Does Location Matter When Working With a Swedish Translator?

Operating a business and professionally communicating in multiple countries, at some point, inevitably involves a translator. If, for example, your company operates in both Sweden and the United States, and you need to communicate to employees or external audiences in both languages, the help of a professional in translating your documents can be invaluable.

As you look for the right fit in finding a Swedish translator for your company, you are probably considering a number of variables to make sure the professional with whom you’ll work is up to the task. Should you consider location as one of these valuables?

The Traditional Importance of Location

In a traditional sense, location has long been a crucial determining factor to finding any translator. Only a professional who lives and communicates with individuals in the country to whose language you are seeking to translate your documents can do a reliable, successful job at accomplishing the feat.

In translating any type of text, you are looking for more than the literal transcription of individual words and sentences. Context matters, and that context can extend even beyond deciding whether your translator should live in the U.S. or Sweden. Beyond the country’s official language, your translator should also be aware of the various dialects that can influence understanding and accurate translation depending on your audience.

Sweden or United States?

Given the traditional importance of location in successful translation, it’s easy to think that your Swedish translator should live in Sweden in order to succeed reliably. But increasingly, that is no longer necessarily the case.

Transient populations, along with the rise of the internet, has made quality translation less dependent on location than it has in the past. In fact, a translator located in the United States might actually better understand the original text, leading to a greater opportunity to keep it accurate in its new language.

Understanding Cultural Context

As a result of the above, location has increasingly been replaced by an understanding of cultural context as an important determining factor of choosing your Swedish translator. Any professional who expects to complete a project successfully has to possess an understanding of both languages involved, not just in terms of grammar but also in the cultural context clues hidden throughout the text.

No individual will read the documents you are looking to translate in isolation. They bring into it their own biases and personal histories that will influence their understanding of the text’s meanings. For you, that means any translation needs to have an in-depth understanding of both languages involved in the process.

Finding the Perfect Fit

Ultimately, the fact that you are even thinking about location as a potential quality indicator shows that you value the importance of professional translation for your business. Should you consider location when choosing a Swedish translator? The answer to that question, to some degree, is still yes. A translator located in either one of the countries whose languages are involved in the process will have a greater understanding of the cultural context necessary to ensure accuracy.

But beyond that fact, living in Sweden does not necessarily provide significant advantages over living in the United States when translating texts from English to Swedish. The context of both cultures matters equally, and choosing a translator located in the United States can help ensure a greater understanding of the explicit and implied meanings of your documents or text.

Are you looking for accurate English-to-Swedish translation? If so, you may want to consider location of the professionals with whom you’ll work – but you definitely need to consider those professionals’ understanding of both cultures. To learn more about finding Swedish translators that can help you effectively communicate in both languages, contact us.