Translating Official Documents

Roberto Mayoral has lectured on translation at the Universidad de Granada in Spain for 23 years and has been a Visiting Professor at Princeton, Dartmouth College and Brigham Young University. He is the author of La traduccion de la variacion linguistica (1999) and Aspectos epistemologicos de la traduccion (2001) and has worked as an official translator between Spanish and English for 18 years.

• 1. Introduction2. Professional practice2.1 Professional practice around the world2.2 Features of official translation in different countries and regions3. Social context3.1 Participants3.2 Loyalties3.3 The translator's ideology3.4 Across cultural distance4. Documents4.1 Types4.2 Information and functions5. The Official translator as a jurilinguistic expert6. Different ways of translating6.1 Adequacy conditions 6.2 Constraints6.2.1 Legal norms6.2.2 Ethical norms: Professional vs. personal6.2.3 Traditions and customs6.2.4 Constraints imposed by the client, the initiator or the recipient6.3 Freedom7. Common problems and frequent solutions7.1 Means of expression7.2 Format and typing conventions7.2.1 Belonging to the original vs. belonging to the translation7.2.2 Converting complex formats into paragraph sequences7.2.3 Text vs. image 7.2.4 Avoiding deception7.2.5 One source language7.2.6 Legibility7.2.7 Understandability7.2.8 Originality7.2.9 Other writing conventions7.2.10 Translating into different formats7.3 Validity and execution of documents 7.3.1 Signature and seal7.3.2 Certifying authorities7.4 Medium8 On the translation of different documents8.1 Birth, marriage and death certificates8.2 Academic transcripts and diplomas8.3 Agreements and undertakings9. Sources of information10. Other professional aspects10.1 Fees and estimates10.2 Professional associations

'... an invaluable reference guide for those engaged in translating official documents. ... the basics of official translating have never been addressed in such detail.' Valentin Shevchuk, Perspectives'... excelente monografía sobre traducción jurada... La claridad con que ha dibujado todos los problemas y sus soluciones es admirable, y ayuda a entender con mayor profundidad la complejidad de una disciplina que sigue tan desdibujada en muchas mentes: la traducción jurada.'David Valenzuela Gabarrón, Quaderns. Revista de traducció