Standard French versus
Canadian French, Swiss French,
Belgian French
French varies mostly in its spoken form from country
to country. The colloquial language also varies (slangs, youth
language, etc.), but for the rest, French is French.
An educated French native speaker will understand
most of the nuances that are in use in the other French-speaking
countries, even if certain expressions might cause amusement.
A
typical example is the way natives say “towel” in Standard French
versus in Belgium. In France, the word is "torchon”, while speakers in
Belgium would use this word to describe a piece of cloth used to wash
floors. One can easily see how a word chosen badly could bring
unintended humor.
So, should you be targeting a Belgian
audience, a Belgian translator will fit your needs better than a French
or a Canadian one, and the same applies for each French-speaking market.
Nevertheless, for highly technical texts, for
instance, the differences diminish, as most terms carry the same
meaning in all the French-speaking countries. Most accept and freely
use some English technical terms, while Canadians prefer to translate
everything into French.
As you can see, the choice of the translator is quite important, whether you want to reach a French, Canadian, Belgian, Swiss or other audience. There are tens of thousands French-speaking translators around the world, but they will not all say “I can’t translate this text because it is meant for Canada and I’m not Canadian.”
Understanding the myriad national habits and nuances, and assigning the best qualified professional to your project, is what sets BeTranslated apart. Translation is a specialized industry and our aim is to provide the right solution 100 percent of the time.