Glosario International - The Spanish Translator's Best Friend

I have been using Glosario Internacional Para el Traductor by Marina Orellana for over three years now. Needless to say, my copy does not look like the photo above in that it is creased and dog-eared from use. I consult it nearly every day; not only for legal translations, but also for business and agricultural translations as well.

What makes this glossary so valuable? It was written by a translator for translators. The target terms are not mere approximations of the original source terms. They are rather finely-honed parts that fit snugly into the machinery of the target language, be it English or Spanish. If you work with Chilean Spanish you will definitely benefit from Glosario Internacional, as it is well-stocked with Chilean expressions.

Here is what the glossary's front and back flaps have to say about its author, Marina Orellana:

Marina Orellana estudió Pedagogía en inglés en el Instituto Pedagógico de la Universidad de Chile. Es Bachelor of Arts en inglés y literatura inglesa (New Jersey College for Women, hoy Douglass College), Obtuvo su Master of Arts en Educación en Smith College (Northampton, Massachusetts), donde pasó a ser Ayudante y luego Instructora en el Departamento de Castellano. Al mismo tiempo, continuó sus estudios de Filosofía. Con miras al Doctorado, se le concedió una beca de residencia en la Universidad de Columbia (New York). Al término de su residencia en la Universidad de Columbia tomó y aprobó el examen de traducción de las Naciones Unidas. Fue la primera mujer en la sección de Traducciones al español en esta organización internacional. Empezó como "trainee", fue ascendida a traductora y luego a revisora. Despu{es de ocho años regresó a Chile para trabajar como "free lance".

Al poco tiempo fue contratada por UNESCO y se trasladó a Prís donde permaneció tres años. Fue en UNESCO donde nació la idea del primer "Glosario Internacional de Educación" (Inglés-Castellano) con el objeto de dar a conocer la terminología de la especialidad entre el presonal docente.

De regreso a Santiago continuó su trabajo de traductora independiente en CEPAL y en otros organismos internacionales (FAO, OIT, UNESCO, etcétera).

Más tarde fue contratada por la Organización de los Estados Americanos, en Washington D.C. En esta ciudad trabajó en otras instituciones (FMI, BM, BID, OEA, OPS, OMS). Finalmente formó parte del personal de la Oficina Regional de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (Organización Panamericana de la Salud), donde terminó su carrera como Jefe de Servicio de Traducciones.

Desde su regreso a Chile ha dado conferencias y escrito sobre su experiencia en traducción.

Publicaciones
La traducción del inglés al castellano
Guía para el traductor
Buenas y malas palabras, conjunto de artículos sobre el idioma castellano
Glosario Internacional para el traductor, en colaboración con su colega inglés John D. Chadburn. Esta cuarta edición es la que ahora presentamos.
Todos estos libros han sido publicados por Editorial Universitaria.

Traducciones
El prejuicio racial en el nuevo mundo, Aristóteles y los indios de Hispanoameérica, obra del Profesor Lewis Hanke. The teaching of reading and writing, Profesor William S. Gray (para UNESCO).

Premios
Por sus "significativos aportes en el campo de la traducción e interpretación" recibió de ELADI (Escuela Latinoamericana de Interpretación, con sede en Santiago, Chile), el Premio "Danica Selescovitch" en 1992. Por su "eficiencia profesional" la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile le otorgó el Premio "Juan de Magallanes-Calvet" en 1996.

In Chile, you can find this book at several bookstores such as José Miguel Carrera and Librería Antártica. You can also order it on-line from Amazon.

El Registro Civil

Spanish translation

The Registro Civil (It has many names in English such as Registry Office, Bureau of Vital Statistics, among others) plays a very important role in Spanish and Latin American events such as birth, marriage and death and National ID cards. You can also get married at this office, or the registrar can visit your home for the civil ceremony.

I have never visited or had the need to visit an office of this nature in the U.S. Here in Chile, however, I have been to two or three of them.

When you need a copy of a birth certificate or any other kind of document, you simply pick up a printout on green official paper that states all of the information on the original record with one stamp and the signature of the clerk who handled the procedure. These days, you can even request the printout via Internet. This saves a lot of time and effort!

The Registrar, or Oficial del Registro Civil is a key figure. He or she has the power to marry people in the civil ceremony, and is in charge of updating divorce records upon notification of the court.

Squidoo: Create your own lens!

I just recently created a Squidoo lens. Squidoo is a combination blog, web and link page. You can create a lens on any topic you care to, and the cost of an unlimited number of lenses is free!

I suggest that you try your hand at a translation lens. Mine is called El Arte de Traducir. Did you know that you can receive royalties from page visits to your Squidoo lens? After all, every little bit helps.

If you are interested in starting your own lens, you can either visit the Squidoo page, or better yet, drop me a line, and there could very possibly be a benefit for both of us.

National Identity Cards

For those of you living in the United States, the concept of a National ID Card may sound foreign - both figuratively and literally speaking. Your ID is your driver's license, or your state ID card if you don't drive. However, you need to show your ID very little; if you are buying alcohol or if a police officer stops you. How many of you reading this blog entry know your driver's license number without looking at it? When have you used it besides on the back of checks you have written?

The US Social Security number, on the other hand, is much universal for the US citizen or permanent resident. You need it for tax purposes, college enrollment and most people know it as well as they know their middle names. The card itself, however is generally tucked away somewhere. I got my Social Security card when I was in the third grade, and haven't once had to show it to anyone official.

In Spain and Latin America, the Cédula Nacional de Identidad is widespread, and you would do well to follow the American Express card ad: "Don't leave home without it." People in Chile never use the word cédula when referring to their ID cards. They say carnet which is also written carné. It has the person's photo, names, birthdate and R.U.T. on the front. On the back is the bearer's thumbprint. It used to be that a person had to stamp his or her thumb in ink before printing the thumbprint. Now the photo as well as the thumbprint are digital.

R.U.T. stands for Rol Unico Tributario. You need to know it by heart because people will ask you for it almost everywhere you go. "Dícteme su R.U.T", is a very common phrase here. A person with a R.U.T starting with a low number such as three million is generally much older than someone with a number such as ten or eleven million.

Other countries such as Spain, Mexico and Colombia have the same or a similar system. Spain and Argentina have the D.N.I, or Documento Nacional de Identificación. Mexico has the CURP and the CRIP (Clave Única de Registro de Población and Clave de Registro e Identificación Personal).

Follow this link if you would like to know more about the Chilean ID card process.

New ProZ article: Translating Official Documents

It helps to have a bit of patience and experience when translating official documents. However, as you work with more and more of them, you will realize how easy and profitable they are.

Do you translate official documents? If you do, or are interested in starting or honing your skills, you will want to read this article I wrote!

You may also enjoy and benefit from this article on personal documents.