A1 Translations: Frequently Asked Questions |
How much will it cost?
Who should translate? Always use a professional. Professionals only translate into their native language. Professionals get their work checked and proofread to ensure top quality. See also: F**cked translations make Spain a laughing stock! The translator and the cleaning lady
How important is style? For translation of correspondence received in a language foreign to the client, for example, a rough gist translation may be sufficient, but for a reply or for promotional material such as leaflets, brochures, websites, etc, accuracy and style are very important. What about translation software? There is no substitute for a human being. A machine, such as a computer, cannot possibly hope to understand the nuance or tone of a text, or take into account the style or grammar of the original. It may not even select the correct word or phrase. We’ve all seen countless examples of translations which are, quite frankly, nonsense. Take many tourist leaflets, some websites, countless restaurant menus, even expensive neon signs!
Do punctuation and accents matter? Yes, of course, and different languages have different conventions. For example, French has a space between a word and the colon that follows, and writes quotation marks « ..... ». In German, quotation marks are „ ..... “ and in Spanish hyphens are used. In German, all nouns begin with a capital letter, and in Spanish and French neither months nor days of the week take an initial capital. And do not use a mere “n” in Spanish when an “ñ” is required, otherwise you risk getting nonsense or causing offence, eg in the USA a bilingual banner celebrated 100 anos of municipal history. Año is year; ano is anus! Do bilingual people make good translators? Not necessarily. Bilinguals, while they may speak two languages fluently, may not always be good at moving information between the two, especially in writing, and they may not be skilled at translation. |
Paul Whitelock
Paul is a Joint Honours graduate in Spanish and German, a qualified teacher (PGCE) and has a Member of the Institute of Linguists (MIL) qualification.
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Phrase of the Week...
CUANDO LAS RANAS CRIEN PELO. Pigs might fly! (lit: When frogs grow hair!) |