English to Spanish translation

June 7, 2007 12:01 PM

I need some very simple phrases translated from English into Spanish.

My Spanish is mediocre at best and I'm worried about typical screw-ups like "embarazada" for "embarrassed" (instead of "pregnant") and "molestar" to mean molest the way Anglos think of it, so hopefully there are a few of you more skilled folks who can help me out.

Please do not suggest the use of computerized translation software. It is not appropriate for situations in which accuracy is important.

The phrases are:

a) STUDENT LOAD/UNLOAD ONLY

b) NO TOBACCO PERMITTED ON SCHOOL PROPERTY AT ANY TIME

c) VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY LAW

d) DRUG-FREE, WEAPON-FREE

e) HIGH-PROFILE ENFORCEMENT AREA

Thank you very much in advance for helping me with my kind-of-dumb request.

posted by Optimus Chyme to Writing & Language (28 answers total)

a) STUDENT LOAD/UNLOAD ONLY
Cargar/Descargar de estudiantes solamente.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:31 PM on June 7, 2007

d) DRUG-FREE, WEAPON-FREE
Libre de drogas y armas
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:37 PM on June 7, 2007

a) (cargar/descargar is the correct translation for load/unload, but I'm not sure if it would apply to people)
Subida y bajada de alumnos únicamente.
Entrada y salida de alumnos únicamente.

b) El tabaco no está permitido en propiedad de la escuela en cualquier momento.

c) Infractores serán sancionados con la pena máxima permitida por la Ley.

d) Libre de drogas, libre de armas

e) [what do you mean by high-profile? as in, people with high profile, or the area is high profile?]
posted by CrazyLemonade at 12:39 PM on June 7, 2007

what do you mean by high-profile?

The area is a high-profile one among law enforcement - I would guess the implication is that the number of officers who patrol that area is higher than the average.

Thanks for the help. :)
posted by Optimus Chyme at 12:44 PM on June 7, 2007

b) NO TOBACCO PERMITTED ON SCHOOL PROPERTY AT ANY TIME
Tabaco no está permitido en el campus nunca.
(literally tobacco is not permitted on campus)
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 12:45 PM on June 7, 2007

I don't speak Spanish so I can't help with the actual translation, but there are companies that sell preprinted signs in English and Spanish for use in plants, labs, etc. If you ever need another sign in the future, they might come in handy.

For example, a firearm sign.
posted by cabingirl at 12:47 PM on June 7, 2007

El tabaco no está permitido en propiedad de la escuela en cualquier momento.

CrazyLemonade, I see you're in Mexico. Are posted signs there as verbose as that? Most postings I read here in California aren't in educated Spanish... like "No se vende tacos de fihs no mas, sory" hee hee. For signage, I thought less literal, more concept based translations were the way to go. But I defer to you there. Does it read as more emphatic that way?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 1:00 PM on June 7, 2007

b) El tabaco no está permitido en propiedad de la escuela en cualquier momento.

Not to nit-pick but these sound like posted rules and regulations rather than suggestions.Wouldn't it be better to be direct and say "No Fumar" or "Se Ha Prohibido Usar Tobaco"?
posted by Pollomacho at 1:01 PM on June 7, 2007

Ambrosia Voyeur, yes, I thought about the "wordiness of that", but since the english version said "school property", I didn't want to take the liberty of using "campus".

Maybe for a shorter sign it could read:
Tabaco prohibido en el campus.

I'm still trying to come up with a decent translation for "high-profile enforcement area", but all of those are concepts that are not as concisely translated into spanish.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 1:09 PM on June 7, 2007

e) Área de alta vigilancia. ....?
posted by CrazyLemonade at 1:10 PM on June 7, 2007

Oh, oh! I asked a [teacher] friend and she told me the signs at her school read:

for a) Ascenso y descenso de alumnos.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 1:29 PM on June 7, 2007

How about this:
e) HIGH-PROFILE ENFORCEMENT AREA
Area patrullada por policia frequentemente. (Area patrolled frequently by police)
or
Area baja de patrulla especial (Area under special patrol)
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 2:37 PM on June 7, 2007

Man, I didn't think it would be this contentious.

I asked another person and got the following answers:

A) Area de cargo y descarga sólo para estudiantes.
B) Estudiantes, personal y visitantes: esta es una instalación donde no se permite fumar,  no se permite ningún producto derivado de tabaco. Código de salud pública y seguridad.
C) Las personas que no cumplar este reglamento se le aplicará todo el peso de la ley.
D) Area libre de drogas, armas
E) Area de alto grado de seguridad

i'm not so sure about this source, though - "cargo y descarga"?
posted by Optimus Chyme at 2:40 PM on June 7, 2007

Optimus: Pensando demasiado sobre el plato de frijoles.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:02 PM on June 7, 2007

Well, these translation issues are at the heart of a sixteen-thousand dollar job; it's more than a plato de frijoles.

