Translating differences

In England, you might say I am “sick as a parrot”, whereas in Italy “star male da cani” literally means to be as sick as a dog. If you take off your shoes when arriving at the door of a dinner party in Rome the hostess might find you uncivilized, but fail to remove your shoes before entering a home in Asia Hawaii, or the Pacific Islands and you’ll be considered disrespectful. And do you know that when somebody wishes you "good luck" in Poland (Powodzenia) you have to reply "no, thank you"(nie dziękuję), while saying 'thank you' would bring bad luck?

The list of cultural differences is endless, and surely the message is clear: translation isn’t simply about changing one with the equivalent word in another language, it’s about making your translations suitable for your market.

When you go global, you have to expect people to talk and do business with you in their culture, using their customs, and these customs may be very different from the ones you apply on your country. And remember: if you don’t get culturally prepared, it’s most likely your competitors will: get ahead of the competition by breaking down language barriers in exports!