The objective of any company making a product or providing a service is of course selling that product or service. To do so, companies hire creative marketing specialists, sociologists and publicists; they perform tests, studies, statistical analyses, advertising campaigns and so on.

An astronomical sum of money invested in all of this…  but why don’t they spend a few bucks on making sure that they are getting a quality translation when they are planning to sell abroad?  Although it may seem like a small detail, why not consult an expert when planning to advertise your product in different languages?

In a similar vein, what about the government officials who decide on the designs for bilingual signs for tourists? Why don’t they consult a translator? It is a small investment that can pay off huge dividends in the long term. Lucky for us, “smart” companies get it.

There are a number of web sites that have compiled some funny examples of these bad translations.  But surely some of these mistranslations, while still funny, are counter productive for the companies (hotels, restaurants or countries), as they negatively affect their image, thereby leading to fewer sales. Here are just a few examples.
How many instruction manuals have we seen that are translation nightmares? This bubble blowing pistol had a note, translated from Japanese to English, that said, “WHILE SOLUTION IS NOT TOXIC IT WILL NOT MAKE CHILD EDIBLE.”
It seems to me that couples visiting Tokyo will pick other hotels over this one, whose rules state: “GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIORS IN BED.”
A doctor in Rome must have noticed his dwindling number of female clients after hanging this sign: “SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES”
When General Motors introduced its Chevy Nova into South American markets, they didn’t realize what “no va”meant (doesn’t go). When they finally realized why they weren’t selling any Novas, they renamed it the Caribe for the Hispanic market.
When advertising a new ball point pen in Mexico, Parker’s ads should have said, “No goteará en su bolsillo y no lo avergonzará” (Won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you). But as the company thought that the Spanish word for embarrass was “embarazar,” they said, “No goteará en su bolsillo y no lo embarazará” (Won’t leak in your pocket and impregnate you).
This last example was seen by a colleague, in the city of Buenos Aires. A large wine dealer on an important corner in town had a sign in Spanish on one of the streets and one in English on the other. In Spanish it read, “VINOS AÑEJOS – VINOS NUEVOS” and in English: “OLD WINES – ACTUAL WINES” They probably didn’t understand why customers were suspicious of their “vinos añejos”…

Trusted Translations, the leading producer of Spanish translation services in the U.S., has set the goal of reducing paper consumption by 90% in the next two years. Using the Environmental Working Group’s Ten Elements for Improving Environmental Performance and Compliance, Trusted Translations will implement policies to optimize and maximize the use of electronic means of internal and external communications by employing highly developed content management tools and secure high speed electronic delivery systems.

It is hoped that such policies will improve the corporate culture of Trusted Translations, as well as that of other companies in the industry. Also, by collaborating with NGOs, Trusted Translations aims to help raise environmental awareness amongst the Hispanic population.

Myth 1: Anyone bilingual person can be a good translator.

This is probably the most common misconception. It is indeed necessary to know more than one language to be a translator, but to be a good translator, the most important requirement is being a good writer. A professional translator needs a mastery of words, plus control over different writing styles and registers that he or she can employ for different types of projects, such as legal, medical, fiction, financial, etc.

Myth 2: You need a degree in translating or a foreign language  to be a professional translator.
This is not necessary to be able to work for the vast majority of translation agencies, and even less so for freelance work. In fact, translators often come from different fields, such as engineering, medicine or law, and then use their background knowledge to specialize in that type of translation.

Myth 3: Computer programs are better translators than humans.
Computers are great tools for translators, with their online glossaries, CAT tools, etc., but machine translations have a long way to go before they can produce something comparable in quality to a translation done by a professional translator. Check out the video below for a few examples of these funny translation mistakes.

Cheap and fast are the first two words that go through most people’s minds when they start looking for a translation agency. But when they read over the first translation that they had done based solely on those two criteria, they’ll probably rethink the whole idea and realize that “quality” was actually what they were looking for. This is a little guide on how to avoid these situations when selecting who is going to do your English or Spanish translation.

Quality translations can be cheap and they can have good turnaround times, no doubt about it. The trick is finding these translation companies. There are essentially two key factors that will give you a top-notch translation: the skills of the translators and the translation process used at the company.

Try and find out how the company chooses its translation team and see if they have native English and Spanish speakers on staff. See if they have specialists in the medical, legal, engineering or whatever field you need. A lot of translation projects are doomed before they get started because an uncle’s friend is “fluent” and is asked to take the job instead of a professional translation agency.

A good translation is not a one-step process. Ideally, you will have native speakers translating, editing and proofreading your document or project. Read over the company’s process and see how they do things. If the company hasn’t listed this information on it’s company website, move on to the next.

There’s no getting around the price. It is extremely important. And the best translation companies do offer low price translations because they know what they’re doing and have the best translators following a quality translation process. So do a little homework on the English and Spanish translation company and you will see the results pay off ten-fold.

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…

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!

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

Trusted Translations, Inc. announced the launch of Spanish Post Production, a division of the leader in Spanish Translation, dedicated to offering transcription, subtitling, dubbing and Voice Over Services into Spanish.

More information at:

Trusted Translations has launched Multimedia Division

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.