy to find your way even in the remotest corners of the world. Poland’s largest cities and cultural centres are also doing their best to make their public spaces and regular events accessible and comprehensible not only to local residents, but also to people from other countries. However, given the nature of communicating in public space, not just for informative purposes but also humorous ones as well, then traditional translation processes may not be sufficient. This is when we need to consider language localisation, an essential element when it comes time to create slogans that promote important international events, such as a Christmas market, designed to bring together visitors and exhibitors from all over the world.
One of our regular clients from the tourism industry works to promote both the city and the region. During the annual Christmas market, they act as a partner for the project and associated special events, as well as acting as a media sponsor to ensure that everything is well received in the public space. Although they contract us for translations all year round for normal documents or website content, the work becomes particularly important in the autumn and winter, as it is critical that the texts prepared for the Christmas market are fully comprehensible for everyone visiting the city, no matter where they are from.
One of their orders concerned the translation of advertising slogans and jokes spoken by interactive puppets who would be entertaining participants at a winter event. Their aim was for the slogans to be written in a flowing, humorous and surprising way. Such an event is intended to evoke special kinds of emotion, and everything presented has to convey an eye-catching and memorable message – understandable not only to local people, but also to visitors from other countries. We know very well how important it is to convey the emotional aspect of a text, to use idioms or metaphors and allusions brilliantly. It takes a combination of a translator and proofreader from the marketing industry to provide the right kind of translation for this kind of text. We understand how important it is to translate your aim to achieve exactly the same emotion and humour, but in another language.
Being aware of the specific nature of the task, we offered complex language localisation that went beyond what is required for standard translation. Thanks to this, they could be sure that the translation would be created in accordance with the cultural requirements specific to the target market audience. The humour found in the Polish texts had to be adapted so that they would succeed with the target audience, as if they were prepared by a native of that language. With this, the event’s organisers could be sure that the entire emotional message present in the Polish texts were appropriately translated and well adapted, ensuring that the entire event would be properly and positively received by all the visitors. We split the work into two key stages – translators who specialise in localisation services, and native speakers for the proofreading stage to verify the appropriateness for the context. It was also very important to ensure that the text did not inadvertently offend religious feelings and values. Once the translation process was complete, we could supply the ready-made and polished texts that fully conveyed the emotion of the original source version, guaranteeing the correct reception of the event by everyone.
Expanding into international markets results in the need to localise your products, including linguistically adapting them to take into account all the legal and cultural aspects and requirements in the target market. Skrivanek boasts a large database of translators and native speakers specialising in the different tasks that are assigned to us. Responding well to your needs, with a flexible and creative approach, all helps to guarantee a successful project, because a demanding translation is a never a simple process, but rather the result of creative work that conveys all the correct intentions. The Christmas market project was a complete success, with amusing and eye-catching slogans and messages in English adorning the entire space of the Christmas market. This experience is yet another proof that Skrivanek copes well with any challenge!
