The Power of Spanish Translation for Nonprofits

Posted On February 28, 2024By TranspanishIn Spanish Translation, Translation Buyers/ No Comments

In an increasingly interconnected world, where diversity is celebrated and inclusion is paramount, nonprofit organizations are recognizing the importance of effective communication to engage with diverse communities, including the Hispanic community. One significant aspect of this communication strategy is the use of Spanish translation services, as Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages. This post explores the multifaceted reasons why nonprofits should invest in translating their materials into Spanish when trying to reach out to the Hispanic community.

Bridging the Language Gap: The Hispanic Community and Nonprofits

The Hispanic community represents a significant and growing demographic in many countries, including the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Hispanic population in the U.S. reached 62.1 million in 2020. Many within this community rely on Spanish as their primary language. By providing Spanish translation services, nonprofits bridge the communication gap, ensuring essential information and resources reach this significant population segment.

Why Spanish Translation Matters for Nonprofits

Enhanced Accessibility: Spanish translation makes your nonprofit’s services and resources accessible to Spanish speakers, breaking down language barriers that can hinder those seeking help. This leads to a broader, more inclusive reach, maximizing the potential impact of your organization.
Building Trust and Rapport: Offering services in someone’s native language shows respect and consideration for their cultural background. This fosters a sense of trust and openness, making individuals and communities more receptive to your nonprofit’s message and services.
Improved Communication and Understanding: Accurate Spanish translations prevent misunderstandings, particularly when dealing with complex or sensitive information. Effective communication is vital for nonprofit success, whether it’s providing support, educating communities, or advocating for a cause.
Increased Visibility and Reach: Translating your website, marketing materials, and other outreach efforts into Spanish expands your nonprofit’s visibility. This allows you to connect with a broader audience, leading to increased engagement, potential supporters, and ultimately furthering your mission.
Commitment to Cultural Sensitivity: Providing Spanish translation services demonstrates a commitment to diversity and inclusion. It shows an understanding that your nonprofit values the cultural nuances of the communities you serve, leading to more meaningful and impactful relationships.

Secure Grants with Spanish Translation

Align with grant criteria: Many grants, particularly humanitarian grants, prioritize organizations serving diverse populations. Providing materials in Spanish showcases your commitment to reaching and supporting these communities, increasing your chances of qualifying.
Demonstrate inclusivity: Grants often seek to fund organizations that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. Offering Spanish translation demonstrates your dedication to these values, appealing to grantors seeking impactful partners.

Key Areas Where Spanish Translation is Essential

Healthcare Information: Accurate translation of medical information, consent forms, and educational materials is crucial for Spanish-speaking patients. This ensures they make informed decisions about their health and receive appropriate care.
Educational Resources: Translating educational materials, workshops, and training programs empowers Spanish-speaking communities. It grants them access to essential knowledge, skills development, and opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Legal and Advocacy Support: Spanish translation of legal documents, advocacy materials, and information regarding rights ensures that Spanish speakers understand their legal options and can access crucial support systems.
Disaster Relief and Crisis Response: During crisis situations, timely and accurate translation of emergency information, instructions, and support resources can be lifesaving for Spanish-speaking populations.
Fundraising and Donor Outreach: Translating fundraising materials and donor communications expands your potential donor pool and fosters stronger relationships with Spanish-speaking supporters.

How to Implement Spanish Translation Services

Partner with Professional Translation Agencies: Choose agencies specializing in nonprofit translation services with experience in your field. They understand the nuances of humanitarian language and can provide culturally sensitive translations.
Utilize Technology: Translation software and tools offer quick solutions for basic communication. Combine these with professional translations for critical documents and outreach materials. Reminder: Always have machine translations reviewed by a professional translator.
Train Bilingual Staff and Volunteers: Invest in language training for staff and volunteers who interact with Spanish-speaking communities. Even basic conversational Spanish can improve communication and build trust.

Incorporating Spanish translation services is an investment in the heart of your nonprofit’s mission. By transcending language barriers, you expand your reach, increase the effectiveness of your services, and demonstrate a genuine commitment to the communities you serve. Embracing the power of Spanish translation unlocks a world of possibilities, allowing you to amplify your impact and create a more inclusive and compassionate world.

