Who do you think you are is one of my favourite TV programmes. I may not know all of the celebrities tracking down their family history, but I still find it extremely interesting to watch how they research their family trees. The stories going back hundreds of years can be truly fascinating.

In fact, my work is sometimes directly related to such research. Many Britons are just as interested in genealogy and manage to get hold of documents written in foreign languages. Some of such documents are written in Russian.

That’s where a Russian translator comes to face certain challenges. The fact is that very often such papers are written in pre-revolutionary Russian, when the alphabet was slightly different and so were the spelling rules. Some words naturally become obsolete. Records were also made by hand in a somewhat flowery writing so it can be quite difficult to decipher every single word.

Double dating is another striking feature of some records which were made in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars, with the other corresponding date given in brackets. The Julian Calendar is often called the old style or the old calendar in Russia and it is still observed by the Russian Orthodox Church. That’s why the October Revolution is called just that, even though it took place on 7th November, as we know it. The date on the old calendar was 25th October.

What is also interesting is that some documents written in Russian are actually archived in Poland. This is because for a period of time in the 19th – early 20th century a part of Poland was ruled by the Russian empire. So a document found in Poland is not necessarily written in Polish!

It is particularly difficult to get access to papers originated in Russia. Sadly, some of the records were destroyed when the Bolsheviks came to power and burnt many churches down. Some of such records are gone forever, but many still exist because a system of two registers was run. And as I am writing this, I feel very tempted to try to see what I can find out about my family, even though I am now hundreds of miles away. I speak Russian, and that’s already half the battle!

Yelena McCafferty, Certified Russian Translator at Talk Russian

Russia is one of the countries some prospective British parents hope to adopt from, and intercountry adoption is a very lengthy process which can, at times, be daunting. As a Russian translation company, we can help adopters in a number of ways.

Firstly, we can translate documents from English into Russian. These include:
- A homestudy which is an assessment of prospective parents as to their suitability to adopt a child. A homestudy normally covers motivation for intercountry adoption, background, education, occupation, interests and personality of each applicant, present relationship, parenting capacity, family lifestyle, support networks, finance, criminal records, etc.
- Post placement reports , i.e. regular reports confirming the child’s welfare and that he/she has adapted to their new surroundings and bonded well with their new family.
- A Certificate of registration issued to the social worker preparing relevant reports. These are often required by foreign authorities.

The types of documents we often translate from Russian into English are:
- Adopted child’s medical notes, which can be required before or after the legal adoption takes place.
- Adopted child’s birth certificate or, later on, adoption certificate. It should be noted that our translations are properly certified so they are accepted by all UK authorities, including courts and the Home Office.

Once prospective parents have found the child they would like to adopt, we can phone the orphanage to find out on their behalf how he/she is doing. Alternatively, a three-way call can be established between the future parent, our Russian interpreter and doctors and nursing staff so parents can personally ask about things they need to know about the child.

We offer a very friendly and personal service, and, needless to say, all of the information disclosed to us remains strictly confidential.

Yelena McCafferty
Talk Russian Translation and Interpreting

Моя первая блог-статья для наших русскоговорящих клиентов. И в этот раз я остановлюсь на вопросе о заверенных переводах, поскольку он чаще всего волнует наших соотечественников.

В России принято заверять переводы у нотариуса, после чего перевод считается «официальным». Причем в России нотариус не всегда владеет необходимыми иностранными языками, часто не осведомлен о профессиональности переводчика, квалификации которого иногда даже не проверяются. В Великобритании процесс придания “официальности” переводу намного упрощен. Иммиграционная служба и Департамент пограничного контроля (UK Border Agency), Министерство внутренних дел (Home Office), ЗАГСы, банки, налоговая служба (HM Revenue and Customs), учебные заведения в большинстве случаев требуют лишь сертифицированный перевод (certified translation).

Что такое сертифицированный перевод? Это перевод, заверенный переводчиком, имеющим соответствующую квалификацию и сертификат. Иными словами, переводчик оформляет декларацию о том, что перевод является точным и правильным. На таком переводе указаны контактные данные переводчика, его подпись, дата, а также проставляется штамп при его наличии. Именно такой перевод в настоящее время требуют посольства Великобритании в России при подаче документов на любую визу.

Talk Russian, кроме вышеуказанного, оформляет перевод на фирменном бланке, причем каждая страница перевода и копии документа проштамповываются. Перевод в большинстве случаев прикрепляется именно к копии документа, поскольку сам оригинал может понадобиться его владельцу в стране выдачи, т.е. без перевода.

