Category: NAATI translator

Exploring the Diversity of German Dialects

Introduction

Like many modern languages, German is a synthesis of older dialects that were spoken in the past in what is now geographically and politically regarded as Germany, together with surrounding European territories where speakers of one dialect of German or another still live. What makes German dialects so interesting is that even today these dialects are part of the complexity and diversity of spoken German, even though standard German is used throughout educational facilities and is the language of government.

Understanding Dialects

Accents vs. Dialects: Unravelling the Difference

Accents and dialects are often confused and in many cases, people think that when someone speaks with a different accent, it means that they are speaking in a different dialect. The reality is that accents are not the same as dialects. The best way of describing the difference is to explain how two people who speak the same dialect may sound different because they are speaking with different accents. More correctly, accents are how people pronounce words, not their choice of words and phrases. Communities of German speakers may speak with different dialects, which may mean that they pronounce commonly spoken words differently (i.e. they have different accents), but also their choice of vocabulary, or even the grammar they use may be different.

German speakers who listen to each other and communicate will experience some difficulty when they encounter other German speakers who speak in a different accent or a different dialect, but will probably still understand these people better than if they try and communicate with someone speaking in a different language.

Diversity within German Dialects

It must be noted that German is spoken throughout Germany, Austria, and parts of Switzerland as well as many people in other parts of the world where German speakers have migrated over the centuries. These people are a treasure house of different German dialects and accents, even though the standardization of the German language allows every German speaker to communicate with all the other German speakers wherever they live and whatever their age.

German Dialects in Germany

German dialects are often rather too conveniently divided into Low or Nieder Deutsch and High or Hoch Deutsch. The two terms, “low” and “high” refer to the locations within what is now called Germany. High German is in the south of Germany, which is more mountainous than the north, which is quite flat. In the north is where, as one might expect, “low” German is spoken. In reality, there are differences between the low dialects and within high dialects as well. There is also a distinct “Middle” German dialect.

Of all this diversity, there had to be some eventual standardization emerging. This has been attributed in part to the invention of the printing press and Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible into German. Hoch Deutsch, for one reason or another, became the dialect that was chosen as the “standardized” dialect for use in all of Germany. This dialect is no more correct than any other dialect but just got to the ‘finish’ line before any other dialect.

Whether you’re navigating the rich tapestry of German dialects or require precise translation, trust our German NAATI Translator for accurate and certified results. Your linguistic journey starts here.

Future of German Dialects

Perhaps, unfortunately, it’s hard to see many minor German dialects surviving for long. Communication these days is so widespread that speaking in a local dialect is slowly dying out. Germans are far more mobile than they were years ago and communicate in diverse ways. This university of communication demands a standardized language and a standardized dialect.

There are many different German dialects, as well as different accents used. Over time, a standardized form of the German language has emerged, which makes it easier for German speakers wherever they live to communicate easily. The current standard dialect which has been selected to be that of modern German originated in the higher or more mountainous parts of Germany, hence it being called Hoch, or “high”, Deutsch. Dialects of German may not survive modern trends and it is possible that in years to come may only be a memory.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for your convenience and does not constitute legal advice. Readers should not take, or refrain from taking, actions based upon the content of this article. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Please seek professional legal advice.

The Challenges and Opportunities for NAATI Translators in the Era of Globalisation

Although the pace of globalization slowed somewhat during the pandemic, the pre-Covid rate has now resumed. People and their businesses and organizations are communicating as never before. The main obstacle remains the numerous language barriers. The translation industry is intimately tied to the need to communicate across the language divide, presenting opportunities and challenges along the way. 

For translators based in Australia who have the advantage of a national accreditation authority, NAATI (the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters), the growth in the worldwide demand for quality translation services gives them a head start over other native English-speaking translators elsewhere in the world. NAATI-certified translators are certainly in demand and the onus is on them to respond to the positive effects of globalization on them.


The opportunities for NAATI translators in the era of globalization

The main advantage of globalization as far as NAATI translators are concerned is that it provides a global market for their services. Not all translations can take place through online communication, but a surprising amount certainly can. In what seems now the dim distant past, the average trained translator would have an office and deal with clients on a face-to-face basis or through the medium of postal services. Most clients would have been local. Now, there are virtually no boundaries, meaning translators in Australia have potentially almost limitless numbers of clients.

