As the United States becomes increasingly bilingual and as the frontiers for international communication seem to melt away, editors more than ever need to be able to manage Spanish language editions. Often the editors assigned to manage translated editions are years away from their college Spanish courses. They may have lived in Spanish-speaking countries and speak Spanish well, but never studied the nuts and bolts of written Spanish.
Issues encountered by editors of Spanish language editions (or translations from either language) include:
- Why translations need a good line edit
- What kinds of errors tend to appear in English-to-Spanish translations
- How to handle personal and organizational names and acronyms
- Why indexes are never translated
- Guidelines for correct capitalization (dates, ethnicities, citations)
- Most frequently misused terms and concepts in Spanish-to-English translations
- Spanglish: When it works; when it doesn’t (gerunds, etc.)
- How to strive for accuracy and elegance in translated texts
If any of the above have raised doubts about the quality control of the books you publish in Spanish or have translated from either language, call East Mountain Editing Services to arrange onsite or remote consulting services. The services might include guidelines for translations or checklists for editors created especially for your press. Contact us to talk over your needs.
We can steer you through the worst pitfalls of editors of Spanish language publications.
For indexes in Spanish or English, please e-mail cronshaw@nmia.com or click this link.