Thursday, November 18th, 2010

Yet again we are seeing examples of why it is so important to choose quality over value when choosing translation services. In the news this time a Prison in the UK made a major mistranslation in an information pamphlet for Russian inmates, instead of ‘Exercise Yard’ it had been translated as ‘Execution Yard‘. Luckily this error was picked up in the draft stage of the document, but still highlights the fact that quality control is crucial during translation projects, no matter how big or small.

The chief inspector of the prison commented that: “You could treat it as a bit of a joke unless you were that prisoner and you didn’t understand how the British prison service worked and came from a country that still had execution yards. It wouldn’t be a funny thing for him.”

Of course he is right in the fact that some countries may still have execution yards, and even the smallest of errors can mean an entirely different thing to the reader. This highlights how important choosing a high quality translation service with experience in the relevant industry is over choosing the lowest cost, because nine times out of ten the lower cost translation will end up costing you more in the long run from having to translate again.

We have experience in providing translation services for Prisons, and realise how important it is to avoid errors like this, to find out more about Global Voices translation services visit our website.