Transpanish understands the transformative power of nonprofits to create positive change. That’s why we offer exceptional nonprofit translation services, ensuring your message of hope and progress reaches diverse communities. Our commitment to accuracy and cultural sensitivity supports your mission. Contact us today to learn about our special nonprofit discounts.

Translation Agencies: Revolutionizing Healthcare Communication

Posted On October 23, 2023By TranspanishIn Spanish Translation, Translation Buyers, Translations/ No Comments

In the global healthcare landscape, effective communication is paramount for ensuring optimal patient care and well-being. However, the linguistic diversity within patient populations poses a significant challenge for healthcare providers. This is where translation agencies emerge as crucial allies, providing comprehensive language solutions to bridge the communication gap and facilitate the seamless translation of healthcare content. Let’s delve into the ways in which a translation agency can effectively assist in translating complex healthcare materials.

Understanding the Complexity of Healthcare Translation:

Healthcare translation involves a complex amalgamation of medical terminology, cultural sensitivity, and regulatory compliance. Translation agencies possess the expertise to navigate this intricate landscape, ensuring accurate and culturally nuanced translations of a wide array of healthcare materials, including medical records, patient education materials, pharmaceutical documentation, and regulatory compliance documents. By tapping into their pool of skilled translators and subject matter experts, language service providers ensure that every translation accurately reflects the medical nuances and cultural sensitivities specific to the target audience.

Ensuring Cultural Sensitivity and Language Proficiency:

Cultural nuances and language proficiency play a pivotal role in effective healthcare communication. Translation agencies leverage their cultural and linguistic expertise to ensure that healthcare content is not just translated accurately but also adapted to resonate with the cultural and linguistic preferences of the target audience. This approach fosters a deeper level of patient engagement, trust, and understanding, thereby enhancing the overall patient experience and promoting better health outcomes within diverse communities.

Navigating Regulatory Compliance and Quality Assurance:

Adherence to regulatory guidelines and maintaining quality standards is non-negotiable in the healthcare industry. Translation agencies play a critical role in ensuring that translated healthcare content complies with industry-specific regulations and meets the stringent quality benchmarks set by regulatory bodies. By implementing robust quality assurance measures, including meticulous proofreading, editing, and multiple rounds of review, these agencies guarantee the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of healthcare translations, safeguarding patient safety and upholding the credibility of healthcare providers.

Utilizing Advanced Translation Technology:

The integration of advanced translation technologies is instrumental in streamlining the healthcare translation process. Translation agencies leverage state-of-the-art translation management systems, computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools, and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of healthcare translations. These technological tools not only expedite the translation process but also ensure terminological consistency, linguistic precision, and cost-effective solutions, enabling healthcare providers to deliver timely and culturally relevant healthcare information to diverse linguistic communities.

Customizing Translation Solutions for Diverse Healthcare Needs:

Language service providers recognize the diverse communication needs of healthcare providers and offer customized translation solutions tailored to specific healthcare requirements. Whether it’s translating patient forms, medical reports, clinical trial documentation, or healthcare marketing materials, translation agencies employ a personalized approach to cater to the unique linguistic and cultural demands of the healthcare sector. By offering a comprehensive suite of translation services, including document translation, interpretation, localization, desktop publishing and multilingual marketing, translation agencies empower healthcare providers to communicate effectively and compassionately with patients, regardless of their language or cultural background.

Fostering Long-Term Collaborative Partnerships:

Language service providers prioritize building long-term collaborative partnerships with healthcare institutions, fostering trust, transparency, and open communication. By understanding the evolving translation needs of healthcare providers, these agencies offer dedicated account management, round-the-clock customer support, and continuous linguistic guidance to ensure seamless and effective healthcare communication. The cultivation of enduring partnerships enables translation agencies to serve as trusted advisors, offering strategic insights, customized language solutions, and proactive support to navigate the complexities of multilingual healthcare communication.

In an increasingly diverse and interconnected healthcare landscape, the role of translation agencies in facilitating effective communication cannot be overstated. By combining linguistic proficiency, cultural sensitivity, advanced technology, and a commitment to regulatory compliance, they serve as vital partners in enabling healthcare providers to transcend language barriers, deliver patient-centric care, and promote equitable access to healthcare information. As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, translation agencies remain at the forefront of fostering inclusive and effective healthcare communication, ultimately contributing to improved patient outcomes and the delivery of compassionate, culturally sensitive healthcare services on a global scale.

