Many years ago, we began to translate my PowerPoints files and other safety training materials in Spanish. At first, we obtained different Spanish training materials and tried to use them; they were terrible. Quickly, we realized most of the Spanish training material was likely done by bilingual safety professionals raised in the United States or Google Translate.
Most translations from Google Translate are just garbage that does not make grammatical sense. Most bilingual safety professionals I know are not translators. Frequently, they do not speak great Spanish. They often speak Spanglish, a mixture of Spanish with English slang.
Often, many Hispanic construction workers come to this country and learn English work terms. For instance, a forklift in Spanish is montacarga. However, for many Hispanics, they never used the word until they arrived in the States and began using a forklift. Therefore, I often hear Hispanic workers refer to “el foclif” This is how they hear forklift. Some guys tell me they are “shirokeros” That, by the way, is a sheet rocker. They speak Spanish but only know certain work terms in something close to English.
The common presentations we have viewed were often grammatically incorrect and made ample use of terrible Spanglish terminology. They are meaningless to any educated Spanish speakers. Nevertheless, I have also discovered that properly translated Spanish PowerPoints also fail to be understood by common workers who learned many terms after arriving to this country. Hence, there comes to exist the strange dialectal void.
As a result, we developed our process for translation of our own training material. First, our executive team will translate the file. Then we forward it to a Mexican proofreader since they make up the largest population of Hispanics in the US. Afterward, we send it to a South American proofreader. The idea is to allow different people from different countries Latin-American countries examine the documents so that they all can understand its intent. Sometimes, we have our great Mexican translators do the translation, and we do the proofreading. The principle is the same.
Once the document is complete, we review it with a different set of eyes. All of this assures that the translated material is understood by Spanish Speakers from different countries and that it is accurate. I use my experience in the field to think about the common expressions currently spoken. The bad Spanglish words that do not really exist, but everyone uses. Then, I insert those words into the presentation. This way, we use proper Spanish easily understood by most cultures, and we add words they are likely using. It’s shocking how often when I teach a Spanish safety class, many workers are learning the proper word in Spanish for the first time.
In fall prevention, we are taught to secure a hole with a cover and spray paint the word “Hole” or “cover”. A correct translation would be “orificio” o “cobertura” Although this is a correct translation, we know that no construction worker would spray out such big words. The common Spanish word in the US is “hoyo” It is understood and small enough to write.
This is how we translate our training materials. I’m a trainer and know how I want to instruct. I have found that other companies have seen the benefit of following my system in translating their materials as well. If you need your safety materials translated, I am open to discuss your needs and options.