Важный момент касается и перевода текста печатей и штампов на российских бумагах. Часто такие штампы просто нечитабельны для точного перевода. В Великобритании проставление каких-либо штампов вовсе не принято. Поэтому вполне допустимо вместо расшифровки печатей указать [Official Stamp of Issuing Authority] или [официальный штамп учреждения, выдавшего документ].

В редких случаях, в частности, по запросу судов и некоторых иностранных посольств, переводчик может также заверить свой перевод у юриста. В этом случае декларация о верности перевода подписывается им в присутствии юриста, который в свою очередь проставляет свою подпись и штамп. Такую же процедуру можно осуществить и у местного английского нотариуса, однако их тарифы намного превышают расценки английских юристов.

Yelena McCafferty, профессиональный переводчик компании Talk Russian, член Института лингвистов.
http://www.talkrussian.com

We are pleased to let you know that Talk Russian is running a promotion this summer which allows you to save 5% on your translation or interpreting orders. If you would like to take advantage of this offer until the end of August, please quote “Summer” at the time of placing your project with us. The only exclusions are for minimum charge orders, solicitor’s fees for sworn translations and special delivery postage charges.

If you need a document translating from or into Russian, or require a Russian interpreter in the UK or Moscow, please get in touch with by email: enquiry@talkrussian.com or call us on 01205 365108 / 0207 0436940.

From our experience at Talk Russian, certified translations of Russian documents are mostly required for the UK’s Home Office applications. They are also often requested by officials at British banks, register offices, universities, schools and foreign consulates in the UK. The documents we frequently translate include marriage certificates, birth certificates, adoption certificates, divorce certificates, bank statements, tax letters and diplomas.

Earlier this year the British Embassies in Russia through their visa centres introduced a new rule that all supporting documents for visa applications are to be not only translated into English, but also certified. A certified translation shouldn’t be confused with notarisation, there is no need to go to a notary. When a translation is certified, it means:

• there is a written signed confirmation from a professional Russian translator that it is an accurate translation of the original document,
• the translation is dated,
• the translator’s full name and contact details are given.

This is exactly what we do. Scanned copies are normally sufficient and we deal with customers both in the UK and Russia. For more information on our services in Russian, please visit our website: http://www.talkrussian.com/russian.htm

Yelena McCafferty, Certified Russian Translator at Talk Russian

The location for this year’s networking event of UK-based Russian interpreters, organised by Talk Russian, was Peterborough.

Eleven of us, Russian linguists, members of the Chartered Institute of Linguists or registered Public Service Interpreters, gathered for lunch earlier this month to discuss the interpreting industry and how we can ensure that high interpreting standards are maintained in both the public and commercial sectors.

We talked about job opportunities within government departments, such as the NHS and local authorities, and the increasing demand for professional Russian translation in the corporate market, with trade between Russia and the UK developing further every year.

It was a great chance for us to exchange ideas, regardless of where we are in the UK, my colleagues came from Leeds, Halifax, Nottingham, Sheffield, Bourne, Milton Keynes, and our local interpreters from Peterborough and March shared their experience of the language market in Cambridgeshire.

A special subject of our discussion was the issue of bilingualism and theories and reality of language acquisition by bilingual children. We also talked about how the language environment determines the dominant language of an interpreter.

This was certainly a productive and enjoyable meeting and we will, no doubt, do another one again soon.

Yelena McCafferty, Talk Russian, Boston, Lincolnshire, UK

Our networking lunch in Prezzo, Peterborough. Present: Irina Moore, Marina Bussey, Yelena McCafferty, Tatiana Anderton, Maria Savelieva, Julia Shaw, Anna Ibrahim, Ben Hooson, Mikhail Zhabin, Yulia Ravenhill, Daria Dimova

My friend once said: “I can pick up Russian so easily, I can become a translator.” He said that after using an online machine translation tool. Little did he know how useless most of them are. Even though they are getting better and better, they are no substitute for a human brain which carefully selects the correct word out of millions and puts it in the correct form in the right order.

A few people use machine translators with caution. Mostly because of bad personal experience. And yet it amazes me how much people, and especially organisations and companies, underestimate the benefits of hiring a professional interpreter or translator. I spent a few days in France this month where people worship their language. Yet where they do care to translate their marketing materials, signs and menus, they appear to have done it on the cheap. It surprises me how a café in the world-famous Versailles refers to the chicken as “he” and calls espresso “express coffee”. The Paris sightseeing bus displays a caution sign where “anything” is divided into two words. It may make a happy and jolly English tourist laugh, but it made me, a Russian linguist, think. How can such respectable companies afford turning themselves into a laughing stock? Or does it show their true Parisian attitude I happened to experience, which clearly reveals their dislike of tourists? You-don’t-speak-to-me-in-French-so-I-don’t-care type of thing… Remember he laughs who laughs last?

