Language Reversioning
For corporates and tourism videos, gaining an extra language at relatively little extra cost can give you a new product with much wider reach - and it can be done into as many languages as you want.There are a few things to watch out for though:-
Figurative or idiomatic language doesn't translate well because every language has its own unique store of these usages. Once translated, a clever figure of speech can fall flat or just sound downright silly!"
Back translating can help iron out any problems in the target language before the commentary is finally recorded. We often ask someone who understands the target language to view the video with the newly translated script in hand, and see what emerges when they "translate back" to the original English version. Faults show up very quickly this way.
For some reason, the target language almost always seems to need more words than the original. So the safest way to write for video is also the shortest and the simplest. It's even worth tweaking the English script before translation and ridding it of usages that might not translate well. (A creative translator will do this anyway, but one who gives you a minutely literal rehash of the English original can cause serious problems down the line.)
We're aware of these pitfalls - and once you know where they are they're quite easy to avoid!
There is a huge pool of translation and voice-over talent available in South Africa, in almost any language you care to name.