_{(Q: Why are we not paying someone a couple hundred bucks for translation services on a $16,000 job? A: I don't own the place.)}
posted by Optimus Chyme at 3:11 PM on June 7, 2007

[Conteste a la pregunta, por favor.]
posted by cortex at 3:22 PM on June 7, 2007

Optimus, no offense to the person who helped you, but except for E), those are really bad translations. And what's with the lenghty B) ?

Here's my "final answer":

A)Ascenso y descenso de alumnos

or

Ascenso y descenso de alumnos únicamente

B) Tabaco prohibido en el campus.

or

Tabaco prohibido en todas las áreas de la escuela.

C) Infractores serán sancionados con todo el peso de la ley.

or

Quienes no cumplan con los reglamentos serán sancionados según la ley.

D) Libre de drogas, libre de armas

E) Área de alta vigilancia

or

Área bajo supervisión/patrullaje/vigilancia (choose one) especial
posted by CrazyLemonade at 3:22 PM on June 7, 2007

Thanks, CL. I kind of thought they sucked too and I've only been through a semester of Spanish.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 3:27 PM on June 7, 2007

I was referring to your friend's suggestions.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 4:10 PM on June 7, 2007

Just a thought - if you're dealing with a bilingual population, it might be worth thinking about the effect that the size of the typeface might make on the reader. Would one group feel unduly/unfairly bothered on account of this? I'm not bilingual, but it's something I've thought about when I've seen signs with Spanish or another non-English language added as an afterthought.

Here's a flickr search result page for "spanish english sign" so you can see some different interpretations.
posted by mdonley at 4:27 PM on June 7, 2007

These are the same size as their English equivalents except for when the longer phrase in Spanish prohibits sizing them that way.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 4:31 PM on June 7, 2007

Be aware that the type of Spanish makes a big difference. I'm relearning my Spanish from my Mexican immigrant coworkers, and common usage varies a lot from what I learned in high school. Websites such as Babelfish are practically worthless if you are translating into Mexican Spanish.
posted by rcavett at 4:42 PM on June 7, 2007

I'm relearning my Spanish from my Mexican immigrant coworkers, and common usage varies a lot from what I learned in high school.

Mexican Spanish varies in Mexico too. In any case, these signs should be (and are translated by CrazyLemonade) in formal language which varies less from country to country.
posted by vacapinta at 6:38 PM on June 7, 2007

a) Carga y descarga sólo para estudiantes.

b) El tabaco no es permitido en las instalaciones de la escuela.

c) Infractores serán sancionados con la pena máxima permitida por la ley.

d) Libre de drogas, libre de armas.

e) Area con un alto grado de seguridad.
posted by josue at 2:01 AM on June 8, 2007

In any situation where you need something translated, a suggestion from a native speaker of the language *into which the sentence is being translated* should be given more weight - a non-native speaker, however proficient, is likely to make give-away mistakes.
posted by altolinguistic at 5:22 AM on June 8, 2007

CL's are the best (IMO as a native Spanish speaker). josué's have some minor errors or usage issues (El tabaco no está permitido...Los infractores serán sancionados). Ambrosia's, while well intentioned, are chock full of errors and awkward phrasing.
Go with CL's.
posted by signal at 9:46 AM on June 8, 2007

Another thing, IME, second- or third- generation Mexicans (Dominicans, etc.) in the US speak an odd sort of English influenced Spanish (basically, translating English grammar and idioms into Spanish, like "voy a volver para atrás" for "I am going to go back"). This probably looks ok to them, but is very strange to a first generation Spanish speaker. Try to get somebody who actually lives in a Spanish speaking country if you want anything approaching "standard" international Spanish.
Again, CL seems to be the horse to bet on.
posted by signal at 9:52 AM on June 8, 2007

This probably looks ok to them, but is very strange to a first generation Spanish speaker.

Heck, I'm first generation and I do as you describe. A near-lifetime of living in the United States and speaking English primarily has a way of going back and "infecting" your native language.

That said, the examples proposed by some of the other folks here are a good reason why there is always a demand for translators who know not only the native language but also its culture and idioms. Otherwise a translation may actually be technically correct but it still sounds awkward for no other reason than "people just don't say things that way."
posted by vacapinta at 10:06 AM on June 8, 2007