U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1960)

HOMETOWN U.S. A. clinic New Firm Translates Copy Into 50 Foreign Languages It takes more than a dictionary to translate a commercial. Ask the American company that tried to tell a Spanish audience that anyone who didn't wear its brand of hosiery just "wouldn't have a leg to stand on." What the copy said in translation was that the wearer would "only have one leg." Or the advertiser who said you could wear his swim suit all day in the sun. He meant the colors wouldn't fade. But to the Latin Americans who heard the commercial, the poor translating made the idea absurd. It is too hot to stay out in the sun all day where they live — especially in a bathing suit. Or the announcer who read a translation in Castilian Spanish to a Colombian audience. The Spanish in South America is not the same as that spoken in Spain. And Colombians, the advertiser discovered, like to hear their own dialect when they turn on the radio. Need Increasing With more and more advertisers reaching out into foreign markets abroad and foreign language markets in America, the need for correct and appropriate translations is increasing. To fill the role of translator, Cuban-born John Ores has established Round Hill International Productions, New York. "Very often," Mr. Ores points out, "the entire meaning of an advertising message can be lost by the use of a word or phrase which is technically correct, but doesn't idiomatically conform to local custom." Or, he adds, the translators don't take into consideration differences in dialects, customs and listening habits of the inhabitants of the coinitries in which the commercials will be heard. Professionals Available "Now the American advertising agency handling foreign language accounts will have available the services of a group of professionals skilled in the technical aspects of their language, as well as in the communications techniques utilized by media in their native lands." Agencies generally have one or two expediencies they use in translating for their foreign markets, Mr. Ores explains. They employ translators Avho work in their offices and are adept at the language but usually not acquainted with the market in which the commercial will run. They also use local people in foreign countries who know the language and customs of the market but who don't understand the selling problems of the advertiser. And when the translators are so far from the advertiser's home office, the advertiser can lose control over what he wants to say, Mr. Gres states. "When we do the translating, we want a commercial that will do justice to the product and will be acceptable to the people in the countries in which it will be heard," says Mr. Gres. "Whether we translate a commercial, adapt a jingle or narrate an announcement, we want it to say just what the advertiser has in mind in language appropriate to the foreign audience. "The firm can translate commercials into 50 different languages. There are eight staff translators on a full time basis. In addition, there are about 150 more translators on an assignment basis, and over 200 free lancers that Round Hill can call on to translate commercials into everything from French and Spanish to Korean and Swahili. Not only are the translators adept at their languages, but they have a knowledge of the idioms, customs and dialects of the country to which the commercial is going. And they are also acquainted with the communications techniques involved. "Round Hill," Mr. Gres continues, "can offer a variety of services. The firm can provide the translation, the talent, the taping and the distribution facilities. We are also equipped to handle the market research necessary to decide where and ho^v to advertise. We can find out what language, dialect and accent the advertiser must use. We know where to get the information about the markets to which the advertiser must appeal. And we can advise the advertiser on the programming of the country or market in which he is interested." At 32 years of age, Mr. Gres can look back on more than 15 years of radio experience. He has served as a producer-director of foreign language productions with NBC. He has also been with the United Nations, the United States Information Agency and advertising agencies servicing foreign accounts. He has been a producer, writer and announcer with radio station CMZ Havana. Most recently Mr. Gres was program director of WRUL New York. • • • U. S. RADIO March 1960 51