The Arabists - Why Us?

We respect the client who doesn't speak Arabic

Many marcomm professionals in the Middle East are non-Arabs. This is particularly true in the countries of the Gulf. Also, overseas clients seeking Arabic translations for their marketing communications would typically be non-Arabic speakers. Because such clients can't read Arabic, they're often at the receiving end of some seriously substandard work. But at The Arabists, our respect for clients in this category means that they can trust us blindly with their work.

We respect the client who speaks Arabic, but can't judge it

Even native speakers of Arabic often find it difficult to judge an Arabic translator's or copywriter's language skills. They can tell if the content is right, but not if the language is correct. Put simply, they can't spot grammatical mistakes and spelling errors. In a print ad, for instance, they can tell if a headline will sell; but they can't tell if the headline is spelt properly or grammatically correct. Regrettably, this weakness is often exploited. But those clients, too, have our respect and our assurance of error-free work.

We respect the client's client

From time to time, a marcom agency's workload will exceed the capacity of its in-house Arabic resources. In this case, a job being done for one of the agency's clients would need to be subcontracted to an outside supplier. Here, it's all too easy for the translator/copywriter to hide behind the fact that the agency will take fall for any substandard work, especially if he/she has already been paid, and especially if the agency has tight deadlines and won't have time to check his/her work. At The Arabists, many of our clients are advertising and PR agencies serving their own clients. The reason they come to us is that with every project they commission to us, we deal with the job as if the eventual client was one of our own.

We respect the ultimate client: Arab audiences and consumers

Every piece of communication ultimately has a target audience. Sadly, one can see a lot of work out there targeting Arabic-speaking audiences which smacks of neglect, mediocrity and, sometimes, downright disdain for Arab consumers. Some of the work out there goes beyond being full of errors: it either takes the Arab audience for granted, or insults the audience's intelligence, or –worst of all– goes against Arab values. For us at The Arabists, respect for Arabic-speaking audience is a criterion by which we judge every single word, or thought, we commit to paper.

That's why we call ourselves "The Arabists"

Dictionary definition of "Arabist": SYLLABICATION: Ar·ab·ist PRONUNCIATION: ãr'ə-bíst
NOUN: 1. A specialist in the Arabic language or culture. 2. One who is favorably disposed toward Arab concerns and policies. Enough said.

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