Why a Spanish Translation?
Over 350 million people in the world speak Spanish as their first language. If we include the number of people who are fluent in Spanish as a second language, the total number of Spanish speakers in the world is well over 400 million people. The Hispanic market is today the most rapidly expanding market in the United States. It is estimated that by 2050, there will be 56 million Hispanics/Latinos; by 2050, 30% of the entire U.S. population will be Hispanic.

Human Translation vs. Machine Translation?
Machine translation (MT) is a form of translation where a computer program analyses the text in one language the “source text” and then attempts to produce another, equivalent text in another language the “target text” without human intervention. Although this system can help with specific words and some phrases in much the same way as a dictionary, it shouldn’t be used to replace a human translator. Computers do not have the ability to deal appropriately with the complexities of a language such as ambiguity, syntactic irregularity, anglicisms, false cognates, context, etc. A machine translation is similar to the one made by a human who lacks a deep knowledge of the target language.

Translation agency or independent translator?
Spanish Translation agencies provide a number advantages, and services that individuals cannot:
Screening of translators: While some Spanish translation companies maintain an in-house team of native Spanish speakers, others create a network of freelance translators who they employ on a per-project basis. As long as the projects are coordinated and managed efficiently, this allow a Spanish translation company to match projects with translators who have relevant knowledge or experience.
Proofreading: Most agencies have a proofreader other than the translator to review the translation prior to delivery at no extra cost. In this way, you can rest assured that the target document is error-free and is thoroughly checked for uniformity.
Meeting tight deadlines: Because of their pool of translators, agencies have the resources to take on complex projects and deliver them in a timely manner.

Things you should keep in mind when selecting a Spanish Translation Agency
There are thousands of translation agencies and identifying a good English-Spanish translation supplier is a big task. Translation clients usually don’t know what they are paying for, especially when they don’t know the target language (the language into which a text written in another language is to be translated).
Are translations handled by Spanish Native Speakers?
The language translator should always translate INTO his or her mother tongue. Only a native speaker can come closest to creating a translation that “sounds” so natural that the reader is not even aware that it is a translation. Mistakes can have ruinous consequences.
Two Examples:
When Chevrolet introduced the Nova to the South American market, sales were dismal. Intended buyers in these countries were perplexed when the car went on the market because “No va” in Spanish means “it won’t go”
An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope’s visit. Instead of “I saw the Pope” (el Papa), the shirts read “I Saw the Potato” (la papa).
How much will the translation cost?
Translations are usually charged per word. Be sure that the Spanish translation provider charges the job based on the number of words in the source text. Many companies give you an estimate and the final quote is based on the target document. With this method you never know the final quote until the job is done and this may lead into abuse on the part of the translator as he/she can use longer sentences on purpose, degrading the quality of the target text and increasing your price.
References and samples
Don’t be afraid to ask for references or samples. References are perhaps the most important way to ensure a quality job. If you have knowledge of the target language or know someone who does, samples may also be good. A reputable agency will not hesitate to give you references and show you samples of previous English-Spanish translations.

Transpanish - English-Spanish Translation Services. http://www.transpanish.biz

So, you have always been fascinated by Asian culture have you? Maybe you are someone who loves the martial arts; kung fu, tae-kwon-do, or karate. Perhaps you are interested in the cool oriental stores and like to buy many things from them to decorate your house. Maybe you like the peaceful society you see depicted in some Asian films. Or maybe you are just incredibly in love with the Asian languages such as Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

Whatever your interest is in Asia and its society, it could never hurt to know a little bit about the culture. In fact, learning about something more than is shown in action movies and your Korean dramas can be quite beneficial.

My experience is with Korean culture and Korean language, but the culture is similar in most Asian countries.

Language Families

One of the main things you may have noticed is how incredibly different the Asian languages are from English. You come across languages such as Italian, Spanish, and French, and you can at least find some similarities in those languages and English. Yet there seem to be none between English and Asian languages! The fact is they just come from different language families. Most European languages will fall in the same language family as English. Many of these are in the Indo-European language families. Words will be similar between all of the languages that come from the same family.

Asian languages such as Japanese and Korean are in the same language family, the Altaic family. You will find many similarites in these two languages. Mandarin Chinese comes from the Sino-Tibetan family.

Altaic Family

The Altaic family is named after the Alti Mountains. They are located in Central Asia. The Altaic Family consists of Turkish, Mongolian, Korean, and Japanese. Out of these, Turkish is the most western of the languages, while Korean and Japanese are more eastern.

Sino-Tibetan Family

The Sino-Tibetan Family consists of Mandarin Chinese. Languages in this language family are made up of one syllable words, but there are MANY. There is no simple alphabet to form these words, which causes the vast number of Chinese characters, making it one of the hardest languages to learn. You also must learn to speak, read, and write all separately. There is no reading a word and being able to speak it, nor can you hear one and guess on how it is spelled. Writing is still completely on it’s own even if you can read, because you have to use proper stroke orders! Very time consuming to learn.

There are also several tones in these languages. A change in pitch while saying a word could change the meaning of the word completely. It makes the language sound very pretty when spoken, but is incredibly difficult to learn!

Sentence Structure

As with many Asian languages, a common fact you will notice is many of the languages follow an SOV sentence structure. That is, Subject, Object, Verb. English tends to place the verb after the subject of the sentence. Asian languages place the verb at the very end of the sentence. The most important part of the sentence is saved for last Don’t we all save the best for last?

Although much of the culture evolves around the language, there is plenty more to culture. Korean culture is amazing in every way. Look forward to future articles covering Korean culture!

http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com is a site based on teaching the Korean language. It also provides details on Korean culture, Korean foods, Korean recipes, Korean music, everything Korean!

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So the next time in future when you are thinking of buying the hard copy of a book you might never get around to reading, think of audiobooks as a different choice.