The language known today as Spanish is derived from a dialect of spoken Latin that developed in the north-central part of the Iberian Peninsula in what is now northern Spain. Over the past 1,000 years, the language expanded from the south to the Mediterranean Sea, and was transferred to Spain’s colonial empire, mostly in the Western Hemisphere, eventually becoming the official language of some 20 countries. Currently it is adopted as one of the six official languages at the United Nations.
Being such a prominent language it is used in almost every other country in the world. There might arise some minor differences in the actual use, but it is easily chalked out by a good translator. If the translator happens to be a native, then errors marked by him/her can be much more prominent.
A good translator is by definition bilingual. The exact opposite cannot necessarily be true, however. A born and bred bilingual will still need two things to become a translator: first, the skills and experience necessary for translation; second, knowledge of the field in which he or she will translate. The skills and experience for translation include the ability to write well in the target language, the ability to read and understand the source language material thoroughly.
An important issue that arises is, Does a native translator make a better translator than someone who learned the language later in life? Well there can’t be any definite answer to this. A native translator is much more tuned to his first language, making him much more knowledgeable than one who has learned Spanish as a language later in life. An inborn translator can readily appreciate the subtleties and nuances of his language, which may be found to be a little difficult for other translators. On the other hand, the acquired bilingual may not have the same in-depth knowledge of colloquialisms, slang, and dialect that the born bilingual has. As well, the acquired bilingual will not be able to translate as readily in both directions (from B to A language and A to B language).
“Writing” skills, i.e. the ability to write smoothly and correctly in both source and target languages, are also important. Keeping a close check on the use of punctuations and grammar is vital for any type of translation. A well versed in-country translator is comfortable in striking out such minor glitches. An experience ‘gained, and sharpened with some actual translator’s work does help to understand the in-depth understanding of such things beforehand.
As said, there is a wide difference in ‘knowing a language’ and ‘understanding a language.’ Anybody can understand, only a qualified enough knows! So translating from a source language to another, the person requires an equal balance of both.
At CMM Language & Web Services our translation team is a combination of native and non-native highly experienced Spanish to English and English to Spanish translators, having translation experience of more than 7 years on an average.