The very reason why globalization is occurring, i.e. the existence of the internet and vastly improved forms of communication also allows NAATI translators to have virtual offices. The translator based in a small, country town in outback New South Wales has the same opportunities to carry out translation work as a translator in metropolitan Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane. Home-based offices have tremendous advantages in terms of the cost of maintaining a business as there is no longer any need for renting office space and personnel to maintain it.

The challenges for NAATI translators in the era of globalization

Of course, there are challenges associated with globalization, too. The demand for traditionally popular language pairs such as French and Japanese has been swamped somewhat by the diversity of other language demands. For trainee translators, this does provide more opportunity than a challenge as there are many more languages to become familiar with and offer in translation, but for older translators, there may be less demand for some of the languages they may have offered in the past.

Translation has also become a more complex and demanding career as the need for more technical translation has increased. The growth in globalization has its parallel in the growth of scientific and technical communication, necessitating a better familiarity with scientific and technical terminology. Cultural nuances have become more diverse and translators must accustom themselves to the need for more localization techniques to retain the relevance of the material they are given to translate, especially in marketing translation.

Lastly, there has been a steady increase in the proficiency of machine translation technology. While it has yet to match the current level of development of artificial intelligence, the reality is that machine translation tools are becoming increasingly sophisticated. As yet, for most commercial and professional translation tasks, human translators are still a necessity, it is important for NAATI translators to keep a close eye on the trends and make themselves familiar with the trends in technology which can actually make their jobs easier.

How NAATI translators can overcome the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities

 

The steady pace of globalization presents both opportunities and challenges for NAATI translators. The challenges must be met to take advantage of the opportunities. Examples of ways that translators can help to adapt to a more diverse and dynamic translation environment include:

  • continue to learn about new technologies and how these can help to expedite translation tasks;
  • build professional links across the translation industry;
  • branch out into more specialized niche translation markets to take advantage of the growth in these areas;
  • become more astute in self-promotion and marketing of one’s own translation strengths.

 

 

Do Driving Licenses Need to be Translated?

Why you might need a driving license translated

Most people who go overseas for short trips never think about translating their driving licenses and, in reality, a translation is rarely necessary. Most national or state driving licenses are accepted in other countries although there may be limitations on their use and in some rare cases, a translation may be necessary. It always pays to do a quick Google search before jetting off to another country, especially if the country is unfamiliar or where people speak an entirely different language or use a very different form of writing. 

Spare a thought for the average traffic cop in say, China, who asks to see your driving license at a roadside stop and you are driving a rental car. Your license will probably be totally incomprehensible. The same goes for Chinese or Japanese tourist in Australia or Europe who carries their own national driving license with them. It may technically be legal, but the policeman or policewoman who asks to see it will probably not have a clue whether it is actually valid or even discern any useful information from it, especially if the photo i.d. is a bit out of date.

There is one way around only carrying your own driving license or getting it translated and that’s getting an international driving license. This is usually easy to obtain in advance before leaving your own country. The international license is normally carried with the national license and presented to whoever asks to see it. The information is translated and printed in some, but not all, of the world’s major languages.

The requirements for driving license translation

If you do need to have your driving license translated, use a professional driving license translator. By choosing the right translator who can translate the license into the language you need, all the relevant parts of the license must be translated correctly. These include:

  • your name;
  • your home address (if on your own national license);
  • the date of expiry of your license;
  • the date the license was issued;
  • whether there are any special conditions required for you to use your license, e.g. wearing spectacles or contact lenses;
  • the validity of the license for particular vehicle classes.

Note that most countries and, in some cases, administrative regions of a single country, such as state governments in the U.S. or Australia, require local licenses to be obtained after a period of residence. The rules depend on which country you obtained your original license in, so for example, if you have a Singaporean license or a New Zealand or British one, you can obtain an Australian one without having to do any further tests. You may need to get your own license translated just to have a new, local license issued.

The need for using the right language service provider

If you have been told that you need your national license translated, it is best to get it done by someone who knows what they are doing. Choosing a professional driving license translator will avoid problems and misunderstandings. Every country has a different way of approving translation accreditation or qualifications, so make sure you check which translator or agency is qualified to certify your license and knows what is required in the country you want to use it. 

If you are already in Australia, for example, and expect to be in one state or territory or the other for more than 3 months, then you can expect to have to get a new, locally issued license. That might mean that your own national license you have been using up to then needs to be translated. Use a NAATI-certified licensed translator to do the translation. NAATI is the Australian national accreditation authority for translators and interpreters.

