Tag: document translations

Common Situations When Families Need Translations

One of the commonest reasons for families requiring translations is when they migrate to another country. Most immigration authorities require that all key documents related to the family need to be provided with a translation if these documents are not in the same official language as the country in which the migrants are intending to live in. This includes translations of the following:

In Australia, as with most other countries, translations of all key family-held documents will need to be accompanied by a signed and certified translation. Failure to do this can delay a migration application and if it involves starting a new job the main applicant may be rejected if the immigration process is far too slow. There is a lot at stake if you do not get the right translations for the documents required to get your new immigration status approved.

Translations for families arriving in Australia

No one is permitted to enter Australia without a visa, whether it is for visiting Australia on a tourist visa, for permanent residency, a bridging visa, a visa for employment purposes, or a working holiday visa. The Australian Government will only accept the English language for the documents that are required for entry into the country for both individuals and families.
All translations of documents required to get a visa must be performed by an approved professional translator who has NAATI accreditation. NAATI stands for the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters and it is responsible for ensuring that translators reach a high standard before being accredited.

The process used for translating visa application documents for families.

Because most documents required to support a visa application are legal documents it is always better to get a professional legal translator to perform the translations. This means a human translator, not an online tool that specifies it undertakes translations of legal documents. These sorts of translations are notorious for providing inaccurate translations of documents which if used will lead to delays in your and your family’s move to Australia.

Legal documents depend on accurate translations which are usually word-for-word translations. As Australian immigration officials require that every part of a legal document is translated including seals and watermarks it is important to get a legal translator to do the work as he or she will be familiar with the seals and watermarks found on your legal documents. The translator will then certify and sign the translation and state that it is an accurate translation.

If any translated document that you are required to provide for you and your family for visas to if it has not been certified by a professional legal translator your application will be rejected leading to long delays while you sort out your translation problems.

Other reasons why families may need translations

If you have just arrived in Australia and your family is not fully fluent in English, they may need translations related to education and health provision in Australia. Most of the states provide key documents in these areas translated into a whole range of languages. However, if you find some important information that has not been translated into your language you can request a translation from the state you live in. You can also request an interpreter if you are visiting a healthcare provider or your child’s school. An interpreter will help you to communicate with these agencies and will ensure that miscommunication does not take place.

​​Culture is Key to a Business Translation

When a professional business translation takes place, cultural understanding of the target language is necessary, especially when it comes to dealing with products for a business. If the product is likely to be more of interest to women, for example, the language in the business translation should be adapted accordingly to reflect this. Cultural descriptions are a key to understanding and interpretation, whatever the language is. Even the most basic sentence structure can have its own specific meaning.

If a translator uses the wrong word it could be both insulting and embarrassing to the reader. Fortunately professional translators understand the importance of cultural norms in the languages they are competent to translate. In Australia, for instance, NAATI, the national accreditation body that regulates the quality of translators and interpreters, ensures that all their translators perform to a good standard before they are allowed to undertake document translations for official documents as well as business documents and promotional material used by businesses where culture is important.

Getting to know how to ask direct questions in a language being translated is important. There was one such incidence concerning California’s milk marketing board which was trying to promote its product to the Hispanic market. It put on its advert ‘Got Milk’ instead of asking the question if they ‘Got Milk?’. The former wording resulted in the loss of $1.3 trillion worth of market gain because the listening/watching potential Hispanic market thought the advert was accusing them of lactating, not asking them if they wanted milk! A marketing translator would be far better at understanding the potential market than the translation services used by the Californian business.

Cultural sensitivity is important when businesses are trying to market to unfamiliar markets around the world. Not all words in English for example can be directly translated into other languages so it needs the skills of an experienced translator to ensure that the right words are used when translating into a second language.

Quite recently, there was an alarming translation performed by an online automatic translator. Pepsi produced an advert in China which in English is ‘Come alive with Pepsi’ but the translation when put into a Chinese language came out as ‘Pepsi brings ancestors back to life’. This didn’t go down at all well with Chinese recipients. This example is a good reason to use a good human translator rather than try to use a cheaply constructed online machine translator.

5 Tips for Effective Language Translation

Effective language translation needs to be a lot more than just translating a body of text word for word. The translator needs to understand the culture of the two languages and its nuances as well as straightforward conversion of vocabulary. Here are 5 tips which are part of any good translation service.

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