Language Quality: Why Should You Even Care?
CiklopeaNobody likes the grammar police of the internet. Unless somebody is typing an email or any other material with the purpose to truly make an impression, spellcheckers usually annoy people. Nobody likes being corrected for something so banal as language because people tend to view language as nothing more than a communication tool and don’t bother with it as long as it works. Fair enough. So why should you even care about the language quality at all?
Quality is in the eye of the beholder
Just like most things in life, quality is in the eye of the beholder.
You compose and send your corporate message to your partners and clients and the success or failure of your business largely depends on their perception of who you are and what you do, so it is the one external confirmation that you should be really concerned about.
Poor language always brings a whiff of sloppiness and untrustworthiness and this is something that you want to avoid.
Of course, you will build your reputation on the quality and reliability of your products and services, on your dedication to user experience, corporate culture and processes, and language quality isn’t a magic wand that can really help you with any of that.
However, poor language always brings a whiff of sloppiness and untrustworthiness and this is something that you want to avoid. Your attention to details can be easily detected in the quality of language in your materials.
Clarity and correctness of language is nothing more than a reflection of clarity and correctness of thoughts, ideas and processes and this is the impression that you want to make. People may get this consciously or not, but they will get it.
Style is preferential, quality is measurable
According to the Cambridge English dictionary, style is a way of doing something. It is a reflection of one’s individuality and can therefore be good or bad depending on one’s preferences – but it should be noted that stylistic appropriateness in terms of purpose and target audiences of a specific materials can be assessed.
On the other hand, language quality is very measurable thanks to the various assessment processes that we have developed over the years on the basis of our experience and expertise.
The aspects of quality of translated materials such as accuracy, appropriateness and fluency can be assessed and these are the aspects of your corporate message that can and do make an impact on your business performance and that can make your marketing campaigns sink or swim on the global markets.
If you want to learn more about the language quality assessment, we suggest that you check out our white paper:
Click to download Translation Quality Assessment White Paper by Ciklopea
Better safe than sorry
Remember that we said that people don’t bother with language as long as it works?
The entire point of language quality is to keep the things working, because when they don’t, it may be too late.
Unfortunately, people notice translation and language quality in general only when it is bad, so we may say that investment in language services is an investment in preventive measures that help you get and keep your good name on the global markets.