NAATI Certified Translators versus Bilinguals

How many languages can you speak? If you can only speak your own native language fluently then you are classified as monolingual. Bilingual people can understand and speak two languages fluently, while those lucky enough to speak more than two languages fluently are classified as multilingual.

Bilingualism can be a step toward a career as an interpreter or translator, but just being able to be fluent in more than one language isn’t sufficient in itself to be either. That takes training and in many cases a process of certification and accreditation before becoming either an interpreter or a translator. Each country has different rules about what is needed to become a professional translator. In Australia, the vast majority of professional translators have gone through professional training in translation and have passed exams that allow them to obtain certification from the National Accreditation Authority of Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). It is a requirement in Australia that all official documents are translated by a NAATI-certified translator and not just by someone who happens to be a bilingual speaker.

What is special about a NAATI-certified translator?

1. Study and certification

NAATI sets the standards for professional translators and interpreters but is not itself a training facility. If you are looking to pursue a career as a translator or interpreter in Australia, then you are likely to be already bilingual or go through a language course that develops your second language credentials. Beyond bilingualism, there are courses available in many tertiary institutions which are aimed at providing training in translation. Once a would-be professional translator has had sufficient training, he or she would then sit an exam or exams set by NAATI which test the person’s abilities in a specific language as well as their skills as a translator. NAATI has a range of exams that can lead to different levels of certification in both translation and interpretation.

2. Research skills and subject matter expertise

Most professional translators will tend to specialize in the field of translation. There are some translators who will offer a generalized translation service, but the breadth required to be a competent translator of every type of text or document usually precludes a generalized approach. This means that translators will become legal translators, medical translators, scientific document translators, marketing translators, or literary translators, just to name the most common categories. Professional translation requires an intimate knowledge of the variety of content that is to be translated and this requires considerable research skills and acquisition in particular of knowledge of terminology unique to the field of translation.

3. Knowledge of cultural variations

Marketing and literary translators will soon be aware of the need to consider cultural variations in language when they translate content on a professional basis. A good sound background in the cultural context of the population for which the translations are aimed is a necessity for a good translation.

4. NAATI-certified translators for immigration and citizenship applications and other legal documents

While not all countries demand professional qualifications and standards for the acceptance of officially translated documents, many others do. In Australia, government agencies and many employers and educational institutions will expect translated legal and personal documents to be translated by a NAATI-certified translator.

Conclusion

It can be seen from the content of this article that bilingualism, while an ingredient in what a professional translator is required to be able to master, is not in itself sufficient. The corollary is that anyone seeking a translator for anything of value or importance should be looking for a professional translator and if in Australia, that means a NAATI-certified translator.

How Do I Get an Australian Parent Visa Exemption?

There are some visas where a travel exemption is now possible to come to Australia and in particular for parents of children who legally reside in Australia as either a citizen or permanent residents.

The updated travel exemption for parents

​From the 21st of October, 2021 parents of both Australian citizens and Australian permanent residents were eligible to file an application for a travel exemption to undertake travel from the 1st November 2021 to Australia. The aim of this according to the then minister for Home Affairs was to fast-track the reuniting of families who have been separated by the pandemic for a long period of time. Many of whom have missed important family events like funerals, weddings, and the births of grandchildren.

These travel exemption applications can be filed through the Department of Home Affairs Travel Exemption Portal. Several parental relationships are permitted, including adoptive, biological, legal, parent-in-law, and step-parent. It is necessary to provide suitable evidence of the parental relationship with a permanent resident or Australian citizen. Parents must be in possession of a valid passport, and vaccination proof before making travel arrangements to enter Australia. Evidence of a parental relationship with an Australian citizen or permanent resident is required, with examples of the type of evidence required available on the Department’s website. Parents must also have a valid passport, visa, and proof of vaccination for travel to Australia.

However, from 6th July 2022, all ​travel restrictions have ​changed. Immediate family members of an Australian citizen or permanent resident may now travel to Australia without needing a prior assessment of their relationship status, as long as they hold a valid visa and meet all normal border entry requirements.

The Travel Exemptions Portal for parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents is now no longer available because exemptions are no longer required to enter Australia. The requirement is that you hold a valid visa before entering Australia. 

The evidence of parenthood required includes the following:

Evidence proving your adult child is a permanent resident or Australian citizen such as an:

  • Australian passport;
  • Australian citizenship certificate;
  • Australian birth certificate.

