Keys to successfully hiring Irish<>English translation services
Advertising and communication agencies have very specific needs when requesting translations from Irish or into Irish. Whether press releases or advertising texts, this type of translation requires not only an extensive linguistic knowledge, but also a good cultural background of each country or region (Ireland, in this case) and how words are used.
A good advertising translation is paramount to expanding your target audience of Irish-speaking users. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.
Remember these tips when translating your marketing content from or into Irish:
Know your audience
Before you start translating, decide who your target audience will be. Who do you think will be most responsive to your services or products?
Find out and limit who your target audience is going to be. In this case, if you intend translating into Irish, think about which markets you want to reach. Only Ireland…? Or maybe into other territories with large Irish-speaking communitites? Always consider the local and dialectal variations of Irish and how this may impact the recipient.
Also consider the age of your audience, as this will determine the style in the translation. The more you narrow your focus by directly targeting a niche market, the more likely it is that your translation from Irish or into Irish will attract potential buyers.
Consider all types of publications
There are many ways to enter local Irish markets. Expand the type of advertising and informational content to cover all of your company’s social channels.
Press releases and printed advertising material are a classic, but translating your website content into Irish and start publishing articles about products or services can be a great way to reach thousands of readers in Ireland.
One option is to start a profile on a social network such as Twitter or Instagram, and specifically target Irelanders. You can also start an email marketing campaign targeted at Irish!}-speaking countries. Remember to always include these new communication formats in your English-Irish strategies.
Translate and localize (i.e. culturally adapt into Irish)
In the marketing world, localization refers to the adaptation of all elements (from design to cultural references) for a specific audience. A small change in an audience type will increase the response rate and the number of sales.
Even if two groups speak the same language, such as Irish, we may need different translations for each region or country (Ireland).
A good localization in Irish helps us solve these problems: from everyday expression to date formats, weight units or forms of address used in Ireland, etc.
Take every aspect into account
In an advertising translation into Irish, not everything is text. Remember that there are also graphics, presentations and drawings that can be important to attract the attention of your Irish-speaking users.
Changes in graphics and pictures not only affect the content, but are sometimes necessary for the readability of the translation. Sometimes we will need to make changes to accommodate the reading direction of a language (left to right or right to left), the spacing of a particular alphabet, or any features such as those specific to the Irish language.
Always keep in mind that the space taken up by a translation may increase or decrease with respect to the original text when translating from English into Irish or vice versa.
Do not limit your imagination
When looking for translations in Irish for your advertising content, your initial idea in English may not work when translated into Irish.
It is important to maintain consistency throughout the campaign: it is what will identify your brand, company or product in countries like Ireland… Remember that a literal translation of an English witty expression will most probably not work in Irish.
Throughout the translation project, always think about which types of Irish-speaking users your campaign is targeting. Be open to new ideas so your message does not get lost in translation.
How do you say “Irish” in Irish?
Irish Gaelic (Gaeilge nah Eireann) is a Celtic language spoken by 138,000 people as their mother tongue, and by another million people as a second language in Ireland, with 276,000 first language speakers worldwide.
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A quick overview of the Irish language
Irish is a Celtic language mainly spoken in Ireland (Éire). Irish is also spoken in the UK (Rio Aontaithe), the USA (Stáit Aontaithe Mheiriceá), Canada (Ceanada) and Australia (un Astráil).
According to the 2016 census, 1.76 million people in Ireland claim to speak Irish; 73,803 speak it daily; 111,473 speak it weekly; 586,535 speak it less frequently, and the rest rarely speak it. The main concentrations of Irish speakers are in Gaeltacht, along the west coast of Ireland and has a total population of 96,090. On average, 66% of Gaeltacht residents speak Irish.
In 2011 the UK Census highlighted that 184,898 people in Northern Ireland (10.65% of the population) have some knowledge of Irish, and that 104,943 of them can speak the language. Irish is the mother tongue of some 4,130 people in Northern Ireland. According to other sources, about 9,000 people speak fluent Irish in Britain. It is not clear whether this includes Northern Ireland.
According to another census, about 18,815 people speak Irish in the United States, especially in the northeastern states. Irish language courses are available at a number of universities and colleges in the USA and Canada.
In 2011, 1,895 people in Australia claimed to use Irish as their mother tongue. You can also study modern and ancient Irish at the University of Sydney.