Did you know there are more Spanish speakers in the U.S. than in Spain? While over 50 million people in the U.S. speak Spanish, Spain’s population is only about 47 million. With Spanish being such a widely spoken language, it is even more important to have highly trained translators and interpreters. Yes – we all have ten fingers, but does that mean we all know how to play the piano? Similarly, because someone speaks Spanish does not mean by default he or she is qualified to deliver accurate translations. Many times, bilinguals are put on the spot to translate something quickly or interpret for others as a favor. This may lead to mistranslations and misunderstandings, and may be detrimental for all involved. Relying on qualified and professionally trained translators is key, those with proven academic training and years of professional experience translating this powerful Romance language. Spanish may be spoken by many, but there is no language like it, with its countless regional varieties and unique complex structure. It is necessary we give this official language of the United Nations the importance it deserves.
To mention only some of the challenges when translating Spanish-English texts, there are regional varieties of Spanish depending on social, cultural and historic factors, there are varying levels of implied formality, Spanish often makes use of very lengthy syntax to express just one idea, there is always a difference in character lengths since Spanish sentences tend to spread out more when compared to English, and there are many false cognates (actual means current and not actual, carpeta means folder and not carpet – these are rather basic fasle friends, but there are hundreds more).
What, you may ask, makes our translators at Capital Linguists stand out? The key to their success is the result of maintaining the meaning, tone, style, and context of both languages, be it Spanish or English. This comes from many years of academic training, practice, experience, professional development and thorough research before the start of any project or event. Our translators and interpreters are fully prepared for all Spanish varieties and all topics because they have intentionally taken their linguistic abilities to a higher level of competence. This is what makes Capital Linguists’ translators reliable.
At Capital Linguists, our specializations for Spanish to English and English to Spanish translation and interpretation services include:
- Document translation
- Subtitling
- Transcreation
- Website Localization
- Voiceovers
- Conference Interpretation and Interpreting Equipment
Document translation
Document translation is the accurate rendering of the written content in Spanish into English and vice versa. It requires thorough research on the topic and vast background knowledge, as well as excellent proofreading and editing skills. At Capital Linguists, our translators meticulously navigate Spanish’s verbose nature, its complex structures, its social, cultural and historic background, different levels of formality, and many more challenges of this strong and wonderful language.
Subtitling
Subtitling from one language to another can be described as a creative way of finding the shortest and most precise words to render the message, considering the limitations of space. Spanish is famous for its long, windy sentences and so the main focus for Capital Linguists’ translators is to make appropriate use of the space while maintaining the original message.
Transcreation
Transcreation refers to the creative and careful transferring of the Spanish language and its entire cultural, social and historic world into another entirely different language and cultural world. Transcreating content that is originally in Spanish into English spoken in the United States may be very different from transcreating it into English spoken in Australia or the UK. Similarly, transcreating content from English into Spanish spoken in Argentina or Spain requires very different translators. A qualified translator from Mexico may not be able to transcreate for an Argentinian audience or one in Spain because of differing cultural awareness.
Depending on the audience, the result can vary greatly because transcreation implies not only translating Spanish terms and grammatical structures, but also images, videos, colors, etc. to an audience with a contrasting world view and upbringing. For example, a northern European website may show a happy, Caucasian, blue-eyed family enjoying some sort of product. When presented to a Colombian audience, the transcreator may choose to change this image to a brown-eyed, brunette family to more appropriately reach an audience in Colombia. The purpose is to maintain the core message, but to present it in a more appealing and culturally appropriate way, considering the country in which the message will be presented.
Website Localization
Website localization is similar to transcreation in that the main purpose is to adapt the content to local users, appealing to them more appropriately in regards to the design, language and cultural preferences, images, layout, and more. The goal is to maintain the global image and purpose of the website in Spanish or English, while making it more user-friendly and culturally appropriate for users in a specific country. With increasingly more internet traffic on websites that serve other countries, e-commerce websites and websites in the gaming industry, website localization has become an essential component for many organizations and companies.
Voiceovers
Voiceovers refer to recording spoken content in English that is originally in Spanish or vice versa, for example, for interviews, documentaries, movies, or any other video content. With voiceover, instead of only relying on subtitles, listeners will be able to hear the recording in English or Spanish as well, over the original voice of the speaker.
Conference Interpretation and Interpreting Equipment
Conference interpretation refers to simultaneous interpretation done real-time at conferences, meetings, summits, training sessions or any other gathering, either in-person or virtually. For in-person events, our interpreters assist using interpreting equipment to make sure all listeners have headsets and receivers to listen to the English or Spanish interpretation at the same time as the speaker is giving his or her remarks. For virtual events, we use the interpretation function on Zoom (as one of our platforms), so that your panelists or participants can listen to the English or Spanish interpretation instantaneously as the speaker is giving his or her remarks, by simply clicking their language of preference on the globe icon on the Zoom platform.