Proof of Australian permanent residence in Australia

Proof of the parental relationship you have with the Australian citizen or permanent resident, like:

  • adoption certificate;
  • birth certificate;
  • family status certificate or family book if officially issued and maintained;
  • marriage certificate.

What visa can they apply for?

A visitor visa (subclass 600) is the best choice for parents wishing to visit children in Australia if their nationality means they do not qualify for an ETA or eVisitor visa. The visitor visa attracts a fee of $370 and all nationalities are eligible to apply. You may apply to visit Australia for a 3, 6, or 12 months period with a single entry or multiple entries. Another option is applying for a parent visa which is subclass 870 and is a temporary visa which permits the parents of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand Citizen to reside in Australia for up to between 3 and 5 years. The fee to apply for this type of visa begins at $5,090 for 3 years or $10,180 for 5 years and is open to all nationalities. To apply for this sort of visa, the child who needs to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident is required to sponsor their parents’ application.

What if the documents are not in English?

If the documents proving parenthood are not in English the applicant must use an Australian-based NAATI-accredited translator to get the required translations.

Common Situations When Families Need Translations

One of the commonest reasons for families requiring translations is when they migrate to another country. Most immigration authorities require that all key documents related to the family need to be provided with a translation if these documents are not in the same official language as the country in which the migrants are intending to live in. This includes translations of the following:

In Australia, as with most other countries, translations of all key family-held documents will need to be accompanied by a signed and certified translation. Failure to do this can delay a migration application and if it involves starting a new job the main applicant may be rejected if the immigration process is far too slow. There is a lot at stake if you do not get the right translations for the documents required to get your new immigration status approved.

Translations for families arriving in Australia

No one is permitted to enter Australia without a visa, whether it is for visiting Australia on a tourist visa, for permanent residency, a bridging visa, a visa for employment purposes, or a working holiday visa. The Australian Government will only accept the English language for the documents that are required for entry into the country for both individuals and families.
All translations of documents required to get a visa must be performed by an approved professional translator who has NAATI accreditation. NAATI stands for the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters and it is responsible for ensuring that translators reach a high standard before being accredited.

The process used for translating visa application documents for families.

Because most documents required to support a visa application are legal documents it is always better to get a professional legal translator to perform the translations. This means a human translator, not an online tool that specifies it undertakes translations of legal documents. These sorts of translations are notorious for providing inaccurate translations of documents which if used will lead to delays in your and your family’s move to Australia.

Legal documents depend on accurate translations which are usually word-for-word translations. As Australian immigration officials require that every part of a legal document is translated including seals and watermarks it is important to get a legal translator to do the work as he or she will be familiar with the seals and watermarks found on your legal documents. The translator will then certify and sign the translation and state that it is an accurate translation.

If any translated document that you are required to provide for you and your family for visas to if it has not been certified by a professional legal translator your application will be rejected leading to long delays while you sort out your translation problems.

Other reasons why families may need translations

If you have just arrived in Australia and your family is not fully fluent in English, they may need translations related to education and health provision in Australia. Most of the states provide key documents in these areas translated into a whole range of languages. However, if you find some important information that has not been translated into your language you can request a translation from the state you live in. You can also request an interpreter if you are visiting a healthcare provider or your child’s school. An interpreter will help you to communicate with these agencies and will ensure that miscommunication does not take place.

Preparing Properly for the NAATI Test is the Best Route to NAATI Accreditation

Advantages of Professional Certifications and Accreditations

It is quite possible to survive as a translator or interpreter in Australia or New Zealand without certification or accreditation with a body like NAATI (the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters). Still, the possibility of lucrative work and career prospects are very limited, even if your grasp of a second language other than your own is quite sound.

A career in translating or interpreting generally requires NAATI accreditation first and then a subsequent application for membership with one of the professional associations, like AUSIT or NZSTI. Respectively, these are the Australian Institute of Translators and Interpreters and the New Zealand Society of Translators and Interpreters.

Professional accreditation and association membership are generally necessary if you intend to get a job as a translator or interpreter with one of the many agencies that provide professional translation or interpreting services. Translation and interpreting work for the government and large corporations also depends on NAATI accreditation.

Understanding the Difficulty of the NAATI Test and Factors Affecting Pass Rates

So, how hard is the NAATI test? The contradiction is that many people who sit the qualifying NAATI exam, particularly the exams for professional translators and professional interpreters actually fail. The pass rate is typically only around 10 to 12%.