With over 20 years of experience in healthcare and medical translation, Transpanish is a trusted leader in the field. Our services extend beyond translation to include editing, proofreading, desktop publishing (DTP), and multilingual social media management, ensuring accurate and visually appealing healthcare communication. Contact us for a free consultation.

The Secret to Translating Canva Designs

Posted On September 24, 2021By TranspanishIn Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ 1 No Comments

Despite Canva’s popularity and user-friendly focus as a design tool, it has several limitations regarding multilingual practicality. So what should translators and customers be aware of when using it?

What Is Canva?

Canva is an incredibly useful graphic design platform with user-friendly templates and functionality that has become a popular cloud-based tool, with many free options. Its success has led to it being used in everything from social media posts and corporate logos to visual elements in documents and posters.

Canva does, however, have some limitations when translating or editing designs on the platform. This does not mean it cannot be done, as we illustrate in this guide.

What Problems Does Canva Pose for Translation?

A key issue for translators and editors to be aware of is being proficient in different software to make sure that documents can be worked on and supplied back to the client in the Canva platform or the supported formats.

For a good translation, maintaining the document format is often essential. While working on editable Word documents, for example, this is very simple, but challenges arise when working with non-editable documents like PDFs or PNGs. As a result, many translators request editable documents.

Editable PDFs do indeed exist and OCR technology can be used to extract editable text from non-editable documents in which text is the primary focus. You can read our guide to translating PDFs here.

Unfortunately, at present, Canva only allows non-editable download options, posing a potential barrier for the translation of these documents. You can check whether a PDF has been created using Canva by opening Adobe Acrobat Reader, then selecting Properties of the file to show details regarding the document’s creation.

Here, Canva will be listed under Application and PDF Producer. This means that the source document cannot be provided to a language service provider as it simply does not exist. However, it is possible to share Canva designs directly with language service providers via the Canva platform and use clever workarounds to bypass the limitations of the service.

How to Share a Canva Design

While Canva makes it impossible to share editable documents off the platform, it does have an in-built share function that is even available on the free version. Simply click on the Share button on the top of the page and enter the email address to which you would like to send the link. Or you may generate a shareable link of your design from inside the editor or on the homepage.

This means that designs can be requested from prospective clients or sent to language service providers. However, this does not overcome all of the limitations of the platform for translators as it does not allow for integration with software like CAT or spellcheck tools unless you use an add-in such as Grammarly. It is, therefore, important to pay attention to several factors when working on a Canva design.

Consider the Formatting Differences in Languages

Some languages use more words to express the same meaning than others. For example, a Spanish translation will have an approximately 20% higher word count than an English document, meaning that translators and designers will need to bear this in mind when working on Canva documents with regard to spacing.

It is also worth considering using different fonts in different languages as some that may be appropriate in one language may not be in another. It is important to hire a specialist that is not just aware of translation but also international formatting practices and requirements to ensure a natural document.

Translating Quote Graphics and Images with Text

If quote graphics are inserted into a document, perhaps as a non-editable Canva design, then the desktop publishing (DTP) specialist will need to create a similar design using Canva that looks good in the target language too. The same applies to any other text image being edited.

It is worth noting that when a design is shared via Canva, the source images are not shared so these should be sent to the translation agency or DTP specialist directly so they can be edited or used as a reference for design.

Make Sure the Document Is Proofread

It is crucial to proofread the final Canva design or document in case of any formatting issues or cut text. Naturally, the more adjustments between file types there are, the higher the risk is of errors being made. This is especially important when you translate a document using CAT tools such as SDL Trados and you copy the text from the translation file. In this case, the file used would be the PDF version downloaded directly from Canva.

When selecting a translation company to work on a Canva design or document, make sure that they include proofreading as this will be crucial for making sure your final document is error-free.

What Can Transpanish Do for You?

Transpanish has a team of DTP specialists and expert translators who can translate documents created using Canva and are able to overcome the current inherent limitations of the popular platform.

