Many people think that anyone who speaks a second language would make a good translator. It’s not enough however, for the translator to just be bilingual. He or she must be “bicultural” as well.

Understanding their “second language’s” culture is a must for translators. A professor from University used to tell us: “Navidad is an easy word to translate: we look it up in the dictionary and there it is: Christmas. But phrases like “Christmas mood” (humor o atmósfera de Navidad) or “Christmas landscape” (paisaje navideño) are not going to express the same sentiment in Spanish (or Finnish, or Russian…) as they do in English, given that the whole “Christmas experience” is not the same in every country. While Christmas is celebrated in the middle of summer in the southern hemisphere, the U.S. and other European countries with their falling snow and various traditions have a very different experience.

Having a dictionary is not enough for translating well. It is not only about translating words. For example, you could learn the words poner and pilas, but still not understand the meaning of the idiom ponerse las pilas. One also has to know about the particular phrases that require one special combination of terms (collocations) and not another: though people would most likely understand Prospera Navidad, this combination, while not technically “wrong,” would sound as strange as Happy Christmas or Merry Birthday.
One must take cultural references into account. A friend once had the task of translating a book for veterinarians in which there were instructions for a certain procedure for rabbits that had to be done “in January and February.” But if this was translated for the southern hemisphere, then January and February (summer in the southern hemisphere) would be the wrong time of year, with who knows what consequences for the poor animals.  (In this situation, she decided to add “in the northern hemisphere” in parentheses and let the veterinarians figure out that it should be done in July-August if they are in the southern hemisphere.)

With so much often said about the infiltration of English into the Spanish language, one often forgets that borrowed words and loan words are a two-way street. United States English has its share of linguistic contributions from Spanish, words that come from Mexico, Cuba, Spain and beyond. The two most common classifications are foreign words, which maintain the original meaning and spelling, and true loan words, which have the same or a similar meaning, but with an adapted spelling.

Foreign words– these are Spanish words that most English speakers will understand, though probably pronounce with a dubious accent.

“There’s a fiesta at Brody’s house tonight!

“Easy there macho man!”

“Don’t you know I’m loco?

Loan words- these are words that originate from Spanish, but have a different spelling, different meaning, or both.

“I’ll have a strawberry daiquiri.” (The word daiquiri comes from the name of a town in Cuba, which is a leading producer of rum and was once home to the Bacardi brand.)

“My dream is to go skiing in Colorado.” (Colorado means reddish or colored in Spanish.)

“I want a Corona and some nachos.” (As the story goes, the chips and cheese snack known as Nachos was invented by an Ignacio Anaya. Nacho is the Spanish nickname for Ignacio.

These are just a few of the many, many examples of Spanish’s influence on the English language. So the next time you’re having nachos and a daiquiri in Colorado, be thankful that the English Only locos are fighting a losing battle.

“Translations”

The same thing always happened to him. When someone translated one of his poems into a foreign language (at least, a foreign language that he knew), his own verses sounded better than in the original. This is why it came as no surprise that he found the French version of his poem “Time and the bell” amazing, graceful and full of substance.

Two years later, an Italian translator who did not know Spanish translated that French version. Although he had never been a big supporter of indirect versions (keeping in mind however that this is how he had been introduced to Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Confucius years before), he greatly enjoyed his poem” in italico modo.”

Another three years passed and an English translator who, like most English translators, did not know Spanish based his translation on the Italian version based on the French version. Despite being so far from the original, it was the most pleasing to the original Spanish speaking author. It just surprised him a bit (he actually attributed it to a printing error) that this new indirect version was entitled “Burnt Norton” and that the name of the alleged author was a T.S. Eliot. Nevertheless, he liked it so much that he decided to personally take on the task of translating it into Spanish.

Mario Bendetti

in Cuentos Completos (Ed. Seix Barral 1994, p.497)
Mario Bendetti (born in Uruguay in 1920) is described as a poet who also writes stories and novels. His novel La tregua (1960), whose cinematic version was nominated for an Oscar in 1974, has been translated into 19 languages. He has published over 80 books and earned countless awards.

The general consensus about Spanish in the U.S. is that its use, in terms of the number of speakers and general “visibility” (mainstream media, advertising, etc.), is growing exponentially. And with record numbers of Spanish-speaking immigrants coming from South and Central America, it looks like this will continue indefinitely. So, there is no doubt that thousands, millions of Spanish speakers are going to the U.S; the question, however, is this: Does the Spanish that immigrants take with them take root in the U.S or is it ultimately lost?