Is the NAATI test difficult? The high failure rate in the NAATI test is a measure primarily of a lack of thorough preparation for the exam and unfamiliarity with the style of questions in the exam, rather than any suggestion that the NAATI professional exams are too difficult. It is entirely possible to pass the NAATI exam on the first attempt as long as the hard work of preparation for the exam has been done first of all.

How to pass the NAATI exam at the first go

There is no easy way to pass the NAATI exam at the first go apart from ensuring that you have completed all the course work related to the NAATI exam thoroughly first. Most courses that lead to professional translating and interpreting as a career are available at all major Australian and New Zealand universities. Completing a recognized translating or interpreting course at one of these institutions is the best guarantee of passing the NAATI exam on the first go rather than becoming one of the unfortunate 90-odd percent who have failed to prepare themselves first.

Like many exams, the NAATI exam is designed to ensure that your working knowledge of both your own native language and your second language is good enough to cope with the demands of professional translating and interpreting.

The NAATI coursework will certainly help to prepare you for the all-important NAATI exam. Most successful would be professional translators and interpreters who have not only mastered the complexities of a second language but have understood the particular demands of the profession they are aspiring to become part of.

As far as passing the NAATI exam goes, either for professional translating or interpreting, there are many NAATI exam samples to practice on and it is quite useful to take at least one or more NAATI practice tests. Your success in these practice tests and exams will give you an idea of whether it is feasible to take the final NAATI exam itself. NAATI accreditation is not cheap, so it does not make sense financially to sit the exam without making sure you have a good chance of passing it.

NAATI Course fees

NAATI sets a variety of fees depending on whether you intend to become an accredited translator or interpreter and at what level you intend to aim. There are introductory and more advanced levels, each of which has its own exams and fee structure.

In general, the higher the accreditation, the higher the fee. For example, the fee for the Certified Conference Interpreter, Certified Specialist Interpreter, and Certified Interpreter exams are currently 880 Australian dollars each, while the Certified Provisional Interpreter fee is 550 dollars. For translators, the exam fee for the Certified Advanced Translator level is 770 dollars, while the Certified Translator exam fee is 550 dollars.

NAATI does not actually run courses. These are provided by colleges and universities in selected cities. Courses are designed to lead to translation or interpreting exams set by NAATI. The course structure and fees for these courses can be determined by looking at the individual university or college websites. The fees tend to be similar but not necessarily exactly the same. Note that the course fees themselves are not necessarily the most expensive part of studying to be a translator or interpreter and often it is the accommodation and other expenses that determine just how much it costs to become a professional certified translator or interpreter. That means that the NAATI course fees in Perth, the NAATI course fees in Adelaide, and the NAATI course fees in Melbourne all seem to be similar, but the expense of staying in these cities can be quite different.

Business Opportunities for NAATI Translation Services

Professional translation services are now more in demand than ever before because of the growth in the Internet and the desire to communicate with people worldwide. It’s not just day to day communication that needs to be translated but there is a great demand for NAATI translators to translate whole books and a huge variety of advertising material so that it can be read by the global audience and its consumers. Business opportunities for NAATI translation services have seen profits grow in recent years.

Decide Your Language Specialization

A professional translation service provider needs to be proficient in no less than two languages and as so much print media including websites is in English it is important to be fluent in English as well as a second language. Japanese, French, German and Spanish are increasingly important for all types of business translations. However, there are other important languages in demand too.

Language

Go Professional Is The Best Way

The best way to be a successful NAATI translator is to be either college qualified in your two languages or attend some professional language training courses to bring your language standards to that required to conduct an excellent NAATI translation.

The demand is of course always for professionals so you need to give your translation business a professional appearance so that you attract the best clients.

Advertising Your Business As a NAATI Translation Service

The best way to advertise is to set up a blog and start writing blog posts regularly. It should be first posted in English and then you can translate it into you second chosen language which should be posted next to your English post. Through doing this your existence becomes known and your translation abilities are being showcased at the same time. You should insert your contact details clearly in your blog post.

Finding Work

You should register with a translation agency that uses NAATI translators and you can expect to get more work than going it alone. Once you have completed a NAATI translation project don’t forget to remind the outgoing client of your contact details including your blog URL. Word of mouth is often a good way of reaching out to new clients.

