Every day, millions of people translate Norwegian into English in their heads. Norway is home to one of the world’s most multilingual societies. Virtually everyone in the country speaks three or four languages, and English is a staple among them.
However, to translate Norwegian into English is can be a lot more complex, and more impactful, than casual conversation. As the global lingua franca, English offers unique opportunities, particularly for business.
From Oslo to the World: Business in a Global Economy
Norway enjoys one of the world’s highest GDPs (per capita), with a robust, growing economy. However, business interests in the nation face long-term challenges to sustain growth. In addition, the looming threat of global competition is always around the corner.
The onwards march of globalization brings an endless stream of competitors at the doorstep. Every industry in every nation now faces global rivals with unique competitive advantages.
It can be anything: lower labor costs, better infrastructure, laxer taxation. Whatever the case may be, the global economy guarantees they’re coming, sooner or later. The best way for domestic companies to have a fighting chance is to fight fire with fire.
Globalization doesn’t just mean competing with the world at home. It also means competing with the world abroad, on their turf. Taking your business overseas is easier now than at any point in history. That’s where the need to translate Norwegian into English stems from today.
A company that has experienced growth and profitability in Norway will eventually hit a wall. You can only expand so much at home. At this point, you need to start thinking globally, and you need to start translating.
Translate Norwegian Into English
As we all know, Norwegian isn’t a very popular language outside of Norway. That means that until you translate Norwegian into English, your promotional material, company documents, business information and marketing are inaccessible to the world.
When you translate Norwegian into English, you open the door to countless new customers. The best way to do so, though, depends largely on the scale of your business.
Small-Scale Solutions
If your business is at the small or micro-level (1 to 10 employees), you have a few options available. Depending on your industry and sector, you may have very little content to translate Norwegian into English, or quite a bit. The volume of work required will be the main factor in choosing the best solution.
In the simplest of cases, the work can be done entirely by your current staff, or yourself. The fluency of the average Norwegian may effectively cover the needs of small operations. For instance, a small digital agency might have very little actual content to translate.
Should the task involve more significant volume, an effective small-scale solution is to hire an in-house translator to translate Norwegian into English. An in-house translator has several advantages.
It’s easy to oversee their output, since they work directly for your business. It’s also more straightforward to keep their writing aligned with your brand identity and values. You can explain your vision in detail.
On the negative side, a qualified Norwegian to English translator can be pricey. Furthermore, a single translator can only work so fast. This can be a deadly bottleneck for a company adapting to new markets. Hiring many translators can be prohibitively expensive for small businesses.
Large-Scale Solutions
Medium and large companies or corporations have a range of solutions available. Larger operations have very different sets of needs and requirements, which can be highly specific. They can also have vast amounts of materials requiring professional translation.
In these situations, staff translations are out of the question. In-house translators may be an option in some cases, but usually a less efficient choice. For most industries, adding a whole department of in-house translators is a daunting task and comes with a steep learning curve.
A much more economical solution is to hire out the work. A professional content agency can translate Norwegian into English in a seamless fashion. They are well-prepared to handle very large volumes of material in far shorter time spans than what’s achievable in-house.
There’s also expertise to consider. The effort to translate Norwegian into English might seem simple enough. However, your original marketing campaigns, business documents, and product catalogs weren’t written casually. They’re carefully crafted copy, the result of an investment.
A professional content agency can do your original content justice. Through processes like transcreation, an agency can even localize and adapt your material for new audiences. This preserves the message (and emotional impact) of translations across different cultures.
The Dangers of Automation
Modern times have brought us incredible technological tools to tackle just about every problem. Algorithms today can do things faster than a human being. Even translations. A dozen websites today will translate Norwegian into English in an instant, completely free of charge.
Logically, you might be tempted to use automated translation tools for your business. Why shouldn’t you? Well, there are several good reasons not to, in fact.
Automated translations are inherently imprecise. Without a human to decipher context, most automatic translations feel wooden or robotic. They’re plagued by sometimes comical inaccuracies, which detract from your company’s image and respectability.
Moreover, they can sometimes be plain wrong. Language and communication are extremely complex matters. The technology simply isn’t there yet. According to some schools of thought, it might be outright impossible for machines to ever make perfect translations.
Automated translations are perfectly suitable for a traveler trying to find their way back to the hotel. However, for the sensitive applications and critical information that a business handles, they’re just not good enough.
Final Recommendations
We hope you’ve found this brief primer on Norwegian to English translation helpful. Capitalizing on the power of translation is the quickest way to take your business to the next level.
It’s time for you to take what you’ve learned and apply it to your business. Determine the scale of your operation, assess the total volume you need translating, and deploy a fitting solution. Lykke til!
