Month: March 2021

The Translation of Humor and Its Challenges
24/03/2021

The Translation of Humor and Its Challenges

Posted on | by Jacqueline De Marco | 1 Comment on The Translation of Humor and Its Challenges

Whether you want to admit it or not, most of us love a good pun. Puns can be hilarious. In fact, we even frequently use the word “punny” to describe puns that make us chuckle. While this made up word may be hilarious to fluent English speakers, it would leave countless people around the globe scratching their heads, even if it was translated into their native tongue. This not-so-funny issue brings us to the translation of humor and its challenges. 

Why the Translation of Humor Is So Difficult

Humor touches many areas of our lives. From entertainment to advertisements to business relationships. Because movies, products, video games, and educational tools can have a global reach, the translation of humor is often necessary. 

Humor presents a challenge as it is often tied to very niche cultural and linguistic contexts. Some humor is universal, but some is very culturally dependent. This can leave translators with the task of translating humor that is impossible to translate without risking reducing the intended meaning of a joke. 

The Top Challenges

Word play is one of the main challenges that translators face, as many jokes rely on it, yet word play can be lost upon translation into a different language. As mentioned earlier, puns present a particular challenge. Puns use words that sound or are spelt similar, but may have different meanings to humorous effect. For example, the below pun is funny to native English speakers, but would be lost in translation as the word “knights” is being replaced by the word “nights”. In another language, these two words may not have a similar enough spelling or sound to make this joke work. 

Q: Why was King Arthur’s army too tired to fight?

A: It had too many sleepless knights.

There are four types of puns that can cause difficulties in the translation of humor. 

  • Homonymy: identical sounds and spelling
  • Homophony: identical sounds and different spellings
  • Homography: different sounds and identical spelling
  • Paronymy: slightly different spelling and sound


Puns are not the only roadblocks translators may encounter. Allusion, verbal irony,  subtle uses of humor, and cultural references can all fall flat after being translated. Cultural references can cause particular difficulty as pop culture figures, books, movies, or everyday phenomenons may be misunderstood by a foreign audience, making a direct translation not the most advantageous path forward. 

How Translators Overcome These Challenges

For translators tasked with translating humorous text, there are steps they can take to get the job done well and keep the laughs coming. When it comes to jokes that have a cultural divide, a translator may invent jokes that cater to the new target-culture. This can be more effective than simply translating the original joke. Similarly in cases of word play humor, a translator may have to rewrite the wordplay in a way that works in the target language. To successfully translate a joke, it is more important to capture the essence of the original joke than to directly translate it. 

The translation of humor is not a quick and simple task. It can require multiple drafts and countless edits to nail the intended tone and effect of the original jokes. However, it is the role of the translator to bridge differences between cultures and languages. With the proper skill set and work ethic, translators can get their job done and elicit a laugh or two in the process.

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Globalization & Internationalization What Role Does Each Play - Portada
17/03/2021

Blind Résumés: A Lot More Than Meets the Eye

Posted on | by Carolina Arriagada | Leave a Comment on Blind Résumés: A Lot More Than Meets the Eye

As the saying goes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, because the way those parts relate with each other also constitutes the final outcome. The good thing about sayings is that they can be applied to many different situations, and Language Service Providers (LSPs) are no exception. The skilled linguists that participate in a project are not the only factors that can add value throughout the translation workflow. How the elements interact with each other also makes a difference. This includes managing times, human resources, budgets and IT tools, encouraging a culture of teamwork, supplying clients with prompt and accurate solutions, articulating clients’ needs and expectations with the production team. These are only a few of the actions that can contribute to successfully tackling a translation project.

Why résumés are not all

It’s a common practice across the industry to ask for résumés or blind résumés of the professionals that will be part of a project. This way, clients can evaluate the assets and check if they are suitable for the task. Of course, qualifications and experience are a mandatory part of the profile of any translator or editor, according to ISO 17100.

Vendors with a solid background are crucial for quality-driven projects because they bring their experience, expertise and domain mastery to any task. However, sometimes résumés don’t properly reflect that worth. For example, translators may be remarkable linguists, but not that skilled when it comes to preparing an impressive résumé or detailing their vast experience. Because of this and other reasons, the value of the services an LSP offers shouldn’t be measured in terms of résumés only.

In the search of quality

There are other roles within an LSP that bring value to the equation and enhance the potential of their language professionals. For example, project managers schedule deliveries that allow translators to work comfortably while meeting clients’ deadlines. They also assess the need for linguistic resources, such as style guides or termbases, that can be decisive in maintaining consistency within a project. Furthermore, PMs take the best advantage of technology choosing the tools that can automate steps of the process or ensure quality through their features.

But also the contribution of vendor managers is vital because they recruit and evaluate talents. On their end, account managers and business development managers nurture the relationship with clients, whose trust is the headstone of any job. Lastly, language leads attend to linguistic queries and perform quality assurance checks.

So, how to assess value?

It’s true that the managing footprint is less tangible than the written qualifications listed in a résumé. But it doesn’t mean it can’t be tracked. The communication established via emails or meetings, the detail in a project proposal or the information available on an LSP’s website, for instance, can hint at the strengths of the team. With all these considerations in the spotlight, we can see there is more to evaluate than résumés when choosing a translation partner.

