Juan Carlos Montoya L. (also Mechanical Engineer)

[email protected]

www.proz.com/profile/11390

Since I am Mechanical Engineer, I can understand the accurate meaning of the technical information to be translated.

Other factors to be considered when selecting Spanish translators:

There are other factors more important than the target Spanish country factor when selecting Spanish translators. The target Spanish country factor should weigh only 1% in the Spanish translator selection because the formal Spanish language is 99% identical in all of the Spanish speaking countries. Also, most of the supposed different localized Spanish words are just synonyms and personal preferences of several different Spanish translators.

Factor #1: (50%)
Any profession, education or knowledge additional to the language knowledge, that is, you should look for Spanish translators who are also engineers, technicians, lawyers, doctors, medical assistants, etc. from any Spanish country; as opposed to the method of selecting Spanish translators based on the target Spanish country.
The “real” technical knowledge additional to the language knowledge is the crucial factor to get high quality translations.
Even apparently easy subjects (for example, about stepladders, door locks, refrigerators, etc.) require a specialized engineering mind-set and vocabulary. For example, you should search for Mechanical Engineers to translate technical documents ranging from simple machines (stepladders, door locks, etc.) to complex electromechanical machines (Capping Machines, Lighting Systems, etc.).

Factor #2: (49%)
Several years of translation experience

Factor #3: (1%)
Target Spanish country: ineffective factor.
By using this factor, you may leave behind better suitable translators from other Spanish countries. Also, this factor may lead to a false belief of selection. This little factor is leading the Spanish translation industry to a mess. Would you translate one single English document into Mexico Spanish and Argentine Spanish and Spain Spanish?? I have seen the word “Warning” translated into Mexican Spanish as “Advertencia” and also translated into Spain Spanish as “Precaución”, these Spanish translations are synonyms and therefore this situation causes a big lack of consistency.

The best option is to find good translators from any Spanish country, as opposed to the method of selecting Spanish translators based on the target Spanish country. After getting good Spanish translations, the translator or editor may need to change just two or one or zero single words specific for Mexico or any other Spanish country or the personal preference of the client. It is very easy to find and replace single words with other single words.

A good translator just need to know the target Spanish country/audience in order to use two or one or zero words specific to that target audience, the remaining 99% of vocabulary is identical for any speaking Spanish country. There will be no need to change any wording, just few single words. Also, any Spanish dictionary indicates these few language differences and Google is a good tool to check them.

Translating is not about translating single words it is about translating ideas.

Then, is there any reason for giving the main priority to the target Spanish country factor?

• By using this Spanish translator selection criterion, the worst possible scenario is that the Spanish translator needs to change just two or one or zero single words specific to the target country or the personal preference of the client. It is very easy to find and replace single words with other single words.
• There are several main language knowledges: the engineering knowledge (translators who are also engineers, electricians, technicians, etc), the legal knowledge (translators who are also lawyers), the medical knowledge (translators who are also doctors, medical assistants, nurses, etc), the financial knowledge (translators who are also economists, financial advisors, traders on the Forex Market, etc).

Something new should be done in order to improve your Spanish technical translations.



If you still don’t believe in this new method, you may start testing this method with translation jobs targeted for Latin America and South America so you verify that these more skilled translators can improve your Spanish translations.

What makes the difference is the correct translation, correct wording, correct use of the right word or synonym, and the most important ingredient: the "real" technical knowledge additional to the language knowledge.

In the same way you would seek professional dentists with extensive translation experience to translate highly-technical dental materials for new dental technology, or experienced translators with degrees in chemistry or chemical engineering to translate chemical technical data, you should seek Mechanical Engineers to translate technical documents ranging from simple machines (for example, stepladders, riveters) to complex electromechanical machines (for example, Capping Machines, Lighting Systems).

The Spanish-translators selection should be focused mainly in the university degree related to technical subjects such as mechanics, electricity, electronics, computing, software, legal, medicine, finance, etc, and of course, in the experience as translator. Even apparently easy subjects (for example, about stepladders, door locks, refrigerators, etc.) require a specialized engineering mind-set and vocabulary. This is the best option to improve the translation quality.

The native country, country of residence, region of residence, etc. are not decisive factors because of the globalization, because in the unlikely event of finding an unknown single word it is easy to find and replace such word, and because the formal Spanish language is identical in all of the Spanish speaking countries.

A translator can do high quality translations for any Spanish speaking country by using formal/non-conversational/neutral/universal/international vocabulary without using informal/regional/localised vocabulary and by using general technical knowledge.


Some previous representative translation jobs are:

Baking Industry:
Flour Conveyor – Product Loader – Single Channel Flouring Conveyor.

Foundry Industry:
Rotary Airlock Feeders – Casting Handling – Furnace Charge – Bucket Elevator – Sand System – Finish Area.

Bottling Industry:
Series 200-E Capping Machine.

Construction Chemicals:
Respiratory Protection, Noise & Hearing Conservation, Safety Orientation.

Flexible Packaging:
Raw Materials – Extrusion – Printing and Coating – Surface Processing – Laminating – Custom-made Production – Technical Films.

SIEMENS:
MJX Voltage Regulator Control Panel – MJX Communications Module.

Paper Industry:
Paper Machine Manual.

Florida Power & Light Company:
Repowering Project – Energy Conservation – Benefits of Energy Efficiency – Energy Services – Electric Power Demand – etc.