There are 3 main dialect groups of German, with a few subgroups:
neutral or "high" German, Swiss German, Austrian German.
NEUTRAL or "HIGH" GERMAN
This is the main and acknowledged "proper" German, also
called "High German". It is the German translation of
choice for documents or recordings that will be sent to multiple
countries, and also the language for legal and other official translated
materials throughout the German speaking world. There is also one
single, correct broadcast accent for German recordings. There are
stringent rules for German grammar, spelling and usage, all emanating
from Germany itself, and accepted worldwide. German spelling rules
have undergone a major change in the last few years, and documents
written in the "old style" have an outdated appearance.
Translations in any other German dialect are not acceptable for
doing business in Germany, and undereducated written German or grammatical
and spelling mistakes will seriously damage a client's image. A
dialect German voice talent recorded in any other country for sales
or training multimedia will miss its mark in Germany. Thus, it is
not applicable to use a Swiss voice or an American-accented German
voice on a product destined for Germany. The effect is rather like
recording a voice in Mississippi for a New York commercial. On the
other hand, excellent German translations created in Germany, and
recordings with voice talent in Germany are received with pride
and joy.
AUSTRIAN GERMAN
Austrian German is charming with a powerful personality. Their accent
is distinctive, their word choice delightful and there is a very
strong nationalism. Much of what today is educated Europe was part
of the Austrian Empire, thus a great percentage of artistic and
cultural heritage is directly related to Austria and its people.
Many products sold across German-language borders, such as telephone
systems, electronics, and manufactured goods, are translated only
into High German for expediency and return on investment. The Austrians
certainly understand High German. They hear it on television every
day, and read it in literature, their magazines, and learn it in
their schools. But for advertising and sales it is good to understand
that their hearts will follow Austrian German.
SWISS GERMAN
One of the world's dialects with the most individualism is Swiss
German. With an accent that is as unique as it is strong, Swiss
German is quite different from High German, and is beloved by its
speakers. Swiss German translation is more prevalent for advertising
than for business documentation. Notwithstanding the acceptance
and correspondence always in "high" German, the heart
for sales is in Swiss German.
POCKETS OF GERMAN
German is the 2nd language in Poland, Czech Republic, Rumania and
Hungary. And there are a few pockets where German is the first language
within a country of a different tongue. For example, in Brazil there
is a renowned area in the mountains with German villages. In the
United States, there are German pockets in Pennsylvania and other
states, often associated with religious beliefs.
IMPORTANT CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
In doing business with the Germanic cultures, one major trait is
worth remembering and building into any conversation, marketing
plan or training program. The German people have a sincere objection
to groundless hype. Although this is easy to say in writing, American
marketing is built upon what many Germans would call hype. That
which the U.S. calls "branding" can be viewed as exhibitionism
and aggressiveness by Germanic cultures. A more modest approach,
lower key and classier, often has more appeal and impact than emotional
advertising, self-praise or marketing enthusiasm. In fact, the American
approach to sales can actually drive the Germans away in droves.
This antipathy for hype affects the writing of all marketing materials,
advertising and press releases. It also affects artwork and font
choice, favoring straightforward fonts like Arial, and avoiding
fonts with "squiggle" ends to their letters such as Times,
Italics, plus Bold and other font styles and features.
German
graphics tend to be a bit brighter, with clearer color contrast,
not murky or romantic.
In
many cases, the actual content might benefit from some re-writing
for the audience, particularly to tone down adjectives such as "the
best", "top", "outstanding", "finest"
and other superlatives.
NEUTRAL AND ACROSS-BORDER GERMAN
It is understood across the German speaking world that official
German translation be in High German, unless directly geared toward
a dialect target for advertising or marketing within the other countries.
On the other hand, use of a professional voice talent with a broadcast
accent from the dialect target country will be warmly welcomed and
positively impact sales in its region.
DIALECT TRANSLATIONS:
Marketing material or a website translation into multiple dialects
has its merits, and is worth considering. For a website, there is
a simple piece of web programming code that will make the proper
dialect appear automatically to the visitor, just as though that
dialect were the original site language. However, a Multi-Dialect
Site (a site translated several times for different dialects) does
not always mean increased sales. Here, return on investment is an
important factor. Whether or not the product itself attracts sales
can not be totally controlled by dialect or any other localization
factor. If
"sales" is the goal, @I.S. does not recommend a leap into
multiple-dialect translations, nor consider multiple dialect translation
as the "secret to sales" in the German-speaking world.
