TECH

Challenges of Translating Asian Languages

Asian languages are important and the same goes for these masses. It is important to take care of these languages, translation, and the Asian culture while translating the content. According to experts around 16% of the world’s total population speaks one or other Asian languages.

The set of languages that this post includes has Farsi, Arabic, and Hindi translation services. This tells how there are high chances of including the learning projects and localization of Asian language too. 

When it comes to the translation of the Asian language, it is important to take note that there are some particular challenges that translators have to face while translating the content.

Also, it is important for professional Hindi translation services, that translators understand the challenges that come with the translation of Asian languages.

Asian Language Families 

The major Asian language families are

  • Austroasiatic
  • Austronesian
  • Caucasian
  • Dravidian
  • Indo European
  • Afroasiatic
  • Turkic
  • Sino-Tibetan
  • Kra-Di

Major languages include

  • Chinese
  • Japanese
  • Russian
  • Turkish
  • Thai
  • Korean
  • Arabic
  • Bengali
  • Farsi
  • Hindi

Challenges of Translating Asian Languages

Font Usage

When it comes to Hindi, Farsi, and Arabic translation services, a lot of things get changed. The font is one of these. All three languages have different fonts. In Farsi and Arabic, many fonts are similar though.

Hence, the translators have to consider the fonts that they are using and how to handle these. This particularly becomes tough when it comes to the font of Farsi and Arabic as these languages are written from left to right, unlike other European languages. It also gets crucial due to Asian language projects as the character sets and fonts are somehow different from English.

Cultural Differences

Asian culture is a whole different topic. It is mainly different from the western countries. So, Asian languages have different cultural nuances which are particular to each of these. It also tells that the formality level that is used in the content or pronouncing of a particular word is totally different compared to communication patterns in English.

 It leaves a direct impact on the project’s voice recording. Translators or translation agencies should ideally check with their clients about the right pronunciation or any particular one while delivering professional Arabic translation services. They should also further check for accurate titles, salutations, and greetings beforehand.

Grammatical Errors

As Asian languages have different fonts, word order, and sentence structure, and above all different language families, these are also different when it comes to grammar as compared to that of English and other European languages. 

These have different genders, syntax, and implementation of verbs and adjectives. Therefore, the right way to proceed with these is to have a native translator on board who can deliver the right translation services and can ace these without any problem.

Visuals and their recreation

When it comes to recreating a particular image for a particular language, many times a lot of images are presented with content on them. The same visuals and presentations go for the Hindi, Arabic, and Farsi translation services too. The translation of the original content into the target language is the real achievement too when the target language is some Asian language that is written from right to left.

 In such cases translators are always advised to not modify the original content and language too as creating this could spark legal repercussions too unless it is really important and significant. 

If it is really evident then writing the content in a preferred language such as Farsi and writing it as a caption or next to an image separately can serve the purpose. This is particularly important to mention to the translators who take up the translation of Asian languages and offer professional Farsi translation services.

Terminology and Glossary

Like other differences, the glossary, terms, and nuances of these languages are also different. The businesses need to ensure that the glossary development is part of the translation services.

 It is a mandatory part of the translation services as without being well versed in the glossary or other important idioms and phrases, the translator cannot translate or replace the content with the right and appropriate words and hence may fail to deliver what is required. 

Considering and taking care of terminology is particularly important to deliver consistent translation and to update it conveniently.

As the Asian languages have a lot of diversity, Asian languages and their translation come up with a lot of challenges.

CAT Tools

Asian languages also do not much get along with computer-assisted tools. Whereas the European languages are totally different in terms of fonts, writing and sentence structure and the way these are incorporated in the computer-assisted translation system and software. 

Moreover, a few of these are written from right to left which also gets problematic at times. However, experts are working on it a lot of these are integrated and the rest are being worked on to have good help from the translation services.

Final words

Asian languages include a lot of important language families and other important languages of the region. Chinese, for instance, is one of the world’s most widely spoken languages and it has its speakers in billions. Translators experience a lot of challenges during the translation of Asian languages and computer software also lacks on getting good integration with Asian languages.

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