hugues chaloin - translator

01. translation tests

Translation tests taken recently. Feel free to explore.

A short and literary article on Emilia-Romagna
[Omio, travel platform]
A blog post about Rhiannon Giddens
[Patreon, membership platform for content creators]
A web article about designer Laura Hodges
[1stDibs, Introspective magazine about art, design, architecture, etc.]
Standard promotional content for an hotel in Dubai.
A two-part translation test (redactional + financial)
[Stripe, payment processing platform]
A two-part translation test (help center article + technical IT)
[Coinbase, cryptocurrency online platform]
A blog post about app and mobile measure
[Adjust, mobile measure comnpany (MMP)]

02. The idiomatic world of copyediting / transcreation

Copyediting/transcreation needs a little bit more than just applying translation techniques.
This little bit is what makes a difference to achieve a fully localized message targeting the right audience.

Here are a few samples of my work for a well-known brand selling design furniture & accessories, where you'll see how I put my creativity at work for conveying ideas.

The daily grind -> Moulin, boulot, dodo

In English, we have an expression referring to an everyday working routine (in this case, the habit of having coffee in the morning) that includes the name of the product itself (grind).

In French, I searched for expressions referring to daily routine, and came along with the idiom "métro, boulot, dodo" (literally "subway, work, sleep"), and I replaced "métro" with "moulin". Not homophonic, but we still have the initial "m" and a two-syllabus word that maintains the musicality/prosody of the original expression.

Keep a lid on it -> Remettez le couvercle

In English, we have the expression "to keep a lid on", that is "to keep (something secret) from being known", leading us to think that the product is valuable or rare (obviously playing with the product feature, the lid).

In French, I chose the expression "remettre le couvert" (literally "to set the table again") that idiomatically means "to do something again", but I replaced "couvert" by "couvercle" ("lid"), a nearly homophonic word maintaining the same musicality/prosody.

Get fresh -> Couvrez ce pain

In English, we have a pretty simple play on words implying the product is able to keep the bread fresh.

In French, I didn't find any suitable idea within the same lexical field. So I let my imagination ran (very) wild and suddenly thought about a famous sentence from Molière (Tartuffe). "Couvrez ce sein que je ne saurais voir", that is "Cover up that bosom, which I can't endure to look on". It gave me both the idea of "covering" the bread (for freshness) and similar-sounding words to play with ("pain" ["bread"] and "sein" ["breast"]). I guess that weird but efficient brainwave comes from the informal idiomatic meaning of "getting fresh" in English (To show one's sexual interest in someone, often in a very forward or overly confident way).

Stack your snacks -> Grignotez organisé

In English, we have a short and descriptive title playing with rhymes (an efficient trick commonly used by copywriters).

In French, I chose to maintain a rhyme, but adding a dose of wit: "Grignotez organisé" could translate as "Nibble in a organised manner". A rather absurd injunction, but an efficient hook (in my opinion).