It stands to reason that if human brains are relatively identical and human psychology from one culture to the next is similar at its core foundations, languages across borders should have very similar characteristics. To convert a text from one language to the next should be as easy as transforming the material word for word or sentence by sentence from the source language into the target language, right? Isn’t this how Google Translate works?
In reality, language translation is much more complicated than that–particularly when the text comprises legal documentation. The work of a professional legal translator involves reading the source text to ingest the meaning of each section, contemplating how those ideas or statements would be accurately conveyed in another culture and language, and then providing the translation in a manner that retains the correct formatting, substance, and authority. This is especially true when it comes to translating idioms. Here are just a few examples of what makes the work of a professional translator challenging:
Not all languages follow the same conventions.
For native English speakers, some of the easiest languages to learn include Spanish, French, German, and other European languages. In fact, some people estimate that an English speaker can become reasonably fluent in Spanish within a year. All of these Latin-based languages follow similar conventions, and many words have a common etymological origin (“cognates”), such as “académico” in Spanish and “academic” in English.
Other languages, however, are much more challenging. Take Russian, for example. Russian uses a Cyrillic alphabet which can appear very confusing to non-Russian speakers. While some words are borrowed from Latin-based languages (i.e., супермаркет is pronounced “supermarket”), many words and phrases are uniquely their own (i.e., Почемучка is a person who asks a lot of questions).
And then there are complicated languages like Japanese. Japanese speakers utilize three alphabets – Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Depending on the concept, a Japanese writer may interchangeably use individual letters or characters representing full words or ideas in these three languages.
As a result, professional translation must be conducted by an individual fluent in both the source and target languages.
Localization and translating idioms puts a different light on language.
Localization is a comprehensive process that ensures cultural and non-textual components of communication are converted accurately from one language to the next. The easiest way to understand localization is when it fails. For example, when Pepsi translated a campaign slogan from “Come alive! You’re in the Pepsi Generation!” into Mandarin and Cantonese in the early ’70s, the translation actually meant “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead!” Whoops.
Localization isn’t always this dramatic. For example, in English, we say “What’s your name?” while in Spanish, they say “¿Como se llama?” which means “How are you called?” A professional legal translator understands localization for the target language to ensure the translation makes sense and there is no confusion about the document’s subject matter, terms, or statements.
The translating idioms is another type of localization that presents particular challenges. For example, something as familiar to us as “give me a ballpark figure” doesn’t directly translate to other languages. Instead, a professional translator will have experience and fluency to understand how to properly use idioms best to convey meaning in both the source and target languages.
Various cultures and countries have different expectations and interpretations of legal statements.
Not all countries view legal documents in the same way. For example, the only format that will be regarded as the official legal document in China is the version written in Chinese. If the document is incorrectly translated into Chinese, the errors will be considered binding. And regardless of where you indicate the contract will be enforced, the only place a dispute will be resolved is in the district where the Chinese defendant has its principal place of business. Professional legal translators go beyond language fluency by having experience and expertise in the subject matter and can identify these issues to ensure the translated version will be accurate and enforceable as the contract owner intends.
For the most accurate legal translations, choose The Perfect Translation.
At The Perfect Translation, we only use real, live human beings to perform your essential translation work. We believe the most accurate translations are generated by professionals who have industry expertise and proficiency in the target language.
All of our translations are performed by pedigreed linguists holding various certifications and degrees. We are proud to provide certified and notarized document translation services for all document types associated with immigration, business, real estate, financial, academic, legal, and medical industries. Contact us today for a free quote!
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