by Michael Bastin | 18 Apr, 2023 | Culture, Language learning, Languages
We live in a technological world. When we need to translate something, we tend to go to Google Translate, thinking this will do the job just fine.
But the truth is that Google often mistranslates sentences and doesn’t understand important cultural and linguistic nuances.
This is something that shouldn’t be overlooked, cultural sensitivity matters when you translate texts.
Here is what you need to know about understanding culture in order to translate texts correctly.
An example of how culture can change the meaning of words
As Europeans travelled West to conquer the New World, they brought their languages along too.
That is why people living in the Americas also speak English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
However, these languages are quite different today.
Let us take the example of French, in order to understand better how critical these variations can be, when one translates texts.
You’ll see why understanding French culture when learning French is so important.
France is the centre of the French language. People living in the province of Quebec, in Canada, have been speaking it ever since the French conqueror Jacques Cartier stepped foot on their soil, in 1534.
Almost 500 years later, the use of the language and the accents of people based in Canada are entirely different from their original motherland.
In fact, it can lead to great misunderstandings, when one uses a word that has two completely different meanings.
One example of such is the word “gosse,” which in France means children.
On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, this same word is used to describe a part of the male genitalia.
If you do not understand that there is an important cultural distinction in both regions, you could either make people laugh out loud, or you could embarrass them.
What is cultural sensitivity, and why is it essential in translation?
Everywhere around the world, societies have their own cultural sensitivities.
Although they tend to weaken in an increasingly international world, they still exist and need to be taken in account, whenever someone has to translate into another language.
It involves cultural norms, beliefs, and values, as well as customs and behaviours.
Without understanding them, trying to convey a message in another language can be difficult, or worse, it can create a deep misunderstanding.
Communicating also has its importance. If you are translating live and are directing the words to a person, you may be required to look them straight in the eyes, while the same could be considered impolite in another culture.
When it is your job to translate, these are elements that you need to be aware of.
The way that you dress may also be very important, as it might offend some people in regards to their religious beliefs.
The two main reasons why cultural sensitivity matters in translation is to not create misunderstandings or to not offend anyone.
The use of a single word can be sufficient to change the meaning of a whole sentence, even if it is the right translation.
In such cases, the message that is sent out may be seen as offensive when it is not meant to be.
One can always pretend that there was a misinterpretation, but it is quite difficult to reverse the power behind words, once they are said out loud, or worse, written.
It also needs to be mentioned that even though a person can understand that you don’t know the culture of their country, the fact that you do will generate great respect.
In business, such a small gesture can go a long way to create strong trading bonds that will last for a long time.
How can you ensure cultural sensitivity in your translations?
Here are a few ways to help you with your translation services.
Learn continuously from professional translators
The learning process of a translator should never stop.
Finding more experienced professionals can help increase the cultural knowledge with regard to the specific countries where you would like to work.
Do your research
That should always be the very first step when starting to work in a new country.
There are so many ways to learn about various cultures nowadays, starting online.
Talking with the people is certainly a great way to go, when gaining an understanding of what you can and cannot say in conversations.
Be on the lookout for local dialects
There are countries where dialects play an important part in communication.
That is certainly true in Italy, where each region uses a different one.
Even provinces have their own, which sometimes varies from city to city.
A translator needs to take that into account.
It is clear that someone who works in translation needs to be aware of cultural sensitivities, if that person wants to convey the meaning of the words in the right way.
That is why it is better to focus on a few countries, in order to be good at your job.
by Mihwa Jeong | 18 Oct, 2021 | Languages, Language learning
If you’re looking for an introduction to Western European languages, this article is a great beginner’s read.
Within Europe, hundreds of languages exist, some of which are widely spoken worldwide.
In this article, we’ve created a brief overview of Western European languages and their history and prevalence within Europe and worldwide.
Let’s take a closer look at this fascinating language group.
Europe’s Languages
Within Europe, there are only 24 official languages, despite there being hundreds of additional languages actually spoken.
That number, of course, is low compared to other continents where sometimes thousands of languages are spoken.
However, the languages of Europe are incredibly diverse and influential, many with very interesting roots.
Looking back, the majority of European languages that continue to exist today came from Proto-Indo-European, which is the language that the Indo-European language family came from.
The Indo-European language family is large, containing the Romance, Germanic, Armenian, Celtic, Hellenic, Slavic and Baltic languages.
The area from which these languages originated is the subject of much debate.
In addition to Indo-European, Uralic, and Basque language families exist in Europe and within those families are the majority of European languages.
Romance Languages
Romance languages include a wide range of different languages, such as Catalan, Romanian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian.
Germanic
English is part of the Germanic group of European languages and has 1.35 billion speakers worldwide, including those who speak it as a first or second language fluently.
Germanic also includes languages such as Norwegian, Swedish, Bavarian, Dutch, and Afrikaans.
