What Are the Challenges in Spanish Translations?


What Are the Challenges in Spanish Translations?
Beth Worthy

Beth Worthy

5/25/2021

After English and Chinese, Spanish is the most used language on the Internet. With rapid-scale globalization, the need for Spanish language translations is becoming critical for businesses.

This, in turn, has expanded the opportunities for Spanish translation services to a great extent. In this blog, we’ll provide insights into Spanish translation and the challenges people usually face during the process.

Types of Spanish Translation

There are several forms of Spanish translation, but the widely used techniques are as follows:

  • Literary Translation: Literary translation is highly complex in execution and mostly deals in literature writings. Apart from maintaining a high level of expertise, the translator should ensure that the translated file is precise, vivid, beautiful, and flawless.  Typically, literary translation is primarily done by highly experienced professionals.
  • Copy and General Document Translation: Spanish translation requires various materials, which can be daunting, to begin with. Medical texts, legal documents, advertisement copies, and various types of manuals are popular documents that require Spanish translation.
  • Television Soaps and Film Translations and Dubbing: The demand for English to Spanish translation in the film and television industry is relatively higher than Spanish to English translation. A film is first translated and then dubbed before releasing in the theatres for the public.

Common Challenges of Spanish Translations

Major challenges in Spanish translations that people mostly face are as follows:

  • Translation Vs. Bilingualism: Having expertise in both English and the Spanish language is not adequate to provide translation services. Businesses prefer working with firms and professionals. The most critical skills include proper education and training in the field. With experience, translators can acquire the skills to work on more complex tasks.
  • Correctness: One of the biggest challenges that a translator faces is translating the formality of the Spanish language. The language uses different terms based on formality and seriousness, such as "tu" and “usted." "Tu," the informal version, is used to address friends and family, while "usted" is the formal version used to address formal authority or figure. English does not have such specific variations. A talented translator must figure out the tone of the sentence and its target audience and choose the most appropriate wording accordingly.
  • Author's Intent: When translating from Spanish to English, it is important to consider the author’s goals. For example, translating the book 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez is one of the major accomplishments of the famous Spanish author Rabassa. The translation focuses on the author's mind and the book's objective instead of relying on word-to-word text translation. A good translation would enable audiences to understand the intent of the writer.
  • Cultural Boundaries: A good translator must both cultures well along with being bilingual. A major part of effective translation is understanding the difference between two languages and translating the intent while keeping with the cultural sensibilities of the source and target language.

Qualities of a Good Spanish Translation Service

What qualities should you look for in a Spanish translation service? Some key qualities of a translation service include:

  • Employs Native Speakers: Translation services that employ native Spanish speakers as their translators are preferable. This enables the translator to understand the nuances of the language and maintain the context of  the original text
  • SpecializedKnowledge: The translation services should have translators who excel in one or more subjects. For example, a person could be an IT expert, a legal expert, or have a good knowledge of medicine, etc. This helps them understand the technical terms of the subject and translate them accordingly. It also widens the range of projects they can work on.
  • Professionalism: The translators should be highly professional and should be able to discuss with the client about the project and zero in on the exact requirements and expectations of the client.
  • Accuracy: An effective translation service provider should be able to provide accurate and precisely translated documents. They should adhere to the meaning and intent of the source document while being flawlessly translated into the target language, i.e., Spanish.

GMR Transcription Services, Inc. is among the most efficient professional English to Spanish translation services providers with 99% guaranteed accuracy.

Our team of seasoned and skilled translators provides high-quality translated documents within quick deadlines. We ensure the complete safety and confidentiality of your data.

Read Also: Spanish Translation and the Importance of Slang

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Beth Worthy

Beth Worthy

Beth Worthy is the Cofounder & President of GMR Transcription Services, Inc., a California-based company that has been providing accurate and fast transcription services since 2004. She has enjoyed nearly ten years of success at GMR, playing a pivotal role in the company's growth. Under Beth's leadership, GMR Transcription doubled its sales within two years, earning recognition as one of the OC Business Journal's fastest-growing private companies. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids.