High quality and accurate Swedish translation of your site may be amongst the most vital measures to take in the overall improvement of conversion rates if you are aiming for customers in Sweden.

Some companies just cannot afford cheap translation. The long-term costs of lackluster translations often exceed the peanuts saved in the short term. It is just too risky. This is especially true in industries where lives are at stake. Let’s go through the real costs of bad English to Swedish translation!

Common Translation Failures

A handful of the largest organizations compromised their quality and learned a good deal about why they tried saving money on translations and received cheap translation services, and ended up getting what they paid for—poor quality.

Especially with documents like legal or medical texts or how-to manuals, having professional translation services which take language, as well as culture and dialect into consideration is imperative.

Creative translation can also be tricky, as direct translations aren’t as logical as they seem, especially when it comes to marketing. Some big-name translation failures include:

• The Chevrolet Nova didn’t appeal to Hispanic markets because “No va” means “It Doesn’t Go.”
• Coors failed to attract Spanish-speaking audiences with their direct translation of the “Turn It Loose” tagline, which roughly means “Suffer from Diarrhea” in Spanish.
• Pepsi’s iconic “brings you back to life” slogan didn’t go over well with Chinese audiences, who took the phrase to mean “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead.”

The Incalculable Costs of Cheap Translation

There’s no telling what kind of profit losses these translations caused their companies, but one thing is certain:

Cheap translation is bad for business. Translation errors have killed people, crippled patients, and destroyed multi-million-dollar pieces of machinery.

Here are some negative consequences of getting it wrong:

Getting Slapped with a Lawsuit is Not Fun.

It is inconvenient and not something on the top of a company’s Christmas list. But, they’re usually preferable to customer death or destroying priceless equipment. Here are four tragedies that resulted from erroneous translations:

The Destruction of The Mars Orbiter.

Not all translations are linguistic. There is sometimes some math involved. A translator’s failure to properly convert English measurements to the metric system resulted in a catastrophic failure that sent the 125-million-dollar satellite careening off course. The planet’s harsh atmosphere tore the brand-new satellite to pieces. Not really a “cheap translation.”

Radiation Poisoning at a French Hospital.

In what was likely an attempt to save money, a US manufacturer of radiation machines did not offer dosage information in French. Administrative staff at the French hospital relied on bilingual coworkers to translate the English information. This lead to four deaths and dozens of cases of severe radiation poisoning.

Serial Knee Implant Failures at a German Hospital.

A US maker of knee prosthesis made two different models for their German customers. Though the company offered instructions in German, the product’s outer packaging was only available in English. After asking a coworker to translate the packaging, these prosthetics were incorrectly marked as non-cemented. This labeling error led to 47 failed surgeries and millions in compensation claims.

The Dropping of the Hiroshima Bomb.

Japanese is a complex language. Many words have multiple meanings and the correct one often depends upon surrounding content. After the US and allies demanded the unconditional surrender of Japan, they made it clear that any “any negative answer from Japan would invite “prompt and utter destruction.” When journalists pressed Japan’s Prime Minister for comment, he said that he was currently withholding comment. The government had yet to reach a final decision and he was unable to relay anything substantial. But, international news agencies mistakenly quoted him as saying that the ultimatum was ‘not worthy of comment.’

How Much Should English to Swedish Translation Cost?

No company is immune from translation failures. But investing in proper English to Swedish translation services can give you the best chance of attracting your target market and avoid becoming an example of the cost of poor translation.

Though the definition of translation is straightforward, businesses are often surprised to find that not all translation services and options are created equal. Cheap services like those offered by freelance translators can offer lower price points on English to Swedish translation, but again, quality issues are called into play. The translations may be linguistically accurate, but they may fail to incorporate other elements that can add impact to your message.

Why Choose a Professional Translator

As you can see, translation errors are so much more than something to snicker at on your lunchbreak. Cheap translations are sometimes the quickest way to sign someone’s death warrant. These cautionary tales should remind you of the dangers of subpar and machine-based translation. If your product can change someone’s life, it is vital to hire a reliable translator.

Utilizing a professional translator with expertise in your business may result in more than an improved document and a more complete understanding, it may result in bigger return on your investment. Utilizing something less may result in mistakes, errors, and misunderstandings which might cost you lost business or a client.

Check also:

• How Much Does a Swedish Translation Cost? Pricing Swedish Translations
• The Real Costs of Using Employees as Translators
• Swedish Translation vs. Transcreation: Which Is Right for You? 
• When to Choose Machine Translation vs. a Professional Translation
• Effective Budgeting for Your Technical Translation Project