Enhancing Your Professional Profile

How you market your professional profile partially relates to the demands of the current market. If, for example, there is a rush for legal document translations make sure you cash in on this event. You should advertise your abilities in this area so you can be more attractive to the market. You should bookmark your favourite translation news websites so you can keep abreast of the market and be ready when demand favours your skills. Being a NAATI translator gives you a head start when someone is looking for a good translator in their language pair.

 

8 Key Rules for Global Translation

In the competitive world of translation a NAATI translation is the highest quality you could ever expect to get and anyone choosing this translation service in Australia won’t fail to be a success.

Quality assurance (QA) is a term used in the translation industry that indicates how well a translator has been able to match a client’s requirements. QA is a guarantee offered by any company that is qualified to undertake a NAATI translation.

There are many global companies that need that QA as they sell their products to a global market. These include reputable car companies such as Volvo and Ford. There are various ways that professional translation services meet QA which include

  • Accepting jobs that suit the translation company’s specializations. This means asking the client to present a copy of the document before agreeing to undertake a job. Taking on a translation without viewing the text first could make it more difficult to guarantee QA.
  • With all translations it’s to use TM software like Wordfast, SDLX and Trados, which helps to ensure small mistakes are not made. This software breaks up the text to be translated into sentences so that it is virtually impossible to miss any text. The text should be thoroughly proofread after the NAATI translation is complete.
  • If you are unsure of any part of the text you should ask the client to clarify before going any further. Your client wants QA just as much as you do. Not all source texts are necessarily written well even in their own native language. This means you could make mistakes if you don’t check first.
  • If you think you need to, find a good second translator to go over your final translation of a text. This will be the best way to gain the QA label.
  • If your translation is to be aimed at corporate clients ensure that you use the correct terminology that fits the particular client.
  • Make sure you know the target audience for the particular translation job so that your translation will be in the language that suits that audience. This means knowing which country the target audience lives in.
  • Understand precisely what the audience expects to get from the translation. There are some texts that are expected to be informative while others may have the aim of trying to persuade the audience to buy a product. This will determine the language register that is the most suitable.
  • In some complicated translations where making a mistake could be dangerous to the audience such as a medical translation it is a good idea to test the translation on a few people who may read it and give their comments. These people are called “test readers.”In summary, NAATI translations are great because the QA is always present.

Spanish Words That Have No Literal English Translation

Every language has its own special idioms and sayings that cannot be translated literally. English is full of them, which makes the language hard for those who are learning it. Americans are used to seeing Spanish everywhere these days, especially in the Southern and Western states. Many people in the U.S. are making a serious effort to be able to speak Spanish, not just so they can communicate more easily with that country’s largest immigrant community, but so they can take advantage of the fantastic travel opportunities south of the Rio Grande and right down to the tip of South America.

The Spanish English translation is not so common among translation service providers in Australia, but one would expect that a professional NAATI translator who offers Spanish translation would be able to understand the range of Spanish idioms that are described below. Much translation work these days, especially for marketing, requires a thorough understanding and feel for the uniqueness of the languages they translate.

Take the Spanish word “sobremesa”, for instance. Literally, it means “on the table,” so the amateur translator might scratch their head and think it really was all the things on the dinner table. That’s not the Spanish meaning, which is more idiomatic. It’s actually the after-dinner talk that goes on after a nice meal together with friends or family.

An afternoon meal in Spanish is “merenda” and to go out and have a meal with some friends in the afternoon is the verb “merendar”. It has no literal translation in English that means anything quite like that.

Some expressions can be guessed at but may be more specific than you think. Te quiero, for example, means “I want you” or “I like you.” Well, with the talk getting intimate like that, the translator may wonder just how much the Spanish speaker ‘wants’ the listener. The answer is that it is somewhere between liking someone’s company and really loving them. A sort of ‘sit on the fence’ or intermediate position when it comes to relationships!

The word anteayer is a little easier to grasp, although there is no single word in English to represent it. Literally, it means ‘before yesterday and in this case, that’s what it does mean!

It’s hard to imagine exactly how often the word tuerto would come up in a translation services agency in Australia. It means “one-eyed” in Spanish. Of course, it is essential to use a NAATI translator if you are contemplating immigration applications into Australia and there will be equivalent translation requirements in many other countries, so perhaps describing yourself as a tuerto may be necessary if you really are one-eyed and not a pirate!

Idioms are the fun part of learning another language and if you intend to polish up your Spanish, be aware that it is full of amazing idioms waiting for your efforts and appreciation!