The Arabists - Why Us?

Are you getting what you paid for?

The more we see out there, the more convinced we are that "respect" is something we at The Arabists should brag about. On TV, in the press, in print and even in simple direct translations, we see such mediocre standards of Arabic language proficiency, let alone skill or flair, that makes us convinced many clients are being short-changed. Worst of all, when the error is made public, some so-called writers blame the client for having signed off the copy. We won't go into judging creative, and not even grammar; so below are some examples of recent spelling mistakes.

How would you feel if your copywriter made a spelling mistake in a three-word headline? Even if that mistake was a mere typo, how could the copywriter have missed it? A recent campaign in the UAE press for weeks ran as a newspaper double-spread with no copy save for a headline of just 3 words. The campaign in the Arabic press ran for weeks. Still, the spelling mistake wasn't corrected, because it wasn't caught. It wasn't caught because the so-called copywriter didn't know it was a mistake to start with.

Outdoor

Or how about that bridge-banner on Sheikh Zayed Road (the main highway in Dubai for those who don't know). There were 4 words in that banner, only four, and yet one of them was spelt incorrectly! That mistake was made not in a dense paragraph of body copy, but in a 4-word headline!

Or that TV commercial where the name of a city was written phonetically (not strictly wrong), when that city has, for at least 500 years, had an Arabic name which everybody knows and recognizes by just looking at the word?

Or that now-famous press release announcing the financial results of a major corporation. The translator translated "settlement" as a place where people settle and live! How could he/she have missed the CONTEXT of the press release? It was talking financials, so there was no way "settlement" could have been interpreted in that way.

What's at The Arabists: Respect