Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Tips For Choosing The Best Person To Translate English To Spanish

By Nora Jennings


Spanish is one of the world's most widely spoken languages. It's the official language of Spain as well as most countries in Latin America. Moreover, it's spoken by communities of Latin American immigrants in countries like the USA and Australia. If your organization can address people in their own language, it will not only boost your corporate image and bring you more clients but it will also prevent misunderstandings because of language barriers. However, it's very important to choose the best candidate to translate English to Spanish.

The first requirement for a good translator in the language pair is that the person should be fluent in both languages. For a translator, it's always best to translate from the language he or she is less confident in to the language he or she speaks most fluently. In other words, you need to look for someone whose first language is Spanish.

It's also very important to take your target market into account. There are different variations of Spanish and you need to decide whether your texts will be geared toward readers from Spain or from Latin American countries. In order to ensure that you'll be addressing your target market in their own language, not only linguistically but culturally too, it's preferable to choose a translator that comes from the same cultural background and will be able to use local phrases.

Forget about trying to save money by using translation computer software. These programs are good for looking up separate words, like you would with a bilingual dictionary. However, they ignore context and phrases and give you an end product that is at best inaccurate and at worst completely unintelligible.

Bad translators aren't much better than translation software. They simply use a bilingual dictionary and translate your texts word for word. Good translators, in contrast, will look at the context of each phrase and think about what it is they're translating. They're also creative thinkers and good at solving problems.

Many professional translators belong to a professional association. In order to become members, they have to pass an exam with very stringent criteria. This means that when you choose a translator who belongs to one of these associations, chances are that it's a person who really can do the job. Publishing companies also select their translators very carefully, so someone with experience working in that industry is a good option too.

Before you assign the task, ask the candidate to translate a paragraph or two as a sample. Most professional translators will be happy to do this. It's a way for them to prove their abilities and for you to see whether they're a good fit. Ask several people who speak Spanish to check the sample translation and comment on its accuracy and readability.

A great way to separate the wheat from the chaff is to look at the rates the different candidates quote. Low rates are often an indication that the person is an amateur with no idea of the going rates for translation work. Don't be tempted to go with the cheapest person because, like with everything else in the world, you get what you pay for.




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