Translating from English to Spanish tips?

[Liquinn3]

Hi, I'm going to translate 3 lines of English to Spanish again, does anyone have any tips? Thanks.

[Rusty]

Read lots of Spanish first, so you can see how English ideas are translated into Spanish.

[Liquinn3]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Read lots of Spanish first, so you can see how English ideas are translated into Spanish.

Thats what I am doing. XD

[Glen]

Rusty is right in saying to focus on the ideas rather than the individual words. This might not be the best example, but when I was in the San José airport I couldn't help noticing how the bilingual sign that said No Fumar came out as Do Not Smoke instead of the usual No Smoking

[Rusty]

I should have said "how ideas are expressed in Spanish" instead. Ideas can be expressed in any language, but we need to hear, see and write the ideas according to a defined pattern.

If we don't follow the pattern, others that use the language will struggle with what we write or say.

Knowing the pattern allows us freedom of expression.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Translation requires deep knowledge of the language into which someone is translating. That's why it's recommended that people translate into their native tongue instead of a foreign one, mostly if they are just starting to learn it.

@Liquinn: If you are intending to learn, do not translate. Learn basic structures and start using them until you actually know how to combine them to say what you mean. Otherwise, you will never be sure of what you are actually saying, as you won't have any system to associate ideas and uses of language.