If you operate a global business, you are most likely going to have clients that speak the Spanish language. Therefore, it is important for the success of your business for you to have people on your staff that have a complete understanding of all the subtle nuances of the Spanish language. You do not want to have a deal ruined because some important details were lost in translation. Spanish translators can help both parties understand each other perfectly, ensuring that business transactions are completed without any problems.
Only the Mandarin and English languages are spoken by more people around the world than Spanish. There are currently more than 400 million Spanish speaking people in roughly 24 countries. Along with Spain, Spanish is the official language in every South American country with the exceptions of French Guyana and Brazil. It is also the official language of Cuba, the Dominican Rebublic and Puerto Rico. Spanish is commonly spoken on the west coast of Africa, parts of Morocco, Equatorial Guinea and the Canary and Balearic Islands.
As for the United States, Spanish is easily the second most spoken language in the country. Many U.S. companies employ customer service representatives that speak Spanish. Large cities such as New York and Los Angeles have radio stations that broadcast all Spanish content. It is now widely spoken in most major cities, southern Florida, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
With so many Spanish speaking people in this world, your company needs to be prepared to do business with them. Otherwise, you will be left behind and other businesses that are better at catering to Spanish speaking people on a global scale will take your share of the market.
The role that translators play in global business is an important one. They convey information in an accurate manner and enhance communication from one language to another around the world in many different countries. Translators primarily deal with communications that are written. They frequently offer their services in several different areas. Some of the fields they specialize in are as follows:
1. Specialized business translators
Specialized business translation requires specialist translation in different fields including marketing, economics and finance. A translator will possess knowledge of the markets and businesses related to their specific field. Business translation is frequently used in financial markets. The translation of financial documents including regulatory reports, mutual fund reports and financial statements is often needed.
2. Localization translators
Localization refers to the adaptation of a specific product so it can be utilized in a different culture or language. A translator in this field must have a high degree of understanding when it comes to the local users of the product in question. The primary goal of a localization translator is for a product to be adapted to a new country as if that was the country where the product was originally manufactured.
3. Medical translator
A medical translator helps to facilitate communication betweem patients and the management of a hospital. They also translate the hospital information brochures and journals into the native languages of the patients. These translators are required to have a vast knowledge of conversational and medical terms in both of the languages they are communicating in. They also need to be well-versed in the cultural aspect of how each patient receives their information.
Businesses are looking to cut the costs of hiring human translators by using many sophisticated translation programs that have been created in the past several years. While the amount of material that these programs are capable of translating is impressive, they are still prone to make mistakes, especially if the programs come across seldom used slang terms that they have not been programmed with. When an important business document is being translated, the smallest error in translation could be disastrous. Documents like these are too important to leave to a computer program. This is why many companies will only allow their most critical documents to be translated by a person, not a computer program.
Spanish translators are also important for companies who are attempting to gain a foothold in a Spanish speaking market. If the content of your English language website was not translated into Spanish correctly, the damage to your bottom line could be significant. If people are unable to read or comprehend your website, they will simply go to a website with Spanish that is easier for them to understand.
Along with websites, translators can also ensure that various other forms of written media are correctly translated before they are released for public consumption. Advertisements in magazines, billboards, brochures and commercials all need to be gone over thoroughly to ensure that the correct Spanish is used to communicate the exact message that a company is trying to convey.
Having qualified Spanish translators on staff will be even more important in the years to come. This is because the population of Spanish speaking people in the United States is predicted to increase from the current 34 million to more than 100 million by the year 2050. By that time, there is expected to be roughly 530 million Spanish speaking people around the world. Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the United States. Of these Hispanics, 70 percent of them use Spanish as their primary language at home. As the Spanish language quickly grows in popularity around the world, the need for qualified Spanish translators increases as well.
It is very clear that global companies that do not make Spanish translation a priority will get financially crippled by their competitors. The companies that will succeed in the next 50 years will be the ones that are proactive and prepare themselves for the Spanish language explosion in popularity that is going to happen in the coming decades. Hispanics are becoming an increasingly significant part of the bottom line for many global companies. Doing business in countries where Spanish is the primary language demands that great care be taken to send the right message to potential consumers living in those countries.
Shaun Smith is a freelance writer who has been contributing to the Pactrans team for a number of years. His wealth of experience within linguistic translation makes him the ideal candidate to offer an insight into the benefits of understanding how cultural differences impact upon conversion rates.