What makes a good museum translation great

A museum client shared a report yesterday on the huge number of American tourists visiting Switzerland this year. 

You can thank translation for that! From attracting tourists who don’t speak the language to making sure they get to experience the sites, monuments and art once they arrive.

But here’s what you can thank a 💥 great 💥 translation for:

1. Making visitors feel important rather than an afterthought Sadly, a bad translation can leave a longer-lasting impression than a good one. If you're providing a translation, make sure it's something visitors want to shout about for the right reasons. Hire a professional to make sure it reads naturally and avoid silly mistakes (like the use of 'lips' instead of 'leaps' as I once saw...).
   

2. Helping visitors experience every bit of your culture Every culture is unique. When you're in it, you might not realise just HOW unique. Clients have sometimes been surprised when I've explained that certain words or concepts don't exist in English... So, you might have to help your international visitors out a bit. Explain what goes into that local dish with its own special name, give more of a description of a well-known Alpine creature. Ya get me.
   

3. Appealing to many different groups English speakers often the lucky ones. But many cultural sites have to make a choice and prioritise the languages they translate their content into and what variant they’re going to use. I know a lot of my museum translations will be read by non-Brits and even non-native English speakers so I keep the language as neutral as possible. I especially avoid particularly scone-and-tea-coded idioms.

If you're looking for a museum translation that will keep your visitors (American or otherwise) coming back for more - get in touch!