With more than thirty-five million people in the U.S. speaking Spanish as their main language at home, its use is certainly more than a blip on English’s radar. Add the large number of English speakers studying Spanish, be it in elementary school, at college, or as part of job training (medical professionals, govt. workers, etc.), and you have a very significant portion of the U.S. population with at least a basic ability to communicate in Spanish. Bilingual education programs are bigger now than they have ever been before, and businesses and corporations are spending more money than ever on bilingual advertising. So why is there any doubt?

For one, studies have shown that Spanish is rarely passed on to third generation Hispanics in the U.S. Children that do learn both languages at a young age generally have a much greater proficiency in English than in Spanish, due to the educational system and sheer exposure to English. History has also shown that even large numbers of immigrants cannot maintain a language that is not passed down by the generations. German, for example, was once widely-spoken in the U.S., but due to events like World War I and II, immigration reform, etc., the current number of German speakers in the U.S. has dwindled to tiny enclaves.

So will the use of Spanish in the United States ultimately rise, fall or hold steady? That remains to be seen.

The United States has long prided itself on being a “melting pot” of different cultures and backgrounds and this becomes especially apparent amidst talk of the different voter demographics and the pledges made to different ethnic groups. Apart from the Spanish translations that I mentioned before on McCain and Obama’s websites, something caught my eye the other day that seemed to be a true sign of the times.

It’s a website (http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/TranslatorsforObama) called Translators for Obama, and it employs a wiki-style approach towards translating Obama’s speeches and important articles already on the web, as well as subtitling and dubbing commercials and audio clips into a number of languages. Members can provide their own translations and information in any language they can. Links to Spanish, Chinese and Arabic translations are all available, plus related content in a myriad of languages. As the site’s creators themselves put it, they are “limited only by the number of languages [their] members know.”

Political parties aside, the most inspirational aspect of this to me is the ability to get a group of translators to unite (pro bono even!) and work together towards contributing something they believe will make a difference.

Personally, one of the things about translating that gets under my skin is having to check over it once I’m done. I hate it. But after a few jobs where I wanted to bang my head against the wall because I hadn’t gone back over it and spotted my stupid mistake (but of course someone else did, and was kind enough to point it out to me)…..Well, let’s just say that I accepted that reviewing translations is a must and cannot be avoided. And it may seem unnecessary if our translation is going to be revised by an editor, but isn’t it better for us to correct our errors before they do?

My solution? I always try to leave at least a couple of minutes before delivery time for going back over it. 10 or 15 minutes is plenty. The first three or four minutes are to relax: I finished the job. I’m no longer looking for words, I’m not after that exact phrase. I’m done translating. I go to the kitchen for some juice, maybe eat an apple, or step out on the balcony for some fresh air. And then I come back to face the final step.

I run spell check (for Word documents, which are the most common for me), which is necessary and helpful. But you have to remember that it’s not perfect: spell check doesn’t know when “sí” needs an accent and when it doesn’t, when you want to say “tale” or “tall” or when you’ve mistakenly written “his high-heels.” You have to reread the text, there’s no way around it. Sit down and read it closely and carefully. The little break between translating and reviewing helps you distance yourself from it a bit, making it seem “newer.” Being so into the text causes our eyes to play tricks on us, leading us to believe that we had written evrey word perfectly…

With the U.S. presidential election around the corner, both John McCain and Barack Obama are fighting harder and harder for the Hispanic vote. McCain however, has been accused of trying to take advantage of the supposed Spanish-English language barrier to make contradictory claims to English and Spanish speaking voters.

It is ironic that McCain would want anything related to his campaign translated, given that he voted to “amend title 4 United States Code, to declare English as the national language of the United States.” And although he has a website in Spanish, Spanish radio ads, and numerous translated print ads, until now they have been fairly straight forward. The new ad however, in which McCain is portrayed as being dedicated to improving guest-worker programs and the path to citizenship, goes directly against his English language position:

“[I] have pledged that it would be among my highest priorities to secure our borders first, and only after we achieved widespread consensus that our borders are secure, would we address other aspects of the problem in a way that defends the rule of law and does not encourage another wave of illegal immigration.”

So what is McCain’s real stance? Obama supporters say it depends on who he’s talking to.

If there is one thing that almost all translators can agree upon, it’s that two of the most things to translate, no matter what the language, are jokes and poetry. Jokes, because they usually have a play on words or phrases with a “double meaning” that are practically impossible to transfer from one language to another.

Take this English one-liner for example:

“Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He’s all right now.”

