[/caption]One of the quickest and most popular trends brewing right now are word or literary tattoo designs. Be it one word to a whole poem word tattoos are hot. In order for people to yet again differentiate themselves from others many people are choosing to have the tattoo word written in a foreign language. For a long time Kanji tattoo were very popular. To get a saying writing in Japanese Kanji was super cool. These trend is kind of dying out these days and now people are getting designs in Italian, Sanskrit and even Arabic.
One has to admit there is a certain beauty and mystery in a foreign script. Just think of the moment when Frodo holds up the One Ring in the movie The Lord Of The Rings after the ring has been in the fire. Frodo holds up the ring and looks at the beautiful glowing elvish script inscribed into the ring. One can not deny the mystery and beauty of the foreign elvish script. Thus is the same beauty and mystery that leads people to get word tattoos in a different language.
What To Watch Out For
If you are thinking about getting a word tattoo and especially if you are considering getting one in a foreign language you should proceed carefully. If you have done any searching on Kanji Tattoos on line you have probably come across sites where people have posted pictures of their kanji tattoo design and they are asking what it means. Often it does not mean anything like what they thought.
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[/caption]The Kanji is sometimes backwards, or missing strokes in the best cases and in the worst it says something totally different then what the person thought. Don't fall into this trap and go around sporting a tattoo that says something that you don't want it to. Just proceed with caution and spend some time doing your research for the tattoo design carefully. Do not just trust that the tattoo artist tells you what it says. Remember tattoo artists are also business people and they make money by doing tattoo designs. If you are willing to pay they are willing to tattoo. It is not their concern so much about what the script says.
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[/caption]How To Do it Right
So how do you do a foreign language tattoo the right way Spend some time doing research and choosing the words carefully. Also with the power of the Internet these days it is very easy to find a native speaker of the language who will translate the tattoo for you professionally. There are a ton of translation services on line and paying an extra ten dollars for your tattoo design to ensure it says exactly what you want will help you to feel confident with your design.
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[/caption]Another thing that can be very helpful to the translator and make the words and the final tattoo design more accurate is to choose words that are common and not slang. For example if you wanted to get the word pimp tattooed across your chest in Kanji it would be very difficult for the translator to find Kanji that would translate that word. There is no word for pimp in the Japanese language and for sure in the older script or writing of Kanji which is thousands of years old. So choose your words wisely and try to find words that are not slang or culturally based words. Also don't be locked into exact translations. Often words don't translate straight across from one language to the next. It takes some finesse and alter of the words to truly express the meaning of the saying in another language.
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[/caption]Finding A Tattoo Artist
Last but not least you want to carefully find the tattoo artist. There are tons of tattoo artists out their and many of them are truly artists. Meaning they have special skills and talents and they are not just machines that pump out tattoo designs. They have special and unique talents and skill sets and therefore it can be beneficial to seek out an artist that specializes in the language you want to get the tattoo done in. For example if you get a kanji tattoo design done by a Japanese tattoo artist you can be pretty sure the translation and the artwork has been done correctly. As always you get what you pay for in life and going with cheap is not the way to go with a tattoo that you will wear for the rest of your life. So if it costs a little more then pay and be satisfied with the tattoo you get!