Slavic
The Slavic group of languages includes Slovak, Polish, Russian, Czech, and Bulgarian, to name a few. Multiple Slavic languages are spoken worldwide, especially Russian, which has over 250 million speakers across the globe.
Baltic
Baltic languages include Lithuanian and Latvian (Lettish), as well as multiple ancient extinct languages, including Prussian, Selenian, and Selonion.
Celtic
Celtic languages include Cornish, Gaelic, Breton, and Welsh. They are incredibly old languages that come from one Brittonic language that existed in the Iron Age.
Despite these languages being so old, some are still used commonly today, including Welsh, which is still spoken by nearly 30% of the population of Wales.
Hellenic
Hellenic includes Greek, the only language of this group within the Indo-European group of languages.
Albanian
Albanian is alone in its group within the Indo-European group of languages.
Armenian
Armenian is spoken by a high proportion of people living in Armenia, as well as people who live in Russia and Iran.
It’s also important to acknowledge the two other language groups of Europe – Basque and Uralic. Uralic includes Finnic languages and Urgic languages, whilst Basque is a language in its own right spoken in specific areas, such as Northern Spain.
Western European Languages
Western European languages contain a wide variety of languages which are mostly Romance languages from South Western and Central Europe and Germanic languages from Northern Europe, the British Isles and Central Europe.
Various languages are classified as Western European languages, including:
- Irish
- Scots
- Gaelic
- Manx
- Welsh
- Breton
- Greek
- Cornish
- Finnish
- Hungarian
- Maltese
- Basque
- French
- Portuguese
- Italian
- Spanish
- Dutch
Some of the most commonly spoken Western European languages are Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Portuguese.
These are the languages you may have considered learning if you want to travel around Western Europe, and you may have studied one or more of them at school.
Let’s take a closer look at these common Western European languages:
Spanish
There are around 460 million native Spanish speakers worldwide. Aside from Spain itself, America has the highest population of Spanish speakers in the world.
The language has been around for over 1,500 years and has its origins in Latin.
Unlike Classical Latin which we still see in the written word, the Spanish we see today is called Castilian Spanish.
This type of Spanish has an authoritative source called the Royal Spanish Academy, which was founded in 1713 to standardise this type of Spanish, produce reference dictionaries and keep official Spanish language dictionaries updated.
Italian
Italian has around 67 million native speakers, and it is spoken in Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, Switzerland, San Marino and Vatican City.
The Italian language comes from Latin and developed over a long period of time following the Roman Empire falling in the 5th century.
While there are Italian documents dating as far back as 960 CE, the first real evidence appeared at the beginning of the 13th century.
Many poems and pieces of writing appeared during this time.
Modern Italian is formed from the Tuscan dialect, although multiple other influences exist and contributed to the Italian we know today.
French
Around 88% of the population of France speak French as their native language. French is also widely spoken across many countries, including 29 with it as their official language.
The French language we know today has origins in a part of Western Europe that no longer exists, called Gaul.
The language of that region has little impact on the actual French language we speak today, but over 100 words from that language went into the Latin language; those words then came into the French language and 70 are still used today.
More complex historical events have influenced the development of French, but its Latin roots are the reason many English speakers feel that it is easier to learn French than other languages.
The same could be said for other Romance languages, which all descend from Latin.
Dutch
There are over 23 million speakers of Dutch worldwide.
It is also spoken in various other countries, including Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten, where it is an official language.
The Dutch language spoken today was part of Old Franconian during medieval times.
Old Dutch then started to develop and branch off from Old Franconian, eventually becoming the main language in areas of Europe that we now know as Northern Belgium and the Southern Netherlands.
Old Dutch eventually turned into Middle Dutch, which then changed into various different dialects.
It was in the 17th Century that the language was standardised by Protestant authority figures within the Dutch Republic as they created a Dutch edition of the Bible.
Portuguese
Portuguese is spoken by over 275 million people in the world, with most speakers of the language in Brazil.
The language started on the Western Iberian Peninsula as Latin, which was introduced when Romans took over the area.
Once the Roman Empire collapsed, Germanic communities took over the area, and Latin developed into Galician-Portuguese because that part of the world was known as Galicia at the time.
Once Galicia was merged with Spain, Galician and Portuguese became two separate language branches, and Portuguese then developed into the language we know today.
Speak to a professional
If you’re looking to learn more about Western European languages as part of a business expansion, then consult an expert.
As we’ve outlined above, there are so many languages and variations within the broad spectrum of European languages.
Therefore, if you’re looking to put together new marketing materials, you’ll need to make sure your videos and voice-overs are accurate and relevant to your target audience.
Otherwise, have fun exploring and learning more about the rich culture and history of European languages.
Don’t hesitate to contact BeTranslated for any professional language services that you may require for your business or your personal needs.
