Translation - art & business » Translation Theory and Practice »
Original document translated into Welsh
Thread poster: Jacob Lagnado
Jacob Lagnado
Jacob Lagnado  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:09
Spanish to English
+ ...
Feb 7, 2012

I'd be very grateful if anyone can indicate what is accepted practice in the following situation:

I am translating a birth certificate from English to Spanish. The certificate itself is translated line by line into Welsh, as it was issued in Wales.

Is it acceptable to just make a translator's note at the end of the translation, explaining that the entire text also appears in Welsh, or would it be necessary to transcribe all of the content in Welsh in addition to transla... See more
I'd be very grateful if anyone can indicate what is accepted practice in the following situation:

I am translating a birth certificate from English to Spanish. The certificate itself is translated line by line into Welsh, as it was issued in Wales.

Is it acceptable to just make a translator's note at the end of the translation, explaining that the entire text also appears in Welsh, or would it be necessary to transcribe all of the content in Welsh in addition to translating from the English?

I would of course prefer to do the latter! The translation is going to authorities in Colombia.

Many thanks! ▲ Collapse
 
Ty Kendall
Ty Kendall  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:09
Hebrew to English
I'd suggest the former.... Feb 7, 2012

I often have to translate documents from Israel that are written in both Hebrew and Arabic. Since I only speak Hebrew (and the Arabic is merely a direct translation of the Hebrew) there is no need to reproduce the Arabic. I just use a note to indicate that the same information appears in both languages, and therefore my translation of the Hebrew should be a fair approximation/translation of the Arabic also.

In addition, I would be wary of transcribing a language I don't speak:
... See more
I often have to translate documents from Israel that are written in both Hebrew and Arabic. Since I only speak Hebrew (and the Arabic is merely a direct translation of the Hebrew) there is no need to reproduce the Arabic. I just use a note to indicate that the same information appears in both languages, and therefore my translation of the Hebrew should be a fair approximation/translation of the Arabic also.

In addition, I would be wary of transcribing a language I don't speak:
a) for fear of making a mistake in transcription/copying
b) the presence of the Welsh (or other language) transcribed might be construed that you have something to do with that translation or that you have somehow checked it directly against your own translation (into your target language).

A note merely indicating the presence of the other language and that it is a pre-existing "official" translation of the source material is enough in my opinion.

I have also found this online, which seems to largely agree with me:

"Certified Translation of Bilingual Certificates....
Sometimes, for example in the case of documents issued in Kazakhstan or other former Soviet states, original documents show parallel version of the same information in two languages (i.e. Kazakh and Russian). This is also often true for documents issued in Spain, which can include information in one of the other official Spanish languages such as Basque or Catalan in addition to Castilian Spanish. In these cases, we provide a translation from only one language, usually the most cost-effective, and the translator will add a footnote to state that the same information also appears in the second language."
http://blog.certificatetranslator.co.uk/blog/_archives/2010/10/25/4664296.html


[Edited at 2012-02-07 16:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
 
Jacob Lagnado
Jacob Lagnado  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:09
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
very helpful Feb 7, 2012

Thanks a lot Ty for your very useful and detailed answer. I am also somewhat relieved at not having to transcribe a lot of Welsh, given all the inherent dangers that you rightly point out.
 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Maria Castro[Call to this topic]
Nawal Kramer[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Original document translated into Welsh







Trados Studio 2022 Freelance
The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.

Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.

More info »
Trados Business Manager Lite
Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio

Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.

More info »