Swedish people are known worldwide for having a good understanding of the English language and being excellent English speakers. With this in mind, it’s easy to think that it would be fairly simple for just any Swedish translator to translate an English text into Swedish and vice versa.
This is, however, not necessarily the case. Translating one language from another involves having a strong understanding of both languages in order to ensure a good translation. You’re guaranteed to achieve that goal if you use a professional Swedish translation service.
1. Misunderstanding context, cultural subtleties and quirks.
When it comes to languages, a lot of inspiration is found in the culture surrounding them, and as a result, misunderstandings are easy to come by if you don’t understand where certain expressions stem from.
How something is said can also change its meaning entirely, for example, if you use the wrong words to translate a sentence. This is a well-known risk if the translator doesn’t possess adequate knowledge in both languages.
A professional Swedish translation service focuses more on translating the meaning of what is being said rather than on the words themselves. Therefore, you can be sure that the original meaning is conveyed in the translation.
2. Being uninformed about dialects, slang and idioms.
Swedish, like many other languages, also has plenty of dialects and slang that can be hard for a non-native to understand. Its variety of idioms can easily be miscommunicated and render a text difficult to read and understand if it’s not translated correctly. This is a common problem among inexperienced translators.
It’s essential that translators have a deep understanding of these subtle differences in both the original language and the target language.
3. Not knowing how to translate untranslatable words.
In recent years, many Swedish untranslatable words such as fika and lagom have become fairly well known worldwide. Many of these types of words exist in the English language as well.
Only a native speaker well educated in both languages would be able to correctly translate and retain the meaning in the target language, which is why this quality is so important in a professional Swedish translator.
And much more...
These are just a few of the reasons hiring a professional Swedish translation service is a good idea. The truth is that the Swedish language is full of risks, ranging from gender-neutrality to levels of politeness. A skilled translator knows how to take these things into consideration in order to guarantee that nothing gets lost in translation, so choose a reliable translation service for your next project.