For anyone who is running a business in the United States, or anywhere else where there is likely to be a Spanish speaking market, there will be a need to translate documents from English to Spanish, so that the targeted market can get to know all it needs to know about the product once it’s been purchased.
Most Spanish speakers from Mexico, Puerto Rico or other Latin American countries who now reside in the United States can probably speak some English but the level at which they know the language may not be good enough to be able to understand documents associated with technical products, ranging from computers to smart phones. In order to be able to safely use a product and get maximum use out of it, the purchaser needs to have all the relevant information at his or her fingertips.
This means the producer should translate documents from English to Spanish that are relevant to the product so that no misunderstanding related to its use can take place. The sorts of documents that are particularly important include:
- user guides;
- terms and conditions of use;
- warranty cards.
Once these documents have been translated you can be more certain the purchaser will use the product in the manner it’s supposed to be used. The purchaser is happy and so are you, as you don’t need to face the problem of the purchaser returning the product because it no longer works.
It’s always hard to pinpoint misuse when it comes to the malfunctioning of a product. There is no doubt that in many situations a product fails due to the user not understanding how to use it which leads to damage taking place. The producer isn’t completely covered if he or she has failed to provide product use information into the language or languages of the likely user.
Choosing a translator to translate documents from English to Spanish
There are plenty of translators available who are capable of proficiently translating documents from English to Spanish but when you choose someone you must be sure that the translator is familiar with the documents you wish to get translated. There are so many different types of documents that may need to be translated that you can’t expect a translator to be skilled in translating all the different types.
If your documents are related to marketing it’s important that your chosen translator knows how to translate your documents that suits that market. If it’s personal documents, like birth and marriage certificates for migration purposes, then that’s something more specific. With these sorts of documents an experienced translator will use translation memory so that the right words are chosen for these very specifically worded documents. Whoever you choose, make sure you view some examples of work beforehand. This gives you the confidence that any translation you submit will get the best and most reliable translation.