Hispanic Heritage Month: Communication Strategies

Posted On September 13, 2020By TranspanishIn Latinos, Mulilingual Digital Marketing, Spanish Translation, Translation Buyers/ 2 No Comments

From September 15 to October 15, the United States marks National Hispanic Heritage Month to celebrate the achievements of the Hispanic community along with its history and culture. Initially introduced as Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968, it was expanded into Hispanic Heritage Month in 1988, with the start date of September 15 being chosen because this was when the Hispanic countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua declared their independence in 1821. Mexico and Chile also declared their independence in September, on September 16 and 18 respectively. While the date was chosen due to these events, it celebrates Hispanic heritage of all backgrounds.

What Is the Significance of Hispanic Heritage Month?

Since its foundation, Hispanic Heritage Month has regularly featured everything from parades to presidential addresses to mark the occasion, and as the Hispanic community in the United States grows, it is looking to become an ever more important event.

At present, 60 million Hispanic people are living in the United States, some 20% of the country’s population, a figure that is predicted to grow to 111 million by 2060, having already become the largest minority group in the country. This celebration is an invaluable and increasingly unignorable opportunity for content creators and businesses alike to show their support for the community and win over loyal Hispanic customers – the most brand-loyal group in the United States.

Hispanic Americans, however, are a diverse group, with family backgrounds coming from all over the Hispanic world and there being vast differences between Cubans in Florida, Puerto Ricans in New York, and Mexicans in California. The Hispanic heritage of the United States goes far beyond immigration, with many states once also being part of Mexico or the Spanish Empire, and some cities being predominantly Spanish speaking, like Miami where 70% of the population are native Spanish speakers.

The influence of Hispanic heritage on the United States is undeniable yet is an often overlooked part of the country, something that is going to become harder to ignore for those looking to succeed in everything from marketing to politics in the future of the United States.

What Is the Difference Between Hispanic and Latino?

While the terms Hispanic and Latino are often used interchangeably in the United States, they actually have very different meanings. Latino refers to someone from Latin America, including both Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries, due to them both being Latin-based languages. Meanwhile, Hispanic refers specifically to Spanish speakers.

While many often have a fixed view of what a Hispanic person looks like, the Hispanic community is incredibly diverse, including black and indigenous Hispanic people who are often overlooked in such definitions. They are both rather generalizing terms and a better approach still is to be aware of the unique cultures and heritage of each unique group.

What’s the Best Approach for Communication with the Hispanic Community?

The best approach for communicating with the Hispanic community is the same as for any group, which is to show respect and understanding. This means taking the time to show you understand them as a group and respecting the Spanish language and any traditions, while also being aware of the differences within the community. As such, it is best to use content that has been professionally translated and culturally adapted.

If machine translations are used, the use of which should be avoided, they should at least be proofread. Not doing so shows a disrespect that risks harming your relations and therefore your goals with the Hispanic community.

First, you should learn about the intricacies and issues in the Hispanic community, taking the time to research the group and plan what you want to say. Hiring someone to help out with this often-difficult process will have better results for both you and your consumers.

As part of content adaptation, it’s also worth adapting social media platforms for the Hispanic community, instead of using a mix of Spanish and English on the same platform and hoping that the poor-quality automatic translation tools will take care of the rest. Creating unique content will show respect for the community and that you value them as much as your English-speaking audience.

It’s not just about the language, it’s also about showing support and awareness in a way that some rival businesses may not, thus losing valuable customers. This is something Transpanish can help you out with, by providing natural and well-adapted content on social media platforms to ensure that you get the most engagement and success possible with your target community, and by providing you accurate Spanish translations for your documents and all types of texts.

US Hispanics, COVID-19 and Spanish language barrier

The impact of the Spanish Language as a factor in COVID-19 among US Hispanics

Posted On July 2, 2020By TranspanishIn Latinos, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ 2 1 Comment

The COVID-19 pandemic has shocked the world, leading to some half a million deaths worldwide (at the time of writing) and many more lives that are forever changed. In the course of its spread throughout the world, the virus has consistently shown to hit the most vulnerable hardest, whether that is due to the pandemic’s health or financial impacts.

Throughout the US, for example, the Hispanic community has found itself to be more affected than many in American society, leading some to question why this is the case. The answer is not simple and is one that is deeply rooted in the cultural and social conditions of the Hispanic community, American society, and the healthcare system.

