| Hebrew Translation: It Can be Done! English to | | | | is that “Fred kicked the ball.” |
| Hebrew translation can be a tough nut to crack. | | | | The trick is this: modern Hebrew speakers use |
| This article will discuss six difficulties that | | | | the word “et” to identify the |
| accompany the task of Hebrew translation. | | | | direct object. So, in Hebrew you could say |
| These six difficulties can also be six different | | | | “Fred kicked et ball,” |
| reasons that you should consider hiring a Hebrew | | | | “kicked et ball Fred,” or |
| translation professional: | | | | “et ball kicked Fred.” Sound a little |
| 1) One reason that you would want to consider | | | | confusing? It can be. That is why it is so |
| hiring a Hebrew translation professional is that | | | | important to look for a Hebrew translation expert |
| many of the Hebrew 1st person, 2nd person and | | | | especially if you are involved in a document |
| 3rd person pronouns are gender specific. For | | | | localization project. |
| instance, according to an article1 that I found | | | | 4) During English to Hebrew translation there is |
| online, you need to know the gender of a noun | | | | also the issue of translating English style questions |
| so that when you come—or hear-- the | | | | to Hebrew style questions.4 Again, in English, word |
| pronoun you can understand what it is referring | | | | order is also usually important when asking |
| to. This may sound strange to English speakers | | | | questions, especially when those questions are on |
| who are used to genderless pronouns (except in | | | | paper. For instance, if you saw the following |
| the case of singular 3rd person pronouns) and use | | | | “question” written on paper it |
| word order to keep references to nouns under | | | | might seem fairly odd in English: |
| control. However, if you want to learn more | | | | My money is safe in the bank of England? |
| about Hebrew and Hebrew translation, you will | | | | Sure, eventually the reader would catch on that |
| have to understand that Hebrew just isn’t | | | | this declarative sentence wasn’t actually |
| quite as “word orderly” as | | | | that declarative but afterwards--unless the |
| English—at least in a grammatical sense. Of | | | | context happened to be ideal in this particular |
| course, a native speaker of Hebrew who could | | | | instance--his or her mind would probably back |
| speak English might be able to handle the job but | | | | track and think that the question was a bit odd. |
| a translator could most likely do it faster. | | | | He or she might even think that the question |
| 2) In Hebrew, word order means far less than it | | | | should have been written as follows: |
| does in English.2 For instance, in Hebrew you could | | | | Is my money safe in the bank of England? |
| say “brown kangaroo jumps” or | | | | In Hebrew, questions can be identified with voice |
| “jumps kangaroo brown” and it | | | | inflections or with a tag (if you know Spanish the |
| would project basically the same idea to a | | | | concept of a tag will be familiar to you). The tag |
| modern Hebrew speaker. In contrast however, an | | | | word is “nachon” which means |
| English speaker would probably become confused | | | | correct. So in Hebrew you could say “My |
| when reading “jumps kangaroo | | | | money is safe in the bank of England, |
| brown” especially if it is in the middle of a | | | | nachon?” You could of course use the tag |
| sentence that would normally require the | | | | “correct” in an English phrase but it |
| “brown kangaroo jumps” version. | | | | wouldn’t be as common. |
| This is simply another reason that you would | | | | 5) This is just a guess on my part, but I was |
| want to find a Hebrew translation professional | | | | reading an article5 about doing business in Israel |
| who you could trust to get the grammar right | | | | and it mentioned that many people have the |
| and make quick translations by fast-paced | | | | opinion that Israelis are “arrogant, |
| deadlines. | | | | aggressive and pushy” when in reality |
| 3) Another thing that must be understood during | | | | many Israelis are simply honest and direct. In my |
| Hebrew translation is the difference between | | | | opinion, the issue of cultural values (e.g. being |
| identifying direct objects.3 For instance, in English, | | | | direct rather than “polite”) plays a |
| a direct object can be identified from the word | | | | big part in A-1 Hebrew translations. |
| order of the sentence. In the sentence, | | | | Wouldn’t it be logical to assume that the |
| “Fred kicked the ball,” the ball is | | | | values of a country and the way that they |
| the direct object because it is being acted upon | | | | verbalize in everyday communication would play a |
| and it wouldn’t quite be proper if you | | | | part in the way that they write to each other? |
| wrote “kicked Fred the ball,” | | | | This is another reason you might want to |
| especially if it were part of a larger whole. So, | | | | consider hiring a Hebrew translation professional as |
| you are probably wondering how a Hebrew | | | | he or she will most likely have experience with |
| speaker would identify a direct object if they can | | | | the best way to right to a specific cultural group |
| say things like “the ball kicked | | | | without offending anyone. Translation should |
| Fred,” when really what they mean to say | | | | dissipate ideas, not aggregate negative emotions. |