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Everything you need to know about Culturalization and why does it matter on a global scale?
09/03/2021

What is Culturalization and Why Does it Matter on a Global Scale?

Posted on | by Carolina Arriagada | Leave a Comment on What is Culturalization and Why Does it Matter on a Global Scale?

While at first glance, it’s easy to mix up the terms localization and culturalization, the latter term plays a different role than localization does in translation projects. Culturalization accounts for the geopolitical and cultural climates of the local markets where the content will be distributed after a translation project takes place. While localization centers around how to tailor content to the target audience by taking current events, local news, and regional dialect differences into account, culturalization goes a step further in order to create content that is culturally appropriate and meaningful to consumers of a specific target market. Let’s look at a few examples that illustrate this concept further. 

Video Games

While culturalization can have a vast impact across any type of creative content project, generally this concept is associated with video games. This is because video games can create richly detailed worlds where there is a representation of culture, history, and religion, as well as the use of symbols, body language, and gestures. All of which are elements that may not translate across multiple cultures. Not to mention, there is room to offend a new target market if culturalization doesn’t step in to adjust for that market’s unique history, current events, and cultural preferences. Across the world, different markets have different perspectives on religion, politics, and current events. If a video game (or any other piece of creative content) doesn’t take these differences into account, then not only does the content risk performing poorly in certain markets, it may be banned. The video game Kakuto Chojin was banned in certain parts of the world because it was found to be offensive. 

Television and Movies

While Hollywood may be the film capital of the world, there are brilliant television and filmmakers from around the world that create content that reaches the far corners of the globe. For a film or television series to thrive in varying target markets, sometimes culturalization may be necessary to avoid offense or to make the same impact contextually. The point of culturalization is to support content, not disrupt it. If possible, adapting the creative vision in a way that will better fit a new market can make an impact. For example, Disney / Pixar’s massively popular film Inside Out has a scene where a father struggles to feed broccoli to his toddler, who is disgusted at the prospect of eating that cruciferous vegetable. In the United States, this scene is relatable and funny, as many American children don’t like broccoli. So what’s the problem? In Japan, children don’t take offense to broccoli. Their scary green culprit is the bell pepper. So to make the scene just as impactful in Japan, animators swapped the broccoli for bell peppers in the version of the film released in Japan. Sometimes a small change during the culturalization process can make all the difference!

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Why Mobile Learning Works Well for E-Learning Courses
03/03/2021

Why Mobile Learning Works Well for E-Learning Courses

Posted on | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment on Why Mobile Learning Works Well for E-Learning Courses

It’s no secret that we live in a society that values convenience and flexibility. We are accustomed to moving quickly, learning to adapt, and making the most of the time we have. This is why mobile learning can provide invaluable opportunities for e-learning courses. This accessible and advantageous platform for e-learning has benefits for both the creators and users that are worth investigating further. 

What is Mobile Learning?

The term mobile learning, also known as m-learning or mLearning, refers to educational content that the user can access on a mobile device like their smartphone or tablet. This may be a blog post, podcast episode, or a full-blown e-learning course.

Mobile learning has so much potential, the convenience and ease of access being one of the main benefits for consumers. There are 3.5 billion smartphone users in the world, which means that mobile learning resonates on a global scale. 

Mobile learning works well in tandem with microlearning. This technique can offer both formal and informal educational training. Where does the micro in microlearning come into play? Microlearning presents smaller blocks of content, which allows the user to quickly and easily access information. This is an ideal format for those utilizing a mobile device. Microlearning can come in the form of a video, social post, email, or any type of content that is quick and digestible and easy to access on a mobile device. 

The Benefits of Mobile Learning

Before diving into the benefits of mobile learning, take a look at some interesting statistics. 72% of mobile users reported increased engagement, 45% of smartphone users completed their courses faster than those who used a computer, and 70% of people felt more motivated to learn when they were able to utilize mobile based learning. 

These numbers are pretty impressive, so let’s break down the benefits of mobile learning further:

  • Convenience: The user can access their e-learning materials anywhere at any time. 
  • Engaging: Creators can personalize content interactions in a way that is motivating and engaging for users. 
  • Collaborative: Users can utilize online communities to communicate with other learners.
  • Digestible: When using microlearning in tandem with mobile learning, the information presented can be digestible and easier to retain.

Why Design Matters

When it comes to mobile learning, proper design is of the utmost importance. When creating e-learning content, it’s key to design the content using a mobile-first approach. It’s no longer enough to make it mobile friendly or mobile responsive. It has to feel like it was always meant to be consumed from a mobile device. A course with faulty buttons or media that doesn’t work properly could have a counterproductive effect. Mobile users who try to consume content that was not designed specifically for mobile devices can get frustrated and may drop the course altogether.

Developing designs that adapt to a variety of device sizes may take more effort upfront, but the rewards will be worth it if you can attract users on a desktop, smartphone, or tablet. Creating content that is compatible for mobile devices will allow the users to access the e-learning content whenever and wherever they please and will give the creator the opportunity to take advantage of gamification techniques and video-based content.Another step worth taking now rather than later is to create content with internationalization best practices in mind. If the course will be later localized into multiple languages, course developers should follow internationalization best practices from the get-go to prevent having to do extensive work later on. Internationalization falls under globalization and can help adapt a product to a new market with ease. Similar to keeping design in mind up front, internationalization should be prioritized early on as well.

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