English Translations, Translation From/Into English |
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Most translators on the team of Preklady Echo are specialised in English, which is the most important and translated language. This is true also in Slovakia. Our professional translators have rich experience with technical and also artistic translation from and into English. Most documents being translated in Slovakia are from the field of law, business and economics. They are followed by documents from the field of construction, engineering and other technical fields. Translations from and into English are very specific in some ways, which we will talk about hereafter. Unlike verbalism of Slovak, in which we use a lot of verbs and adverbs, English uses more nouns with adjectives and possessive pronouns. Because of this it takes longer time to come up with an authentic verbial expression in Slovak when translating from English. The text also expands by approximately 15%. Preferred positive way of expressing oneself in English in comparison with mostly negative formulation in Slovak is more of a cultural than linguistic problem. The same content can be expressed in a positive and negative way. When we talk about negative way of expressing oneself we mean grammar and semantics. If imagery of English is transferred directly into Slovak, it sounds non-terminological and unprofessional. Therefore it is necessary to find such an expression that really represents the English expression. Imagery in English increases understanding, clarity and transparency. In addition such an expression spreads faster and is remembered more easily. When translating such words from English into Slovak, it is important not to be hypnotised by the original. Many times when it involves a new field, Slovak experts inconsiderately adapt an imagery expression because not always do they know how to create expressions in Slovak (for example soft loans - mäkké pôžičky, which is incorrect, it should be pôžičky s výhodnou úrokovou sadzbou). English expressions that are created through conversion of substantives to adjectives and which, when translated into Slovak, are deciphered backwards and are more difficult to understand (Child Protection Act – Zákon na ochranu dieťaťa). In Slovak there is no such thing as conversion; therefore, such structures cannot be created. In English we are able to create such structures only after we become familiar with a particular field. They are specific for individual fields, where they are repeated mechanically. Another feauter that a translator has to keep in mind is personal way of expressing things where in Slovak there are impersonal expressions. If we adapt this style into Slovak, it can sound awkward. In English the way of expressing is usually personal: publisher – vydavateľstvo; optician – optika; brewer – pivovar. It is suitable to substitute passive structures in English when translating into Slovak by active statements: these promises were heard – tieto sľuby odzneli; under whose auspices it is held – prevzal záštitu nad. |