Racial Disparities and Pre-Existing Health Conditions

To begin with, according to the CDC, American Indians, African Americans and Hispanics or Latinos are up to five times more likely to be hospitalized due to the novel coronavirus than non-Hispanic white Americans, highlighting the racial disparities in the US. One reason for this could be that these groups are typically poorer with less access to information due to language barriers. Another is that they often have higher rates of underlying health problems, such as Type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure, which means they may be more severely affected and have worse outcomes upon coronavirus infection.

Cultural Conditions

There are also cultural conditions that could lead to the imbalanced impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Hispanic community, such as having more of an emphasis on physical contact and having larger families living together, possibly with a grandparent, which could increase the chances of infection. Latinos are also more likely to be working in roles in places like meatpacking plants and warehouses where they cannot socially isolate as easily as white Americans, with four out of five Latinos being essential workers. In some states, they may also potentially be more likely to live in apartments with more contact with other individuals. Similar patterns have been seen among poorer and more vulnerable groups around the world.

The Language Barrier

Of course, one also has to remember that many Hispanics in the US do not speak English as a first language and, therefore, could be more likely to feel less informed about important national measures to prevent infection as well as national measures to provide financial relief. When this lower level of information, already proven to have negative health and social outcomes, is combined with the US healthcare system, it seems almost inevitable that many in these communities will be left behind. Further to this, in the US healthcare system where health insurance is key, vulnerable people such as some in poorer Hispanic communities may lack sufficient insurance and therefore lack sufficient healthcare coverage, leading to poorer health outcomes.

The impact of the pandemic goes beyond health impacts, with the impact on the global economy being hard to ignore. Many have lost their jobs while many industries such as the service industry have been devastated, meaning many vulnerable workers have now seen their income reduced drastically. In fact, while 60% of Americans have lost income due to the coronavirus, this figure is 90% among Spanish-speaking Hispanics. The industries in which many Hispanics work in the US have been severely affected and when this is combined with less access to information regarding financial support due to language barriers, the pre-existing divisions in American society are widened.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the most vulnerable and most privileged in society and shown very real consequences of this division, as well as the importance of information and reduced language and social barriers to overcoming these difficulties. Addressing many of the issues that adversely affect the Hispanic community may be difficult but increasing access to information in Spanish would go a long way to helping the most vulnerable before moving on to tackling the social divisions in the US.

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Transpanish continues at full operation during the COVID-19 pandemic. For translation, proofreading and editing services, please contact us for a free quote and advice. We offer discounts for new clients and nonprofit organizations.

Free Resource provided by Transpanish: English – Spanish – Portuguese COVID-19 Glossary.

COVID-19 English Spanish Portuguese Glossary

New English-Spanish-Portuguese COVID-19 glossary

Posted On April 17, 2020By TranspanishIn Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers, Translations/ 3 No Comments

COVID-19 has spread worldwide with a global pandemic being declared, prompting countries around the world to declare emergencies and enact often unprecedented legislation and measures to fight the pandemic and limit harm.

As our understanding and the situation are rapidly developing, the relevant terminology being used is rapidly evolving too, leading to confusion in the media and challenges for translators when working on texts such as articles related to the novel coronavirus.

As a result, we have decided to build a glossary to assist translators, editors, those in the media and anyone else working in communication, to help them understand the correct terminology to use. With over 60 terms in English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese, we believe our glossary is the most comprehensive English-Spanish-Portuguese glossary on COVID-19 and the ongoing crisis.

We will continue to develop this glossary as the situation changes to be as up-to-date as possible. With the noticeable lack of clarity in the media about terms relating to the novel coronavirus pandemic, this glossary will hopefully make information in translations more streamlined and more accurate, helping to inform and fight the outbreak with the most reliable language possible.

It explains commonly confusing terms such as when to use surgical mask and when to use N95 respirator, the all-important differences between SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus and COVID-19 and what makes quarantine and isolation different.

This glossary is vital not only for accurate translation but also for reducing uncertainty and helping to disseminate reliable information. It will continue to be updated as the situation changes so be sure to visit it regularly.

Click here to access the glossary.

