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With 483 million native speakers, Spanish is the second most common mother tongue in the world. So, it should come as no surprise that it’s also one of the most popular languages for website translation. However, before you begin building a Spanish language website, you need to consider several factors such as the target market, local dialect, and cultural norms.
Although English to Spanish is a common language pair, a Spanish translation still presents several challenges. These include:
Let’s take a look at each.
Spanish has ten major variations that are spoken throughout the world. (For comparison, English only has seven). These include:
Spain (Peninsular Spanish):
Canary Islands:
Gibraltar:
The Americas:
Africa:
Each dialect has variations in grammar, vocabulary, and cultural norms. For example, U.S. Spanish uses borrowed words from English and maintains the U.S. formats for dates/time, addresses, and units of measurements. While speakers of Rioplatense use the informal you form “vos” instead of the more common “tu”.
This makes translation difficult because you must first decide which region(s) you want to target and how to best account for the differences.
Human translators should use a localization approach to ensure the content is grammatically and linguistically correct for each region. Unlike traditional translation, localization gives translators more flexibility with word choice, tone, and makes it easier to adapt content for cultural norms.
Unlike English, Spanish has two levels of formality to address someone. The formal usted/ustedes (you/you all) is used to address strangers, acquaintances, and superiors. While the informal tú/vos/ustedes (you/you all) is used to address friends, family, and children. In Latin America, ustedes also serves as the informal you all, but in Spain people use vosotros/vosotras instead.
This poses a challenge when it comes to setting the right tone for a translation. Should you use the informal you to sound more personable or err on the side of formality?
Linguists have to strike a happy medium between messaging and formality. To do so, they need a thorough understanding of the cultural preferences of the local-specific markets.
On average, a Spanish text translation will be about 20 to 30% longer than the original English. That’s because the language sometimes uses additional words to convey the same message. For example, the word “please” translates to “por favor”.
When it comes to website translation, the longer text length poses a challenge because of the space constraints. Page formatting, buttons, and dropdown boxes can limit the number of characters, which makes it difficult to recreate the same message in Spanish.
Internationalization allows you to develop a website that properly renders content in any language. Instead of focusing on a specific language, like localization, internationalization is the process of building a website that can adapt to different text lengths, text orientations, and special characters.
Because Spanish and English originate from different language families (Romance and Germanic, respectively), the two have several grammatical differences. These include:
A professional Spanish translator can easily identify subtle differences in grammar and account for them. This poses more of a challenge if you’re looking for an automated solution such as neural machine translation (NMT).
Cultural differences between Spanish-speaking and English-speaking countries also impact translation. Each culture has unique ways of communicating and expressing ideas.
For example, the tone of English language marketing tends to be more enthusiastic and relies on exclamation points to reinforce this. However, doing so in Spanish may seem demanding instead of persuasive.
The concept of time also differs. In Spanish-speaking cultures, time is less rigid and schedules tend to be more flexible. For example, in Spanish, there’s no distinction between evening and night. This can impact how urgent a message sounds.
Striking the right tone requires an understanding of cultural norms and preferences.
Taking a localized approach allows translators to adapt the message to better appeal to Spanish-speaking audiences. Localization goes beyond translating content and involves making changes to account for differences in each location, such as cultural references or tone of voice.
False cognates or “false friends” are words that look and sound similar, but don’t have the same meaning. These include:
While false cognates are no trouble for professional linguists, they can trip up non-native speakers.
Hiring a professional translator is key. Even if someone on your team speaks Spanish, they may not have a deep enough understanding to translate everything correctly. Plus, translators have the advantage of using translation software such as a translation memory to assist them.
Negative statements and questions are formed differently in each language. Below are four ways Spanish differs from English:
No auxiliaries
Spanish doesn’t use auxiliary verbs, also called helping verbs, to communicate complicated grammatical concepts such as aspects of time or modalities. To create a negative sentence, you only need the participle “no” and the verb. For example, “I don’t eat meat” translates to “No como carne.”
Double negation vs. Single negation
If you start a sentence with a negative verb, you need another negative element such as nunca (never), nada (none) or nadie (no one). For example, “There is nobody in the house.” translates to “No hay nadie en la casa.”
Yet if the negative word comes before the verb, you only need a single negation. For example, “You never help me.” translates to “Nunca me ayudas.”
Negative Imperative and the Subjunctive Mood.
To give an order in English, all you need is the infinitive verb and the auxiliary “don’t”, if you want to make it negative. But in Spanish, you need to use the present subjunctive mood that matches the subject. For example, “Don’t go.” translates to “No te vayas.”
Question Tags
In Spanish, question tags primarily serve to confirm the initial statement. Below is a list of common question tags and how to use them correctly.
For example, if you wanted to say, “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” you would ask, “Es un lindo día, ¿no cierto?”
To ensure your content is grammatically correct, you should work with translators who are native Spanish speakers. They’ll have the expertise to determine what can and can’t be omitted.
Another thing to consider? Certain words don’t have a direct translation from English to Spanish and vice versa. Here are just three words that exist in Spanish, but not in English.
The lack of a direct translation means translators sometimes need to get creative to convey the same meaning in the target language.
In addition to translation, there are other factors to consider before you build a Spanish languages website. Here are three tips to help you get started.
You’ll also want to consider how to best translate your website. Below is a look at three different technologies that help you adapt your content quickly and affordably.
The method you choose will depend on your ongoing translation needs and budget.
As you can see, an English to Spanish website translation is a major undertaking. That’s why you should hire a reliable translation service to ensure accuracy and efficiency.
When you partner with MotionPoint, we’ll work closely with you to determine the best translation solutions to meet your needs and goals. From our advanced technology to in-country linguists, we have the tools and expertise to bring your Spanish language website to life.
Want to learn more? Contact MotionPoint today.