Free English to Spanish Translations Guide: Challenges in Translating Spanish to EnglishIn Part 3 of this Free English to Spanish Translations Guide series, Eva Obregon, a Spanish translator, explains some of the special challenges involved in translating Spanish to English and English to Spanish. Click here for Part 1 of our conversation with Eva At the bottom of the page, you'll find links to related resources, including a Spanish translation pricing guide. (Were you looking for a free online translator?) Conversation with a Spanish Translator - Part 3Q: Are there any special challenges in translating from English to Spanish? A: Interferences. Sometimes you read something in Spanish and you know it’s been translated from English. I think this has to do a lot with the TV and film industries because there are so many things that we watch that are dubbed or subtitled and, in that format, it’s very difficult to adapt the language to the local language. There are “false friends” [words in two languages that resemble each other but have different meanings or usage] and phrases that aren’t really Spanish but that people are more or used to hearing because they’re always translated that way in Spanish. They aren’t really Spanish, but maybe they’re becoming standard Spanish. For example, when I’m translating to Spanish, I don’t like saying, “marketing” because there is a Spanish word for it -- I like saying “comercialización.” But people who actually work in marketing use “marketing” in English – they don’t mind. It’s not really correct to use foreign words in a translation, but sometimes that’s the usage. I have a lot of clients who are marketing departments of major companies, and when something like this comes up, mostly I talk to the client because a lot of it is just lingo they use in the field, and if I did translate to proper Spanish, they wouldn’t understand it because the lingo they use is English. And there is even some lingo that’s a hybrid of both languages. For example, a narration in a documentary is called a “voiceover” in English, and in Spanish, it’s called a “voz en off,” which is completely incorrect in English – it’s like the voice is turned off, right? But that’s what you call it in Spanish, and if you don’t write it that way, no one understands it. So it’s a mistake that someone made years ago, and it has become part of the language. So you have to be sensitive to the audience and to where you are, you have to be flexible, so that you’re actually expressing what the author really wants to express. Q: And special challenges in translating Spanish to English? A: In written language, I find that Spanish tends to be very verbose, and that it's considered better writing if you don't get to the point quickly, while English is more direct. Sometimes, that's hard to reconcile because you always try to adapt the style as well as the content, and you might come up with a style that mimics the original in terms of form but doesn't necessarily express the intelligence that the original author may have intended to express because it just sounds excessive in English. Return to Part 1 of this Free English to Spanish Translations Guide interview. Special challenges in translating English to Spanish:
Special challenges in translating Spanish to English:
Free English to Spanish Translations Guide - More ResourcesReturn to Part 1 of the Free English to Spanish Translations Guide interview with Eva Obregon See typical translator prices for translating Spanish to English Get advice on hiring a translator or choosing an agency Browse a list of all pages about translating English to Spanish in the free English to Spanish Translations Guide
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