Pontelingua · English
Write a formal email in another language without sounding wrong
A correct translation can still be the wrong email. What sounds professional in one country sounds cold, servile or pushy in another. Pontelingua checks your email against the norms of the country you're writing to and rewrites it, explaining every change.
Where formal emails go wrong
- Too direct for Japan, too indirect for Germany, too formal for the US, too dry for Brazil — same email, four different verdicts.
- Greetings, titles and sign-offs carry more weight than the message itself in many cultures.
- Asking for something urgently is a normal request in some countries and an act of pressure in others.
How it works
- 1Write your email in your own language.
- 2Pick the target language, the country variant, the channel (email) and the context (job application, client, supplier, university).
- 3You get a cultural appropriateness score with the specific points of friction.
- 4You receive the adapted version plus a translation back into your language, so you know exactly what you are sending.
A real example
Your draft: "I need an answer by tomorrow."
Standard translation into Japanese: grammatically fine, reads as an order.
Adapted: the deadline is kept, but framed as a constraint on your side, with an apology for the short notice and an explicit thank-you.
The information is identical. The relationship survives.
Common questions
Does it work for job applications?
Yes — application, follow-up, salary questions and thank-you notes are all supported contexts.
Can I keep my own voice?
Yes. You choose the tone you want: neutral, warm, firm, formal.
Does it remember who I'm writing to?
If you name the contact, it remembers their language, channel, context and tone for next time.
Check your email before you send it
Paste your draft and see what a native reader would actually feel.