Though it is truly embarrassing to tell people you are pregnant (embarazada) when you’re not, false friends in Spanish could leave you shame faced. From claiming a college graduate has only finished high school (colegio) to offering assistance rather than just promising to attend (asistir), there are many ways you can create serious misunderstandings. People may feel resentful if you call your commitment (compromiso) a compromise or leave the room when they wish you success (éxito). You could really botch a deal by canceling your order instead of paying (cancelar) for it or even go bankrupt if you offer a trillion dollars instead of a billion (bilión: 1,000,000,000,000). They will question your sanity if you offer to put documents in the carpet rather than a folder (carpeta) and pretend to sign the papers when you fully intend (pretender) to do so, especially if you insist you are sane rather than just healthy (sano). Your client may also find you overly paranoid if you say you will record the meeting rather than remember (recorder) it and may suspect you are a spy if you refer to your actual job instead of your current (actual) employment. Therefore, in order not to condescend when you mean to agree (condescender), always check to make sure every word you translate means what you think it does.
INFORMACIÓN DE NUESTRA SOCIA:
Laura Redekop
Licenciada en literatura de la Universidad de Winnipeg, Canadá, es traductora y editora para grandes empresas multinacionales como Bayer (anteriormente Monsanto) y Albemarle, la productora de litio más grande del mundo, durante 18 años. Traduce una gran variedad de textos, tales como: evaluaciones de impacto ambiental, contratos legales, informes agrícolas, presentaciones Power Point y materiales de relaciones públicos para la prensa y la alta dirección de empresas grandes.
Las opiniones vertidas en esta sección son de exclusiva responsabilidad de quienes las emiten, y no representan necesariamente el pensamiento de COTICH o su directorio.