Yelena McCafferty, Talk Russian Translation and Interpreting

The original idea for my next blog was to write about false friends of Russian interpreters. I meant to write about words which sound very similar to some English words and have a totally different meaning. A professional Russian interpreter would know the differences, but in the spur of the moment in a very stressful situation in which we may often find ourselves when interpreting, those words are almost spat out of our mouths. The English word “Dutch” sounds very much like Russian датский (Danish) and the Russian word pronounced “dekada” (декада) means only 10 days in Russian. But then I thought that writing about false friends of Russian language learners would be much more exciting.

I pick up these funny examples from my son who will hopefully grow up bilingual. When his dad tells him about a magazine, he means a journal, but when I say «magazin» (магазин), I mean a shop. Poor little soul must be getting even more confused when I call a toothpaste pasta (паста) in Russian and yet when I talk to his dad about pasta, I mean spaghetti or fusilli. A cravat is something you wear in English and кровать sounds exactly the same in Russian and actually means a bed.

My son calls a washing machine a car only because he thinks that machina (машина) is a car in Russian so must be the washer too. The little brain has transferred the word and is experiencing interference, the term they use in linguistics.  A meek stranger in the street might get puzzled as to why our little boy shouts out дядя (dyadya), he is not his daddy! But the little one only meant to call him a man…

Russian speaking migrants living in the UK are beginning to confuse things too. Local councils are referred to by them as Consulates. So a council house becomes a consular house. Different things, I am sure, you’ll agree, even though both mean some kind of authority.

It’s catching and as long as my little son learns to speak both languages without mixing them and we, as Russian interpreters, do not use English words where there are perfectly good Russian equivalents, I think we are going to be all right and both languages will survive without too much littering.

Yelena McCafferty, Russian interpreter, Talk Russian

A language is a living thing. It changes, modifies itself and moves on. Like a sponge, it grasps all of the innovations and finds ways of expressing them. This often happens through borrowing.

In no way can Russian compare to German or French which have deep roots in the English language. Nevertheless, there are quite a few words of Russian origin in English.

Take matreshka (a Russian doll) or samovar (a sort of kettle). They were cloned in English because these words denote traditional Russian things which didn’t exist in the English-speaking countries. Balalaika is a Russian national musical instrument.

Very often words of Russian origin end up in English due to political changes or phenomena. Perestroika in the mid eighties, Bolsheviks earlier in the 20^th century, or tsars in the imperial times… Another example is intelligentsia, the intellectual elite of the Russian society.

Everyone knows which country vodka comes from and interestingly, on the topic of food and drink, Pavlova, a popular dessert here in England, is named after a Russian ballet-dancer, Anna Pavlova.

Soviet space exploration brought cosmonaut and sputnik into the English language and the recent changes in the Russian society gave us business oligarchs.

Those who happened to visit Russia for leisure rarely forget the banya (sauna) experience at a private dacha (summer-house). Steaming up in a Russian bath-house beaten up by birch twigs and then jumping into a cold river is both enjoyable and refreshing.

The Russians now living in London or in the vicinity call it Londongrad. Hopefully, London will stay London though, as changing the name of the British capital would be going a bit too far…

Yelena McCafferty, Russian Translator, Talk Russian, UK

The long Russian Christmas holidays are finally over, and the country should gradually return to business as usual. The difference is, of course, the fact that Russian festivities start on New Year’s Eve and Christmas follows on January 7th. Unlike the Anglican or Catholic Churches, which switched to the Gregorian calendar centuries ago, the Russian Orthodox Church still uses the old Julian Calendar which runs 14 days behind. 14th January is still informally celebrated as the “old” New Year’s Day… If the real Christmas tree survives until then, it would be fair to say it has served its purpose and can finally retire…

Russia has a number of other public holidays when many businesses close. Here is a list of them for 2010.

23rd February – Defender of the Motherland Day. This year it falls on a Tuesday so the government made a decision to make 22nd February – the Monday before – a day off too to make it a 4-day long weekend. Instead Saturday 27th February will be a normal working day.

8th March – International Women’s Day.

4th April – Orthodox Easter.

1st May – Spring and Labour Day. In 2010 it falls on a Saturday so Monday 3rd May is also a day off.

9th May – Victory Day. As it conveniently falls on a Sunday, 10th May is a day off in lieu.

12th June – Russia Day and as it will be a Saturday, Monday 14th June will be an extra day off.

4th November – National Unity Day. 5th of November will also be a day off to make up a long weekend, with Saturday 13th November a normal working day in lieu.

All this weekday shifting can be quite confusing for someone who does business with Russia, so hopefully this guide will bring some more sense to the unique Russian working patterns.

Yelena McCafferty
Talk Russian Translations