One possible translation would be: “¿Te enteraste de ese chico al que le cortaron todo el lado izquierdo? Ahora está bien.” It would be technically correct, understandable, but missing the punch line. The joke works in English because “right” here means “bien” and “derecho.” Maybe you could make a play on words with “derecho” in the sense of “recto,” or maybe in the sense of laws… Eventually, and with a good bit of work, a good translator could get some kind of humor out of it.  But it would never be the same joke.

And poetry holds even greater challenges, even if it the original does not rhyme or you decide not to try and make the translation rhyme, it still involves meter, cadence, and rhythm that tend to be most difficult to translate. If it’s not a translation, you’re writing a new poem… A poem is a unique combination of special words- and not others– that are also laid out in a unique arrangement. How does one do that? So then, does everyone need to learn the original language in order to read the poem? Exactly how many languages do we need to learn? Right.
Every language has its own ways to twist words around, its own double meanings and plays on words. It’s not exactly vital to translate jokes since every country or region has its own style of humor. But for poetry, I feel that we translators don’t have a choice. we wouldn’t have access to Russian poetry, Greek classics, Latin sonnets, or Japanese haikus if a translator hadn’t first taken on the task of translating them. And although it may not turn out “perfect,” I think we should keep trying…

Maybe one of the higher ups forgot that the handbook has to be in Spanish as well as English. Maybe part of the PowerPoint presentation is missing and needs to be translated into English for tomorrow’s meeting. Whatever the case, if you’re the client, you need it now. And if you’re the translator, you need to do it now. Here are a few tips on what both sides (client & translator) can do to make a situation known for causing nervous breakdowns go as smoothly as possible.

For the Client: Make sure that the translator or translation company has all the information they need, plus anything else you can provide (glossary, translation memory, translation style guide, etc.) so that there are no hold ups once the ball gets rolling. Answer any questions coming from the other side as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. And above all, remember that a quality translation takes time and hard work. Miracles can happen, but impossible demands will not get them.

For the Translator: Take a deep breath. Get all of your materials together, make sure you’re clear on the exact specifications of the project, and then get to work. Here’s the trick though: take a lot of short breaks. I know it seems impossible, but force yourself to do it. Rush projects typically result in low quality not because of the time crunch per se, but because a translator spends 8 consecutive hours translating and errors get made, the translator zones out, and the translation itself becomes more and more literal. So take 5 minutes and take a walk or eat an apple. Whatever you need to stay fresh. And follow the golden rule of course, save early and save often!

About a century ago George Bernard Shaw remarked that England and the United States were two countries divided by a common language.  The differences in the Spanish spoken in Spain (not to mention in the different regions of Spain itself) and that spoken in Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, etc. can make it seem like everyone is not speaking the same language either.
When translating from English to Spanish, one of the problems we commonly face is knowing what country or region we are writing for, then adapting our text to the “flavor” of the intended audience. We may also have to take a text in English and put it into a Spanish with Caribbean slang, Catalan terms, or lunfardo from Buenos Aires. Maybe we’re not sure of the meaning or if the word we know is used in the same way there. Most times a translator will have to consult a local native speaker (if he or she is lucky enough to know one), search in a forum that has speakers from different countries, or look to a special resource, such as the one that I’d like to share with you now: the “Jergas de Habla Hispana” website. I’ve found it to be a useful tool for finding some of those “weird” words that don’t appear in other dictionaries, and though the site’s creators acknowledge that it’s not all-encompassing, they invite visitors to further enhance it.  http://www.jergasdehablahispana.org/

Harry Shaw is credited with saying, “There is no such thing as good writing. There is only good rewriting.” Believe it or not, translation is no different. In a best case scenario, a project will be translated, edited and then proofread by three different qualified translators. Most reputable Spanish translation companies provide these services as part of their normal translating process. Now maybe you don’t have time to give your document the full treatment, or you feel like you’d be wasting money by getting anything but a bare bones translation. Things come up out of the blue of course, but remember where that difference in time and money spent is going to show up: in the quality of the translation.

It comes as a surprise to many, but having a good translator does not always result in a good translation. A million things can go wrong: a misspelled word here, a missing phrase there, etc. These are the little things that, if not spotted, can blemish an important article, make you and your company look careless and possibly ruin a business opportunity.

As the world becomes more and more globalized, the realities of translation are reaching the mainstream. Machine translation does not work. No single translator is perfect. A project needs to be reviewed, revised, and corrected before it goes out. So a final quote to stress the importance of editing and proofreading.