For translation, proofreading and editing services, please contact us for a free quote and advice.

Marketing to Latinos through Social Media – Transpanish

Posted On December 9, 2019By TranspanishIn Languages, Latinos, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ 5 4 Comments

In the early days of social media marketing, marketing strategists rarely used to target Latinos using social media or other forms of digital marketing. However, this has since changed and according to a recent article in Forbes, companies now need to be aware that on average, in the US at least, young Latinos are more likely to interact with companies on social media than the rest of the population and are very loyal to brands that use Spanish. Clearly, there is a good reason for brands to attract this growing and generally loyal target market.

According to eMarketer, while Hispanics in the US have a similar level of smartphone ownership compared to the general population, they spend 10.5 hours per week online on the devices on average compared to an average of 8.4 hours among other groups. They are also now more likely to use social networks via smartphone and are higher than average in their use of Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, while also watching more content and buying more products online than the average.

Meanwhile, another study revealed the shocking statistic that almost 50% of Hispanic millennials had used a brand hashtag or discussed a brand online compared with a figure of 17% for non-Hispanics, showing not only the huge size of the Hispanic market but also a very high level of engagement.

Facebook has also revealed that their platform is the most popular among Hispanics, with 71% of survey respondents saying that they used Facebook every day. In terms of Twitter, a study conducted in August 2018 found that Latinos make up 31% of the Twitter users in the US, only surpassed by Asians at 35%.

The Latino community is now, as can be seen, an incredibly important target market online and as eMarketer concludes, “Internet penetration among US Hispanics has mostly – though not entirely – caught up with that of the general US population, but their digital activities still stand out in several ways,” adding that “ad spending growth on US Hispanic media has outpaced that of total media in recent years and will likely do so for the foreseeable future.” [1]

So, how can marketers take advantage of Latinos’ growing presence on social media to promote their brands?

Marketers must realize that an effective social media campaign directed at the Latino segment will involve more than just a mere translation of the existing English-language campaign. Hispanics are eager to connect with content and engage in a dialog with their favorite brands, so companies should provide opportunities for consumers to interact bilingually or in their preferred language as it has been shown to be highly appreciated. In addition, they must consider how the English-language and Spanish-language pages can complement each other and create synergy, rather than just duplicating the message in another language, since many users will likely visit both pages if companies offer unique content.

Although Twitter offers a different format for customer engagement, the keys to successful corporate marketing on Twitter are to 1) jump in on existing conversations that are taking place within the Latino community to develop brand awareness and 2) get consumers to join in on the conversation about the company’s brand. Live chats on Twitter also provide sponsorship opportunities that may prove attractive to advertisers.

Are you ready to speak to your Spanish-speaking audience?

Producing great content in Spanish takes time and commitment. We can help you expand your reach and establish a connection with an audience that speaks the second most widely spoken language in the world. If you’d like to find out more about our service, visit Multilingual Social Media.

What Steps Should You Follow to Get a Successful Translation?

Posted On August 7, 2019By TranspanishIn Spanish Translation, Translation Buyers, Translations/ No Comments

Feeling overwhelmed by the translation process? Don’t know how or where to start?

One of Transpanish’s priorities is to educate customers so that they get the best translation service without any unpleasant surprises that could jeopardize their project.

That’s why we’ve come up with the following tips to help you make the right decisions for getting a successful translation.

Planning ahead matters

Plan your translation schedule in advance. A professional translator usually translates around 2,000 words per day. A translation agency can double that number and can also translate higher volumes, but translating large volumes of content in a short amount of time may cost more than you might expect. Bear this in mind when considering the text that you’re going to get translated and when establishing deadlines.

Ask yourself what goal you intend to reach with your translation. Supposing that you’re translating into Spanish, is there a specific region or country you’re looking to target? Or would you prefer a neutral Spanish translation that can be understood by all Spanish speakers?

Write for translation

If you haven’t written the source content yet, write it with translation in mind. Keep it simple and avoid idioms if possible. Write error-free copy and have it proofread before you send it for translation. You’re much more likely to get a quality translation if the original text is well written.

Provide reference material

Make sure to provide the translation agency or translator with all available reference material. This could include any past translations you were satisfied with and any glossary containing your company’s key terms, whether it’s bilingual or not. The more the translator understands your company’s tone the better.

