Do you have an unusual name?

I don’t. Not now at least. My name is Amy. Quite common here on the rock, but in the 80s, when I was still living in cold, grey Belgium, my name was considered quite unusual. Throughout primary and secondary school it was butchered into a series of horrible-sounding variants, both in spoken and written language. In Italy my friends found it virtually impossible to write and pronounce my name, so over there I’m still known as Emi. I even have a Facebook friend who writes to me using Emi. Does she realise my actual name is right there, above her message? At university – I went to a business school that attracted quite a few foreign students – things got a little better, but my name wasn’t spelled and pronounced 100% correctly until I moved to the rock. Amen.

When I translate texts I ALWAYS check and double-check names. To me the source text is not a holy-grail document that shouldn’t be altered. If there’s a mistake in it, I’ll correct it and let the client know. Isn’t that only logical? Unfortunately I’ve come to realise that’s not standard practice. In my six years as a proofreader I’ve rarely come across a text in which errors were corrected. I’ve worked with some of the best translators on the market, who can produce top-notch translations at the speed of light, but even they refuse to make that small effort and google proper names.

It’s a touchy subject for me, probably because it defined my childhood. I’ve always been so incredibly proud of my name. I love the fact that it’s international, short and sweet. It means “the beloved” – can it get any better than that? When I translate or proofread a text I always keep in mind that I would be horrified to see my name misspelled in an article or on a website. It would hurt my pride. It would strip me of my identity.

Next time you’re writing, translating or correcting a text please, please, please think of little Emi and put a smile back on her face!

The importance of language in marketing

I’m not a product development manager. I’m not a graphic designer. And I’m certainly not a marketing guru. Yet somehow my activities are very closely linked to theirs. As a translator, proofreader and copywriter, you’re behind the scenes, trying to make their work even better, trying to adapt it to the desired target audience. You feel responsible for launching their products and services, for turning their efforts into a great success.

Unfortunately sometimes things go wrong. Texts are not proofread by reputable translation agencies trying to cut costs. Marketing managers rewrite, rephrase and mutilate the copywriter’s texts without having them checked again. Graphic designers and printers don’t spellcheck ads to save time and money, or for fear of being criticised by their clients.

Companies big and small seem to think it’s more important to invest in form rather than in content. They couldn’t be more wrong. Imagine this scenario: you sell expensive crystal vases. Your aim is to position your business in the top-of-the-range end of the market. You write a 50-word ad yourself, because you refuse to fork out 50 euros for a copywriter to do it for you. But you do hire a professional photographer to shoot stunning photos of your vases. At a cost of a few hundred euros. The result: your ad looks exactly the way you wanted it to look – it exudes the air of luxury and elegance that you were after – but upon closer inspection there’s something not quite right about the actual text. A spelling error. Was it worth saving those 50 euros?

Not everyone will notice, that’s true. And not everyone will care. Maybe you’re not too bothered yourself. However, don’t forget that many – if not most – consumers will rely on your marketing material to forge an opinion on your business. Their (I mean our) reasoning: if they can’t even be bothered to proofread their own ads, what should I expect from their customer service?

In marketing the importance of language is often overlooked. Yet it’s one of the most fundamental aspects of this type of communication. Language bridges the gap between a business and its customers. It illustrates the company’s ability to convey its know-how. By language I mean spelling, grammar, syntax, punctuation, the whole lot. No need for nitpicking, but blatant errors should be avoided at all costs. And that’s where we come in!

Have fun trying to figure out what went wrong below!

A combination of English and German?

Buy a tool... and get a free motoring school? That's what I call a good deal! But there's more...

Kicked off the weekend with a bang… literally!

My hectic week came to an end yesterday, so hubby-to-be and I went out with some friends. The boys played football, the girls drank wine and gossiped. And while we were giggling and comparing wedding dress ideas, a leather football flew straight at my right eye and knocked my contact lens out. What a way to start the weekend!

I don’t really believe in the law of attraction; it’s pseudoscientific nonsense. Yet work-wise when one thing goes wrong, everything that follows also goes down the drain. Even at home (oh wait, I’m always home). You get irritated and frustrated. You’re angry with the world. Your negative mindset follows you wherever you go.

This week I got some feedback about a translation that didn’t turn out to be as good as I thought it would be. Being a proofreader myself, I know that at times, a translator can have a completely different approach to a text than the proofreader. Styles differ. So does vocabulary. And then there are those – hopefully rare – occasions when you’ve simply messed up – maybe the text was too difficult, maybe you weren’t familiar with the subject or the deadline was too tight. Shit happens, as they say. I’m not sure whether that’s what happened in my case (I’d like to believe it was all a matter of stylistic differences), but it did knock me down for the rest of the week, resulting in low productivity and self-loathing. And just as I was about to pick myself up, I was literally knocked down by a chubby kid and his first attempts at playing football.

I’m going to use my semi-puffy eye as an excuse to get pampered this weekend. Hopefully next week I’ll be back on track!

LOL & ROFL – WTF?

I’m old. I’m 27 going on 28, and I feel old. Especially in conversation. I can’t keep up with the way (the English) language is evolving. I live in Malta, where English is an official language. I was raised speaking English and Italian at home, and Dutch at school. I can get by with my basic Maltese. Language is supposed to be easy for me – it’s my passion, it’s what (I think) I’m good at. So why on earth do I find myself questioning my skills over and over again?

I’m a translator, proofreader and copywriter. Needless to say, I know that language is dynamic. I’m an advocate of progressive vocabulary. I welcome new words and expressions. And yet I can’t keep up with the way teenagers and twenty-somethings speak. Not only that, I also find it utterly ridiculous.

Apparently when something is funny, you no longer laugh or smile. Nowadays, you say LOL. Come on, LOL?! And something extremely funny has now earned its very own abbreviation: ROFL. When I first heard it, I had to google it (yes – Google has become a verb, are you supposed to capitalise it when it’s used as a verb?).

I can understand you might want to use abbreviations while chatting, in writing I mean – I’m not a fan, but I do see the logic behind it: a fast-paced life calls for quick and easy communication methods. Capital letters have been banned. Punctuation is a thing of the past. But why, oh why can’t we take the time to pronounce words in full? And what happened to the good old smile or laugh? Isn’t that enough to show appreciation for a humorous remark? Do we need to add foolish internet slang to our spoken interactions?

Naturally, when you work from your sofa/bed/kitchen stool, your circle of friends and acquaintances is more limited than that of say, a marketing manager who attends networking events. The scope of your spoken communication is also more focused – you speak only when and if necessary, and it’s mostly about work. Could that be the reason why I’m not on trend? Or is it really an age thing? I’m starting to doubt myself…