In this global marketplace wherein the “Hispanic community is one of the greatest untapped markets,” according to Forbes.com, it is highly likely that entrepreneurs and corporate professionals will find a need for Spanish translation services.
The Forbes article noted that between the years 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew by 43 percent which accounted for more than half of the then total U.S. population. By 2015, the purchasing power of US-based Hispanics is estimated to reach a whopping $1.5 trillion and they are aptly dubbed as “super consumers.”
Of course, the most ideal response to this situation is to learn Spanish to be able to fully maximize the business and economic opportunities of the Hispanic market. While this process may take a while, the next best thing is to ensure that, when needed, entrepreneurs and corporate professionals should team up with reliable and expert providers of Spanish translation services.
Spanish translation is generally applied to written documents. According to The Spanish Group general manager Alfonso Martinez, practically any written document can be translated from Spanish to English—from personal correspondences and educational materials to bulk files such as litigation documents or technical manuals.
“Translating is a lot more technical and tedious than it seems,” Martinez explained. “There are nuances in a language that does not always have a direct meaning in another language so the translator must be someone who is, not just highly skilled, but one who lives and breathes the language.”
Martinez cited the example of Google Translate. “While it makes translation services more accessible, what it often does is transliteration. Real translation work involves more than that,” he said.
Martinez’s The Spanish Group, a California-based Spanish translation service with headquarters in Orange County, offers a wide range of Spanish translations services including, but not limited to, dental, medical, government, legal, technical, website, business and even proofreading and editing translations.
The group translates marketing, educational and training materials, books, contracts, product descriptions, presentations and restaurant menus, among others.
The Process
Each new translation project begins with planning. The planning process includes assessment of target readers for the material so cultural sensitivities are taken into consideration. For industry-specific translations, field specialized translators are assigned.
The Spanish Group also uses special translation tools such as multilingual dictionaries and websites to look up the definitions of words in different contexts in order to aid the human translator especially for large-scale, multiple-page translations.
Revisions by a professional editor are included in the fees and a free optional notarization service is also offered to clients.
Martinez furthered, “Our Spanish translation services are provided by rigorously screened in-house staff. And we only focus on Spanish to English and English to Spanish translations so we are able to guarantee the quality of our translations.”