“Writing without revising is the literary equivalent of waltzing gaily out of the house in your underwear.”
——- Patricia Fuller

When looking at the use of the Spanish language in the U.S., the numbers speak for themselves. According to the 2006 Census, the United States now has more than 35 million Spanish speakers, meaning there are more people speaking Spanish in the U.S. than in Venezuela, Chile, or Cuba. In fact, the U.S. currently has the sixth largest Spanish-speaking population in the world. The annual growth rate for the Latino community in the U.S. is approaching 4%, more than triple the overall growth rate, and experts say that by the year 2050, more than 25% of the U.S. population will speak Spanish.

These numbers have caused quite a stir, sparking debates on a “national language,” immigration policy, language in schools, and more. Even Presidential candidate Barack Obama has spoken his mind on the subject, stating “Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English. They’ll learn English. You need to make sure your child can speak Spanish.”

Now, what do you do when millions of people in the same country aren’t speaking the same language? Translate of course. Television, magazines, and other media now provide translated versions to reach a greater audience. Businesses like McDonalds and Coca-Cola spend millions on translating and localizing their marketing efforts to reach U.S. Spanish speaking customers. The intention here is not to provoke debate, but rather to point out that translations and translators, both formal and informal, have become the new liaison in the U.S.

The act of translating can be a very gratifying experience…or a pain in the neck.

Talking about the satisfying side is easy (and rather boring), and because the enjoyment is personal and distinctive for each one of us, it doesn’t do us much good in regards to learning or improving our skills.  The problems we face while translating however, if we were to share them, discuss them with colleagues and try to solve them, could help us grow in our profession.

What are some common problems that we face as translators? We have gone to great lengths to master the twists and turns of our own language, its rules and idiosyncrasies. Not to mention a new language, one that we grasp almost as our own, that we know so much about, but always with so much more to learn.  And we have a specialty, or a topic we prefer, or one that comes easily to us. But we also have the thousands of topics that we know nearly nothing about, that are hard for us to figure out, and that the mere thought of having to translate frightens us.  Even in best case scenarios, no translation is “ideal.” We have all had experiences with the client who doesn’t understand what we do, the time and the effort that we put into it. Not everyone understands that we are not machines that you enter words into and then a little while later the translation pops out automatically.

And the texts we work with? How does one deal with “clippings” with no context that give no clues as to the appropriate meaning/verb tense/pronoun? How many times would we give “our kingdom for a glossary” that wasn’t provided?  There is also the client that asks for explanations once the work is finished, or even returns the work “corrected.” And of course we have the small day to day decisions: “This sentence is correct, but… who is the translation for?” Things like not using the formal “usted” for elementary students, and tailoring our translations to a specific audience, be it Latinos in the US or Argentineans in Buenos Aires, or on the other side of the coin, British English versus American English. And if there are two choices for the same term (baúl/maletero or trunk/boot) we must select the proper “flavor” for our intended audience.

Although records of translations date back more than two thousand years, the Information Age has sparked quite a boom in the need for translation. The world has become more interconnected through international commerce, improved communications, and of course, the World Wide Web. This is especially true for Spanish and English, as things like NAFTA, the record numbers of Spanish-speaking immigrants in the U.S., and the loosening of trade restrictions has made increased communication between English and Spanish speaking countries essential. One can reach almost the entire world if they use the right channels, and the implications of this are enormous for both the Spanish and English speaking communities.

From a business perspective, the ramifications of this are unparalleled. The number of potential customers can jump exponentially overnight, and corporations have known this for years. Now we are seeing it trickle down to mid-size and even local companies, who use translations and a little cultural awareness to reach a new audience. With more than 300 million Spanish speakers in the world, companies are opening their doors to new potential customers by marketing directly to the Hispanic consumers. And with English as the world’s current lingua franca, Spanish speaking countries are doing likewise by translating into English.

In this blog, we are going to be talking about Spanish into English and English into Spanish translations. I hope to keep the topics varied enough so that everyone can learn a little about this specific style of translation, how it’s done, and why it’s important. Our goal is to provide information for everyone: an author looking to translate his or her work for the first time, a professional translator who wants to learn a little more about their trade, essentially anyone interested in Spanish-English translation.

Welcome to the official Spanish Translation US blog. In this blog, you will find tips, advice, and all kinds of information regarding the art, the science, and the wide world of translation, as written by translators, project managers, DTP specialists, localization and globalization experts, and all those involved in this exciting industry. We invite you to learn more about the many different facets of this field and keep informed of the latest news and updates from Spanish Translation US.