Translators can help

By Nancy Battick

If you’re searching in a foreign-language newspaper or other documents and don’t know the language, then you have a couple of choices. You can retain the services of a translator, who can convert the information on the document into English, or you can rely on an online translator such as Google to try translating yourself. 

But you need to beware of problems that can be associated with either method.

Hiring a person to translate for you can be expensive, especially if you have many documents to translate. Also, you will need to be sure the translator is familiar with the documents and the time you’re researching. More on that in a minute.

Using an online free translation service is generally reliable for modern translations. These free services work fine for today’s documents or newspapers, but can be challenged by a record from a few hundred years ago.

Also, both human and machine translators may not be at all familiar with dialects or colloquialisms. This could cause real pitfalls, especially if original documents used widely accepted abbreviations in use at that time but not today. Language changes and even those of us whose first language is English know that British English and American English can vary by county, city or region. As it was once said, we are two peoples separated by a common language.

As an example of a colloquialism, have you ever heard cabbage used as a verb? We’re all familiar with the green leafy veggie that is traditionally cooked with corned beef, but when I was young, I heard older people speak of “cabbaging” something. My mother used the verb, and I did myself. I remember it used as a verb as in “That was a great buy, so I cabbaged onto it” or even “She cabbaged him right away.” 

I never knew where the usage came from, and it wasn’t in US English dictionaries. But recently I finally went to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the bible of English words, and learned that the use of “to cabbage” started in the early 1700s and meant to acquire or purloin. The OED website told me it’s now found in 0.01 occurrences in modern written English. Who knew? But imagine someone trying to translate that usage of the word from a diary or letter into modern English. They might think someone was talking about cooking or preserving, and the entire meaning would be lost.

If you want to try translating on your own, familiarize yourself with the basic words you need, such as born, married, baptized, died, and the method of dating in the country in question. Using an online free translator can help, but it may stumble over certain abbreviations or phrases such as the use of cabbage as a verb. You can look for online dictionaries to see if they can help you.

If you opt for a paid translator, be sure you understand the costs up front and the translator’s expertise. Good luck. 

Columnist Nancy Battick of Dover-Foxcroft has researched genealogy for over 30 years. She is past president of the Maine Genealogical Society, author of several genealogical articles and co-transcribed the Vital Records of Dover-Foxcroft.  Nancy holds an MA in History from UM and lives in DF with her husband, Jack, another avid genealogist. Reader emails are welcome at nbattick@roadrunner.com.