AAA Translation - We'll Take You Global

With only 30% of the world speaking English and non-English speaking business opportunities on the rise every day, more and more websites simply MUST be multilingual.

When creating a website in multiple languages, avoid these 7 common mistakes:

1. Don't ignore the language preferences of your target markets. 

It should go without saying but we've seen it ignored too many times before to not mention it here. If you want to attract a market, make sure you are speaking their language. Don't assume that your customers speak your language well enough to skip translating your website into their language(s). If you want them to buy, your website must speak their language. 

2. Don't use machine or automatic translation programs.
The results of using machine or automatic translation programs - rather than real humans who have translation experience and understand the nuances of both languages involved - is often disastrous, embarrassing and/or costly. There are so many examples to choose from. A recent one involves Taco Bell's new website in Japan. It was built using Google Translate, rather than a professional service. The result? Cheesy chips became "low quality chips" and Crunchwrap Supreme became "Supreme Court beef." It made some headlines before it was swiftly taken down.

3. Language translation isn't enough - don't skip other localization work.
Language translation is just one piece of what is called localization. The goal of localization work is to give a product or service the look and feel of having been created for the target market AND the company, eliminating, or at least minimizing, local sensitivities. Regardless of the language used, the online experience must be culturally relevant and correct.

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My Neighbor Next Door is from...Mexico

A new blog feature from AAA Translation, My Neighbor Next Door is from... aims to expand multi-cultural knowledge and break down divides by letting readers get to know immigrants from various countries...one neighbor, friend and/or business colleague at a time.

This month's featured country is Mexico. The country's original name, Mēxihco, is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely the Valley of Mexico, and its people, the Mexica, and surrounding territories which became the future State of Mexico as a division of New Spain prior to independence. After New Spain won independence from Spain, it was decided that the new country would be named after its capital, Mexico City, which was founded in 1524 on top of the ancient Mexica capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan.

Mexico now has one of the world's largest economies and by 2050 is expected to become the world's seventh largest economy (according to PricewaterhouseCoopers) or possibly the fifth largest economy (according to Goldman Sachs).

We recently interviewed the multi-talented Zuilma Gonzalez who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 2001. Zuilma is both a professional accountant AND photographer - www.zuilma.com.

Q. What are the cultural differences between Mexico and the USA?

The key differences I've found are in the areas of traffic laws, food and education (schools).

Q. What brought you to the U.S.?

My husband was offered a job in Fort Worth, Texas.

Q. What is the biggest misconception you encounter when people learn where you are originally from?

I have been very fortunate to have met smart people who don't see stereotypes. The only exception to this is a woman I met once at the gym (our kids played together at the kids' club). She thought she could hire me to teach her daughter Spanish while babysitting for her and pay less than the minimum wage rate. I politely declined :)