Read This Before You Search for Spanish Translation Services
Many do not realize that while Spanish is one of the most common languages spoken around the world, it has several dialects. Once our clients discover this fact, the first question is often “what type of Spanish translation do I need?”
Common Types of Spanish Dialects
Before engaging a language service partner for any Spanish translation project, it’s important to understand the different types of Spanish used around the world, so that you know which type is most appropriate for your target market. Even the meaning of certain terminology in the translation industry varies depending on the cultural context.
For practical purposes, we distinguish between two types of Spanish-speaking markets:
European Spanish Translation
This category is also referred to as Castilian Spanish, Iberian Spanish, Peninsular Spanish, or Spanish for Spain. The typical destination market here is Spanish speakers living in Spain.
European Spanish is most often called “Castilian Spanish,” especially among English speakers, which can create confusion. Castilian Spanish is the classical term for the Spanish spoken in Spain. However, it also refers to the dialect spoken in the historical region of Castile.
If your organization’s primary objective is to reach a Spanish-speaking population in Spain, you will want to consider localizing your content to Castilian Spanish. This applies even to content you’ve already created in Spanish. What this means for you and your language partner is that native Spanish speakers from Spain edit all of your content so that it sounds natural to the local market in Spain and throughout Europe.
Studies show that most people prefer to read content tailored to their dialect. Also, given the history of the Spanish language, many “Old World” Spanish-speakers consider Spanish written or spoken outside of Spain to be “not pure.” Do you want to risk offending potential clients by using the wrong dialect?
There are differences in pronunciation to keep in mind when creating spoken content. Besides differences in pronunciation, one big difference in written text is that Castilian Spaniards use the vosotros (2nd person, informal) verb form, while Latin Americans use ustedes. Of course, as you may remember from high school language classes, with a new verb form comes a new conjugation. Take the verb estar, for example. If you want to say, “How are you?” using the vosotros form in Spanish, you would say, “¿cómo estáis?”
The good news is that expert translators can modify Spanish from another region to Castilian Spanish. With little cost or time, you can modify your translated documents to see the results you and your organization are looking for.
Latin American Spanish Translation
This category refers to Latin American Spanish, Latam Spanish, or Spanish for Latin America. The typical destination market here is Latin America or native Spanish-speakers living in the United States. However, this is a somewhat arbitrary name given to idiomatic and native expressions specific to Spanish spoken in Latin America.
Latin America accounts for the largest number of native Spanish speakers. Of the 500 million people around the world for whom Spanish is their mother tongue, more than 300 million live in Latin America. However, the differences between the Latin American Spanish spoken in Mexico City and the Latin American Spanish spoken in Bogata, for instance, can be significant. Depending on the context, the difference could be as great as between the Spanish spoken in Bogata and Madrid.
To take one example, it is more common to find “loanwords” (i.e., words directly taken from English without translating or adapting the spelling to traditional norms) in Latin American Spanish. Thus, specific care must be taken to ensure your content suits all markets in Latin America.
Once you know which Spanish-speaking market you want to target, you are ready to move forward with your translation project. We offer document translation from Spanish to English and English to Spanish in a number of industries.
Within our Spanish team, we have Spanish legal translators specifically trained in ‘legalese’ and practice-area specific terminology. In addition to Spanish document translation, we also offer a range of financial, legal, and litigation services, including:
- Banking translations
- Legal transcription services
- Investment translations
- Insurance translations
To ensure our financial language services clients receive the highest quality translations, we have Spanish translators with experience in the Spanish financial services market. Our Spanish interpreters are available 24/7 via our on-demand phone interpretation service for meetings and presentations.
Our Spanish legal translators have experience working with all types of legal documents from service agreements and contracts to patents, from financial reports to marketing materials, from testimonies to telephone conversations, and more. Whether you need to translate Spanish into English or vice versa, we have you covered with our financial and legal experts.
Life Sciences Translations
At DTS Language Services, Inc., we have access to Spanish linguists around the globe who are scientific and medical subject matter experts. We service all types of life sciences organizations including medical device enterprises, pharmaceutical organizations, clinical trial research institutions, and healthcare providers.
All of our specialized Spanish translators work with an array of documents including:
- Spanish clinical trial agreements
- Spanish-speaking patient informed consent forms (ICFs)
- Spanish drug inserts
- Spanish clinical study protocols
- Spanish product datasheets
Technical Translations and Manufacturing
Our Spanish team has served some of the world’s most respected manufacturing organizations on their global business journeys. To keep up with the speed of changing technology and information dissemination, requires that communications be clear and understood easily across multiple languages. We provide seamless, fast, and accurate translating to Spanish in technical areas including agriculture, heavy machinery and construction, engineering, and automotive.
We help here by translating documents such as:
- Operator & Service Manuals
- Technical & Service Bulletins
- Human Machine Interfaces & Software
- Machine Labels & Safety Decals
- International RFQs
- Product & Parts Catalogs
- Product Data Sheets
- Training and User Manuals
- Instruction and User Guides
Technical translations from Spanish to English or English to Spanish will allow you to target consumers around the world and your materials with be accurate (i.e., letter perfect) when you work with DTS.
Your Spanish Translation Service
Contact DTS Language Services, Inc. for a free quote on Spanish translation services or any other combination of document translation and related business services. Our Spanish language services include, but are not limited to:
- Spanish Document Translation
- Spanish Simultaneous Interpretation
- Spanish Consecutive Interpretation
- Spanish Transcription
- Spanish Voiceovers and Subtitling
- Spanish Multicultural Marketing
- Spanish Document Management
We know you have a lot of choices when it comes to Spanish translation services. At DTS Language Services, Inc., our expert Spanish translators will help you develop your message and convey it to your target market. We are happy to provide document translations localized to the European or any Latin American Spanish-speaking market. Get in touch with us today (call 800-524-0722) and let’s talk about your needs.