Translating customer letters and emails

Reading a message and replying to it are two different jobs. Reading is easy to do safely, because you only need the gist. Replying is where a slip reaches the customer.

Reading what they wrote

Paste the message into a translation tool and read the draft.¹ Machine output can be useful, but it's described as "flawed". So don't act on one detail without checking it. A name might even be left out.

Some points to keep in mind:

• Let the tool detect the language if you're unsure.² On 31 October 2026 we checked the Google Translate Help page. It said to "Choose a language or select Detect language." Features can change, so look at the tool's current help page.
• Expect trouble with casual writing.¹ Machine translation has "inability to translate non-standard language with the same accuracy as standard language." Slang, text-speak and spelling mistakes can lead the tool astray.
• Check the facts that matter. If the message gives an order number, an amount or a date, compare it with your records instead of trusting the translated version.
• Ask when unsure. If one line is unclear, a short reply asking the customer to confirm is safer than guessing.

Writing your reply

Write the reply in plain English first. Short sentences work best.² Google's help warns that "Some words may have different meanings", so say "your order will ship on Friday" rather than leaning on an idiom.

A few habits help:

1. One idea per sentence.
2. Skip jokes, slang and phrasal verbs such as "get back to you".
3. Spell out names, order numbers and amounts exactly as in your records.
4. Say what you want the customer to do, and by when.

Then translate it. Because these tools³ "tend to produce fairly literal translations", a polite English phrase can come out blunt. Have a bilingual person read anything about refunds, complaints or delays. The checking routine covers the rest, and the round-trip test on this page gives a quick second look.

Long messages

² On 31 October 2026 we checked the Google Translate Help page. It said you can translate "up to 5,000 characters at a time" when you copy and paste text. Limits can change, so check the page again. For a long letter, split it at paragraph breaks and translate it in parts.¹ Names can be dropped from the output, so read each part against the original before you stitch them together.

Two ways to handle a reply

The "suits" row is a suggestion, not something a source says.

Be open about it

It's fine to add one line saying the reply was translated with a tool and inviting the customer to write back if anything is unclear. That sets the right expectation, and it invites a correction if something went wrong.

Customer messages often contain personal details. Before pasting them into a free tool, read what happens to documents in a translation tool.