Introduction:
Russian is the 5th most spoken language in the world and features in the list of official languages of all major international bodies, namely the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Health Organization as well as the World Tourism Organization. It is the most widely-spoken of all Slavic Languages, the largest native language in Europe as well as the most geographically widespread language across Eurasia.
Demand for quality Russian Translation:
In the wake of globalization, Russia’s strategic position as a leading exporter of advanced defence technology as well as it’s precious reserves of Oil and Gas, have created a huge requirement for high quality, reliable and professional Russian to English as well as English to Russian Translation Service Providers across the world. The key players availing these services include foreign investors looking to invest in Russia, multinationals seeking to expand their markets in Russia, Oil and Gas companies undertaking various projects in Russia as well as public sector and private sector organizations importing Russian technology.
Basic know-how of Russian Translation
For effective and reliable Russian Translation Services, it is necessary that the translator must not only possess sound linguistic expertise, but also well grounded understanding of Russian culture, traditions, social norms, work ethics etc and updated knowledge of latest terms and terminologies. It is also necessary that the translator be a native of Russia, for the purpose of enhanced understanding of the native culture, traditions, social norms and other fine aspects about Russia, to be able to churn out context-specific, culturally and socially appropriate translations. One must also take into account whether the translation involves British English or American English, as well as which dialect of Russian, as dialects vary across northern, central and southern Russia. In order to maintain uniformity of the website and avoid confusing end-users, one must stick to the particular style or dialect from the beginning till the end. One can use machine translators like Google Translate, ABB Lingo etc, but curtail their use as secondary sources rather than becoming fully dependent upon them.
Nuances of Russian to English Translation:
The Cyrillic script is used for writing Russian that dates back to the 9th century. Initially, it had 43 letters (24 of them derived from the Greek alphabet) which is reduced to 33 letters at present. An estimated ten percent of Russian words bear resemblance to English words such as “problem”, “coffee”, “café” etc, while a smaller percentage of words have also been taken from Italian, French and German. An important guideline is not to translate people’s names, names of food etc and let them remain as they are. While undertaking Russian to English translation services or vice versa, one will encounter a number of “false friends”, that is words that look or sound similar in both languages but have very different meanings. For example, “magazin” in Russian means “shop”, while “cabinet” means “office”. (Source: bbc.co.uk)
Conclusion:
To conclude, effective Russian to English translation as well as English to Russian translation is a multi-faceted procedure that requires in-depth understanding before actually undertaking the project. The translator must understand not only the nuances of both languages, but also delve deep into the psyche as well as the political, social, cultural and economic background of the end-users of the website to carry out effective translation.
