The Arabic language is the 4th most used language online according to current statistics and with more than 420 million speakers worldwide it is easy to see why. It is also the official language of 26 countries worldwide including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to name just a few.
If you are an international company, looking to make new Middle Eastern connections, it is likely that you’ll need to translate your website into Arabic at some point.
While your firm may already have some experience with translation processes for multilingual websites, chances are you haven’t yet come across translation which requires right-to-left (RTL) typesetting as necessitated by the Arabic language.
Processing a translation which requires RTL typesetting can add additional issues with design elements such as, layout, so choosing a Language Services Provider (LSP) that is familiar with these factors will speed up the process and ensure accuracy.
Unfortunately, the process for RTL typesetting isn’t as simple as translating the content and ‘flipping’ the alignment, so here are a few points to consider if you choose an Arabic translation…
1. Arabic Language Layout
A professional language services provider that is well acquainted with Arabic-language translations will be able to offer you a translation that is identical to your original language text, but in reverse.
This means your website layout would look like a mirror image of the original left-to-right language, or if it is a brochure translation, the spine would be on the right with text running from right-to-left, while images would appear on the opposite side.
Brand elements such as, logos, which you might choose to leave in English, should be discussed with your chosen LSP so that this can be taken into account when designing the layout.
2. Arabic Language Fonts
There are two main script types used in Arabic; the Naskh and the Kufic. The Naskh style is more legible so many Arabic fonts are based upon this style.
Choosing a font that is readily accepted by Arabic readers will give a sense of familiarity such as you’d find with an English language website that use standard Microsoft fonts such as, Ariel, Verdana or Calibri.
Bear in mind that some fonts may not support a right-to-left adaption and would require a change of font.
3. Arabic Language Text Expansion and Contraction
When languages are translated an expansion or contraction of the text often occurs.
This basically means that some languages are ‘wordier’ than others, so when translating from English to Arabic you would find that there are considerably fewer words in the Arabic version, the text has ‘contracted’.
This can cause potential problems with layout as there may be ‘white space’ where the target language translation is shorter than the original.
A professional Arabic language translation provider knows to expect this and will adapt layout and design to ensure an accurate fit.
4. Arabic Numerals
Confusingly, ‘Arabic numerals’ is the name given to the digits 0-9 which are used in the English language. They were developed by an Indian mathematician around AD500 and further developed by Arabic scholars in North Africa and altered to the digits we recognize today.
Although the Arabic language reads from right-to-left, numbers are actually read to left-to-right, no matter where they are placed within a sentence structure.
When translating from English to Arabic it is essential that numbers aren’t ‘flipped’ in the same way as translated words.
For instance, if you display a contact number on your website and it was flipped alongside the rest of the text it could end up reading 8622 8048 02(0) 44 + instead of the correct +44 (0)20 8408 2268.
If a professional language service provider is working on your Arabic translation project, they should be well-versed in the correct layout of numbers, but be aware when using free machine translation tools such as, Google Translate, that this may not always be the case.
At Creative Word we specialise in Arabic language translations and have accurately translated more the 20 million words over the last two decades.
We only use highly-skilled translators, who are also industry experts in fields such as, law, marketing, design and finance, so you can be confident we’ll provide an accurate, precise translation every time.
For more advice or to discuss your Arabic translation, please contact us.
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