Ever previously worked with a translation company and had it all go wrong? Be honest about it with the translation agency you’re hiring. Tell them about the problems you faced. If you have any examples of a bad translation that was done for you in the past, it might be a good idea to show them. This could even help a translation agency in choosing the right translator for your project.

Translation vendor selection

You might be wondering whether you should use a freelance translator or a translation agency. Maybe you’re even considering having your bilingual employee translate your documents.

But bear in mind that you pay for what you get.

Your Spanish-speaking employee, for example, might seem like a perfect option but it really takes much more than just speaking a language to translate documents accurately.

There are excellent freelance translators on the market but can they manage large-scale projects, and will you need to end up having to pay for another translator to proofread their work?

If you’re looking for a comprehensive service solution that can manage the entire process for you, you’re going to need a translation agency.

The standard will be higher as they have a quality assurance process that usually includes an expert proofreading. By the way, do remember to find out if a proofreading by a second translator or linguist is included in a translation service. Many companies offer different “quality levels” and they might even offer machine translation services at a cheap price. So remember to read the fine print of what is being offered and ask all the relevant questions.

Formatting

It’s important to format your document for translation. Are you getting a brochure translated? Bear in mind that some translations, such as translations from English to Spanish, end up having 15-30 percent more text than the original. This means that some arrangements, such as reducing font sizes, might need to be made to the final document.

If you’re translating a PDF, decide whether you’ll be doing the formatting on your end. If you request the translated document to be formatted, you’ll need to provide the source files (e.g. InDesign, PowerPoint) or the format will need to be recreated, which might result in a major expense.

Translating a large volume of content? Make the most of translation memories

If you’re translating high volumes of text with repetitions (sentences or segments repeated within one or more documents), it’s worth learning about translation memories.

A translation memory is essentially a database where the translation is stored as the translator works.

Let’s imagine that you’re translating six documents from English to Spanish with a total of 40,000 words, of which 10,000 are repetitions. If this is the first time the translator is working for you, the translator will start working with a computer-assisted translation (CAT) tool and create a translation memory for your project. As they translate, the sentences will be saved in the memory. When a new sentence is being worked on and the database finds a similar entry, the tool will show the sentence to the translator as a reference. This might be an exact match or what is called a fuzzy match (an under 99% match). Either way, the translator’s work will be made quicker and you’ll benefit from a time-efficient translation, not to mention consistency between your current and future documents.

Many agencies also offer discounts for repetitions and fuzzy matches so be sure to check if your translation quote reflects this discount.

Build a strong business relationship with your translation agency

If you find a translation vendor you trust, continue using their services.

This will help you get faster and more consistent translations and you may even benefit from special rates if you keep sending documents to translate on a monthly basis.

Regular clients can ask for special favors that a one-time client may not, such as translating a few sentences at a regular rate without incurring a minimum fee.

As with any project, making educated decisions is the key for a successful translation.

Still have questions? Contact us for a free quote or advice.

How US Politicians “Hispander” to the Latino Vote

Posted On June 4, 2019By TranspanishIn Latinos, Spanish Translation, Translation Buyers, Translations/ No Comments

The Hispanic population constitutes the largest minority group in the United States, if one counts the population as one ethnic group, and this is only forecast to increase. As such, the Spanish language is not only an increasingly important language in the US for the country’s corporate and cultural spheres but also its politics.

In fact, in the 2020 US elections, the Hispanic electorate (32 million) will overtake the African-American electorate (30 million) for the first time. In recognition of this community’s electoral importance, and in a bid to increase the size of their audience, many politicians try to court Hispanic votes through using the Spanish language in political materials and announcements. The problem? Well, some of them aren’t very good at it for a start.

There are many examples of mistranslations and a lack of cultural understanding, including everything from gender mistakes to direct translations that make little to no sense in Spanish. Amy Klobuchar, the senator of Minnesota, for example, referred to her mother on her website using the masculine rather than the feminine.

Even Julián Castro, the only Latino presidential candidate in the 2020 race so far, showed cultural misunderstanding by erroneously referring to the United States of America as “América” instead of “Estados Unidos”, with América being used in Spanish to refer to the entire continent. All these incidents and many more are subject to criticism and ridicule, likely being a result of using services like Google Translate.

