Facts to go
You can speak to a lot of people through Polish – provided that you address them correctly.
Polish is a Slavonic language which is mainly spoken in Poland. It is a recognised minority language in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine. In addition, there are Polish emigrant communities in many countries throughout the world, in particularly in the USA, Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia. Around 50 million people worldwide speak Polish as their first language.
As part of the Slavonic family of languages, Polish is closely related to languages such as
Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, Slovakian, Serbian, Croatian and Bulgarian. There are several dialects of Polish: Great Polish, Little Polish, Silesian, Masovian and other regional variations. In order to reach people as effectively as possible, you should ensure that the different linguistic usages are reflected as accurately as possible in the translation. The best approach is to consult a professional
translation agency that works with native speakers who are living in Poland themselves.
More letters, a lot of consonants – and how to translate them
Polish words can contain up to five consecutive consonants. That not only looks unusual to many people, it is a real challenge when you are learning the language in particular. In addition to the letters of the Latin alphabet, there are nine other characters in Polish and a total of seven cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative and vocative. There is a therefore quite a lot to consider in a Polish translation.
In view of this complex grammar, you should have your
texts translated professionally – ideally by a Polish native speaker. If you want to translate documents and paperwork from a specific area or for a certain industry, you should also ensure that the translators have the necessary expertise. Only with a
specialist translation by an expert can you be certain that – along with the grammar – the terminology in your translations is correct.
Challenges of specialist translations – and what the consequences of errors might be
Every text has a specific intention, and many texts are written in technical jargon, with the result that not everyone can understand them (and not everyone needs to do so). What matters is that the intended recipients understand the content completely and correctly. These specialist texts exist in almost every sector, and every sector uses its own specific vocabulary, formulations and technical expressions. If you want to translate a text of this sort, simple one-to-one translation is not enough. Although all the words will be translated, the context and meaning of individual specialist terms may be lost – and that can have serious consequences in some industries.
Let’s imagine a
medical translation in which the word contraception has been incorrectly translated as antykoncepcja koncepcyjna. The problem: antykoncepcja koncepcyjna actually implies that a type of fertility booster is involved – precisely the opposite of the actual meaning. The translations antykoncepcja or zapobieganie ciąży would be better here. Similarly, incorrect translations can occur in
technical and
financial translations, and they can have serious consequences here, too. Specialist translators should have broad expertise. And have the ability to translate complex terminology and specific formulations precisely and comprehensibly. It’s better to consult someone like this, rather than attempt a translation yourself!
