Danielle Maxson, ATA Certified Spanish to English Translator:  Education, Healthcare, Academic and Literary Translations

We Are All Neighbors

The world is growing smaller.  Travel is both easier and more necessary, and communication with people all over the globe can be achieved instantaneously.  At any moment, you may need to share information with someone whose native language is not English.  Even people who are not travelers or involved in global business can be faced with the possibility of dealing with a foreign language.  Citizens and resident of the same country can speak two or more languages, as in Canada or India.  Contrary to popular belief, the United States is also a multilingual country.  We all know about Chinatown, Little Italy, or the local neighborhood of German immigrants.  And in terms of population, the US is one of the top five Spanish-speaking countries in the world!  At some point, you will need to communicate with someone who does not speak or read your language well.  That's when you will need a translator or interpreter.


Machine Translation Doesn't Always Get the Point Across

The advent of online translation tools like Google Translate has seemingly made it easier to understand text written in a foreign language.  Conventional wisdom holds that machine translation will give users the "general idea" of a document.  Sometimes it will, and sometimes it won't.  But how do you know you're getting the right idea?  Click here for some examples of what Google Translate can and can't do.


Trust Your Work to a Professional

The truth is that hiring a professional translator or interpreter is the only way to guarantee you're getting -- and sending -- the right message.  Machine translation, the neighbor's teenager who got an A in Spanish, or even your bilingual staff members, may not be prepared to speak and write well in both languages while understanding and using your industry-specific vocabulary.  Don't take that chance just to save a few dollars.  You have too much at stake.

Consider hiring a professional translator if you:
  • want translated documents that read like they were originally written in English
  • need a complete and accurate understanding of the foreign text
  • want quality assurance
  • have questions about the translation process or the translated document; only a human can answer those!
  • want to prevent infringement of your intellectual property rights (I follow the ATA's Code of Ethics for Translators, which includes a confidentiality requirement; Google Translate will keep your document in memory and use it to help translate other texts)
  • work in healthcare and need to know your patient's medical history
  • work in education and need to understand your student's transcript or educational background

Consider hiring a professional interpreter if you:
  • need to talk to someone you can't understand
  • work in healthcare and need to know your patient's symptoms and medical history (family members often are not accurate or reliable interpreters, and children should never be asked to interpret; see this issue of the ATA Compass for accurate information about healthcare interpreters)
  • work in law and need to understand all the facts of your client's case
  • speak a bit (or a lot) of the language yourself, but have difficulty with the specialized vocabulary you need for your business
Danielle Maxson, CT
Tel. (845)214-4701 (US Eastern Time)
Fax (888)412-7691
Email dmaxson (at) dmaxsontranslates.com