French website translation

Website translation is a necessary stage in the process of tackling new international markets. Website translation is more than just a mere matter of translating a text – the content must also be localized in terms of the language and/or the target country. It is necessary to adapt formats for addresses, time and phone numbers. The design of the website may also be tailored to people’s tastes in the target country.

Website translation does not necessarily involve translating every page of your website. Adapting the Home Page and Contacts can be more than sufficient e.g. a Real Estate website can keep the text describing its buildings in English without much risk of discouraging its French clientele. If your budget is limited, a few well-translated pages will prove more effective than translating the whole site automatically or having it poorly translated.

Nowadays, all sorts of machine website translation systems flood the Internet, varying in their cost and quality, capable of translating your website instantly. These systems are of interest if you wish to decipher some information on a website in a language that you do not understand at all, and to gain an insight into the site content. However, they are not capable of providing high-quality information. The software translates the text sentence by sentence. The final result cannot be understood as a whole and these translations are often full of unintended “amusing” or misfortunate wordplays and grammatical mistakes that harm the company’s image.

Translating your website is a relatively simple process. You must first ensure that the translator works towards his or her mother tongue and has good knowledge of the terms specific to your line of business. Speaking a language “fluently” is not enough to translate a text into that language because subtle mistakes will inevitably appear in the translation making it unacceptable for local consumers. There are, indeed, many differences in terms of languages and ways of life between these markets. Another aspect which must not be overlooked is localizing the website for the target country. A “French” site is not necessarily suitable for Internet users in Switzerland, Belgium or Quebec. There are, indeed, many differences in terms of languages and ways of life between these markets. In Switzerland, for example, anglicisms are viewed with a more favourable eye than in France and a specific Swiss lexicon is essential.