How to avoid false friends in your multilingual content | Need-to-know

We have an in-depth guide about false friends on our training platform. Check it out here: bit.ly/2FBmov7

What do food preservatives and condoms have in common?

Not much, you might think – but what if I told you the French word for condoms was préservatifs?

The English word “preservatives” and the French word “préservatifs” are examples of false friends.

False friends are words in different languages that look or sound similar, but have completely different meanings.

They are often mistranslated or miswritten during translation and multilingual copywriting projects.

This is dangerous, as the resulting content is often inaccurate, confusing and damaging to the brand’s reputation.

They should be avoided at all costs, in order to have the best quality content possible on your website, and to encourage user trust in your brand.

Here are our three top tips to avoid false friends in your multilingual content.

Firstly, always make sure that you use experienced, professional translators or copywriters with at least five years’ experience.

False friends often arise when content is created by newly qualified individuals who are inexperienced and who may lack knowledge of your industry and content.

They should also be native speakers of your target language.

False friends are more likely if content is created by a non-native speaker who may lack knowledge of the vocabulary of your target language.

Secondly, always create a glossary.

The creation of a glossary is a must-have for any translation or copywriting project, to ensure quality and consistency across your content.

A glossary will also help to avoid the risk of false friends.

And finally, include a second round of review.

Having a second pair of eyes review the content will identify any false friends that appear in your text, as well as ensuring quality overall.

Do you have any questions about false friends? Let us know in the comments below!