Targeted and successful translation
Within Zurich's city administration, some information is not always understood by all sections of the population. When does a translation make sense? Here you will find important questions and answers on this topic. More detailed information can be found in the PDF document below (Working Materials 3)
Additional offer for easy-to-understand information in German
Basically, it makes sense to reach as many people as possible with easy-to-understand information in German. In addition, it is also worthwhile to check a possible translation. How much and what should be translated can be decided differently depending on the initial situation. Careful consideration of the pros and cons of translation helps in the decision-making process.
All residents understand the information
In the interests of equal opportunities, everyone has the right to comprehensible information.
In the interest of the administration
Comprehensible information guarantees smooth communication and results in fewer queries.
Particularly important for newcomers
There is information that cannot wait until all target groups understand German sufficiently, e.g. how to dispose of waste or how to rewrite the driver's license.
Acknowledgment
By providing information in several languages, the foreign-speaking population receives recognition from the administration.
Loss of content
Every translation is accompanied by a loss of content. Certain expressions can lead to misunderstandings when translated
Expensive and time-consuming
Translations are time-consuming and expensive. Once translated, texts must be adapted in the event of updates.
False expectations
People from the target audience may respond in their own language because they think it will be understood by the recipients.
Motivation to learn German
Translations can lead to discussions as to whether this inhibits the motivation of the foreign-language target audience to learn German.
Advantage
With programs such as DeepL or Google Translate, you can transfer texts into another language in no time, either free or cheap, depending on your subscription. Machine translations have proven to be particularly effective in understanding emails or other information.
Disadvantage
One risk is the lack of accuracy, especially for less widely used languages. If texts are leaked to the outside world, the reputation of the company or the administration is affected. In these cases, it is worth adding an appropriate and clarifying addition (translated using x). Emotions and linguistic peculiarities can be better adapted by human translators. Even when it comes to very technical terminologies, machine translation software is still reaching its limits.
By frequency
The choice of target languages can be made according to various criteria. For example, you decide on the five or ten most spoken languages.
English as a bridging language
As more and more people understand English, English is a bridge language to reach a large proportion of the multilingual population. However, it must also be taken into account, for example, that this does not apply in particular to the older migration population.
Symbolic meaning
A translation into many different languages also expresses the city's welcoming culture and shows the openness of the service department to all city residents.