Useful tips from Infofinland for multilingual communication

Publication date 19.3.2020 14.24 | Published in English on 24.3.2020 at 22.42
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Many authorities and municipalities may have no previous experience of having communications material translated into languages other than Swedish and English. The online editorial staff of Infofinland is used to having information translated into 12 different languages, and put together some useful tips for multilingual communications.

Things to remember when you order translations in several languages

  • Make sure your text is clear and easy to understand.
  • Let the translator know who the text is intended for.
  • Ask the translator to stick to the header levels (H1, H2, H3, body text).
  • Ask the translator to include a Finnish title in the document. This way you’ll know which document it is.
  • Check the completed translation – even when you do not know the target language.
    • Are the headers really headers?
    • Is the number of sentences and paragraphs correct?
  • In non-Latin languages, ask the translator to return translations also in pdf format to make sure the font hasn’t changed.

If you create a translation for a website in format such as pdf, use the organisation logo or visual elements in the file, and add a date to make sure the data is up to date and reliable. The Finnish title is useful to those who share the link.

Multilingual information can be shared in online services on the Finnish, Swedish and English pages if the online service does not offer other languages. Social media and immigrant associations can be used as tools for reaching the target groups. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment’s Centre of Expertise in Immigrant Integration can help to get your multilingual message across to the right target groups.

The InfoFinland website is published by the City of Helsinki, and it is funded by the state and the InfoFinland member municipalities for those moving to and living in Finland. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is the largest state financing provider. Information on the InfoFinland.fi site is available in 12 different languages.

Read more:

Multilingual information from the state and the authorities on the coronavirus

Multilingual information from municipalities on the coronavirus

Infofinland.fi

InfoFinland.fi

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