There’ve been quite a few instances of language translation blunders popping up in the news as of late. First, it was the travesty associated with the translation of President Obama’s speech in memoriam of Nelson Mandela, during which the translator provided the audience with utter nonsense throughout the majority of the speech. Not long after that came the issues associated with the Spanish translation of the Obamacare website, causing a great deal of issues in the Latino community and making it nearly impossible for many people to sign up for health insurance. Now, more headlines for translation blunders are coming out of Sri Lanka.
According to BBC News, the Sri Lankan government has apologized for a variety of different document translation errors that have popped up in the form of official notices and government materials. The documents were translated for Sri Lanka’s minority population of Tamils and ended up being rife with issues. A public sign reading “Reserved for Pregnant Mothers” in English and Sinhala, for example, was translated to “Reserved for Pregnant Dogs” – it doesn’t get much more offensive than that.
Translators Not Fluent in Tamil
The Sri Lankan government is making it a point to clarify that the translation issues were never meant as an insult to the Tamil community. Instead, they’re saying that the issues stem from the fact that the mistakes were made by individuals who are not fluent in Tamil. Officials also say that many translations from Tamil to Sinhala are inaccurate as well, stating that the same issue of not being fluent in the alternative language pops up from time to time.
Still, the Tamil community insists that they often get the short end of the stick when it comes to translation errors. Many even say that visiting government offices typically results in confusion thanks to a lack of accuracy in translated documents and signs. It’s not hard to imagine a sense of strife revolving around all of these issues considering the fact that a long-standing civil war between the Tamil Tigers and Sinhala-heavy army ended just five years ago in 2009.
A Common Problem Worldwide
Document translation issues can be seen well outside of Sri Lanka – it’s truly a worldwide problem. The Obamacare website translation problems are a perfect example of how even a well-developed country still hasn’t quite gotten the concept of accurate translation down pat. It just goes to show how important it is to hire a translation agency that is adept at handling even the most difficult tasks, as there’s nothing worse than running into a disconnect such as this.
