Crossing geographical and cultural borders
The French say “santé” when making a toast, the Swiss say it when someone sneezes. You should also pay attention to who is inviting you to “dîner”: if the person is French, you’re being asked to dinner; if they’re Swiss, Belgian or Canadian, they want to meet for lunch. The French team at Diction is your competent partner for translation, editing and copywriting in the following four regional varieties. We specialise in providing authentic, idiomatic French texts that read just like originals – in several different varieties of French. Whether your readers are from Marseilles or Montreal: wherever you are, choosing the right word is a matter of cultural understanding.
Many influences from German and Italian can be found in Swiss French, such as “poutser” (from the German “putzen” – to clean) or “sans autre” (from the Italian “senz’altro” – without further ado). If someone from the French-speaking part of Switzerland declares “entrez seulement” (come in), a French person may not come in at all. The influence of English on Québécois is just as strong. Calques (literal translations of words from other languages) are also entering the vocabulary, such as “le chien chaud” (hot dog), “vous êtes les bienvenus” (you’re welcome) or “le surtemps” (overtime).
French experts for your language region
The French team at Diction is your competent partner for translation, editing and copywriting in the following four regional varieties:
French translations for every text type
Our experts translate your annual reports, compliance documents, subtitles and many other types of texts. The Diction French team are not only experts in a number of varieties of the language, but also in a wide range of specialist subjects, including the automobile industry, legal language, banking and finance, marketing, PR and watchmaking.
We can work in PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, QuarkXPress and InDesign documents. We can even translate directly via your website’s CMS.

Do you have any questions about French translations?
Our French team, headed up by Béatrice Lukumbu, is on hand to answer any questions you may have.
+41 81 750 53 33
beatrice.lukumbu@diction.ch
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FAQ
Can I translate my text into French and send it to you for editing?
You certainly can. Our French native speakers will be delighted to professionally edit or proofread any text you translate. However, we always recommend having your documents translated by an experienced native speaker from our French team. This is because even if your French is exceptional, our editors will still have a lot of work to do to ensure your text sounds natural and idiomatic. If the text is of a very high quality, having your translation edited could save time compared to having us translate it. Just ask us. You can rest assured that our translation agency will find the right solution for your French text.
Do you offer machine translation for French?
Yes. We offer machine translation and post-editing for all our main languages (including French), and for more languages upon request. Some texts are more suited to machine translation than others. Click here to find out more about your options and the types of texts that are suitable for machine translation.