History
French has had a huge influence on the English language. After the Anglo-Saxons came to Britain, then the Vikings, it was the turn of the French or, more accurately, the Normans. They famously conquered us and brought their Anglo-Norman dialect to Britain, which became the language of nobility—English was for the peasants. Many Norman words survive today, and we look at many of them in our Word-of-the-day blog series, which discusses the origin of words. They include bureaucracy, embassy and cabriolet.
Here in the 21st century, research by the British Chambers of Commerce confirms that while French is the UK’s most commonly spoken language out of German, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Chinese, only 5% of surveyed business owners are able to converse fluently. The English and French languages have shared a connection for centuries, we are members (for now) of the world’s largest single market and yet, somehow, the British still don’t have a handle on the French language.
Translating French
I spoke with our in-house French and German translator, Charlotte, who explained some of the complexities of translating French.
Word order can be an issue, so French-English translators need to be mindful of getting this right. But unlike German (which moves verbs to the end of a sentence), English and French are quite closely related languages and follow quite a similar word order structure, which makes translation easier and generally speeds it up.
This familiarity can sometimes be a trap, though. There are a large number of faux-amis (‘false friends’), where words resemble each other partly or completely but do not mean the same thing or have additional meanings. Experienced French translators are well aware of the more obvious faux-amis and usually take care of them. But it takes years of exposure to get hold of all the subtleties between the two languages.
Advice for clients
Translations should never be about just putting words on a page. Different projects require different solutions and different languages can present their own unique challenges. For French translation, it’s important to be aware of the different French-speaking countries/regions. Clients should let a translation service provider know if their document is for a European French, Canadian French, Swiss French, Maghreb, or African French audience. Since specific cultural knowledge may be required about the particular French-speaking region, this could affect who the project is assigned to.
EVS Translations’ experience
Naturally, French is one of the most in-demand languages for translation. The in-house French translation teams at EVS Translations work with a diverse range of industries to satisfy the demand for content into and out of French—from creative agencies and their PR campaigns to global manufacturers and their technical documents. With 25 years’ experience of French-English translations and in-house teams for translation, proofreading and terminology management, EVS Translations is the partner of choice for many international clients seeking professional and intelligent French-English translations.
