Consequences of poor-quality translation

In order to save money, people often use translation services of unexperienced translators: students, ordinary native speakers. A student or graduate of the faculty of foreign languages will perfectly cope with the translation of an artistic style text. But they will not be able to make a correct and accurate medical, technical or legal translation. When you entrust a complex translation, which requires a professional approach, experience and special knowledge, to a student, a graduate of any university of foreign languages, you can face very unpleasant consequences.

What are the consequences of poor-quality translation?

The consequences of poor-quality translation can be more devastating than the financial costs of professional translation services. If we take, for example, the technical text, then its incorrect translation can lead to the loss of the company's image and even to litigation, which will definitely cost many times more than the services of a specialist from a translation agency.

If you still have not changed your mind about using the services of non-professional translators when you need to translate technical, legal and other texts, we recommend you to read the following real story. In 1996, an unpleasant situation occurred with a German factory that was engaged in the manufacture of bread makers. The bread makers of the manufacturer produced health-threatening vapors. Complaints started coming from users. As a result, the Regional Institute of Health and Safety took up this issue. The specialists of the Institute carried out the necessary tests, and as a result it turned out that the operating manual of the bread maker was incorrectly translated from one language to another. For some reason, the manufacturer confused the word "steam" (steam, Dampf) with the word "smoke" (smoke, Rauch). Of course, the error turned out to be fatal, and the manufacturer was forced to pay compensation to all affected users. He was also forced to recall a product that harmed many consumers.