Even when politicians do use Spanish correctly, they can still come across as pandering to the Hispanic population for their vote while ignoring them outside of the electioneering season, a phenomenon that’s come to be known as “hispandering”. Some politicians offer an unequal amount of content in Spanish to what they do in English, while other candidates have tried to pander to Hispanic voters on a cultural level. A famous example of this was when the Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign published an article called 7 ways Hillary Clinton is just like your abuela, which prompted backlash with the hashtag #NotMyAbuela.

This isn’t to say that politicians shouldn’t have a go at other languages to try and expand their appeal. From Jackie Kennedy to George W. Bush, the political class in the US has long taken an interest in the Spanish language, and this interest should indeed be regarded as positive.

However, there is a difference between, on the one hand, expressing a genuine interest in a group, with a desire to show you are listening to them and value their language and culture, and, on the other hand, patronizing them by using their language as a token gesture. It all comes down to attitude.

There is an argument that, as most Hispanic Americans speak English, the aim of this hispandering is just to show that they respect their culture in an environment that can be very hostile to Hispanic Americans and the Spanish language. But even if that is all that is intended, this message would be made all the more powerful through using professional translations and experts and making genuine attempts to understand this group rather than pander to them in a tokenistic manner.

How Should Translators Approach Content Too Complex for Its Intended Audience?

Posted On April 30, 2019By TranspanishIn Spanglish, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers, Translations/ 1 Comment

Language can be hard at the best of times, but paradoxically at the times when communication is the most important, all meaning can be lost in jargon for the average reader. This is a common phenomenon in fields like the civil service, finance and health care, all of which affect every person on the planet. However, they often involve highly complex terms and concepts that will leave many of those who rely upon these services scratching their heads, having a detrimental impact on their lives.

This problem is exacerbated by language issues, possibly caused by learning difficulties, a lower level of education or not being a native speaker of a language. This matter of needing to bear your audience in mind is a familiar issue for many translators, with this being a topic that affects all languages.

A recent study for the American College of Radiology analyzed 134 Spanish-language imaging-related patient education articles from Radiologyinfo.org and found that while most adults read at an eighth or ninth-grade reading level, and organizations like the American Medical Association advise materials to be at a maximum of a sixth-grade reading level, the average article was written at a 12^th– grade reading level. This is common in other medical specialties.

This complexity has very real and potentially very dangerous consequences, depending on the audience. A lack of understanding of personal health materials is associated with an increase in both hospitalization length and frequency, an increased rate of complications and higher health care costs, made all the worse in the case of the aforementioned study by US Hispanics having the lowest health literacy among all racial groups in the USA, with even the AMA’s reading recommendations likely being out of reach of many.

So, what should medical translators do in these sorts of instances? Should a Spanish translation intended for those who have lower reading levels reflect the reality? Or should it mirror the complex language in the original source document? This question is ultimately one of a matter of document intention and audience. If a document has highly complex language and involves very technical terms for an expert audience, then simplifying the language may not only lead to a loss of content, but it could also be interpreted as offensive. However, it is both a writer and translator’s job to bear the audience in mind and the solution to this issue lies in a dialogue between the two.

If a translator is working on a Spanish translation for a clinic or health care institution and knows full well that the document is for public consumption and that the language is too complex, then the translator should raise this issue with the client. Then, they can work with them to put things into as plain language as possible while maintaining the message behind the document that is so crucial to the wellbeing of the audience. While a medical translator may know the “correct” translation of a technical term in such instances, it is worth considering a simplification or the use of dialect words (such as Spanglish terms among US Hispanics) if it conveys the message in a clearer manner. The goal of this translation is to speak to its audience and to do this successfully with a hospital document for the average patient, keeping the original complex language may actually hinder the goal.

While this is indeed a topic for hospitals and the writers of public medical documents to consider, as there is still clearly an issue with clarity in their original language, translators should avoid copying source document mistakes, confusing audiences and risking hazardous outcomes. To do this, a dialogue between hospitals and translators is key – both have to know their audience and content and help each other to do so, helping them to successfully provide documents from which patients can actually benefit.

Spanish Translation