Looking for expert Bislama translation services? Since 2003, Green Crescent has been delivering professional translation services between English and Bislama to clients globally. We specialize in a range of sectors, including legal, business, marketing, and community services. Our team ensures accurate, high-quality translations tailored to your unique needs. Get a fast, free Bislama translation quote today!
Our Comprehensive Bislama Translation Services
Green Crescent’s skilled team of Bislama translators includes subject matter experts for industry-specific needs. We provide translations tailored to the linguistic features of Bislama, ensuring cultural and contextual accuracy across its different varieties.
- Standard Bislama
- Regional Bislama variations across Vanuatu
We specialize in both English to Bislama and Bislama to English translations, offering the following services:
Simple Translation
Our simple translations in the English/Bislama language pair are designed for basic communication needs. These translations are completed by a single Bislama translator without the involvement of an editor or proofreader, and therefore should not be considered final or polished work for most professional or formal use cases. While they are typically of high quality, simple translations are essentially "rough drafts" that do not go through additional editing, proofreading, or other quality control processes. These translations are ideal for personal letters, informal communications, initial drafts that will later be revised, or for situations where you need to quickly understand the general meaning or "gist" of a Bislama text.
Standard Translation (TEP)
Our Standard Bislama Translation service is designed to provide high-quality translations for everyday use, including business correspondence, websites, reports, presentations, and similar content. This service includes translation, editing, and proofreading (TEP) to ensure the highest level of accuracy and clarity in your Bislama communications.
Organization Critical Translation (TEP+)
Our Organization Critical Bislama Translation service is designed for situations where precision is essential. This option is recommended for texts intended for large-scale printing, legal contracts, medical documents, or any case where an error could be critical or costly. Each translated line is reviewed by a minimum of three linguists, with multiple rounds of proofreading. Subject matter experts (SMEs) may be involved as needed throughout the Bislama translation, editing, and proofreading (TEP) process.
Bilingual Editing
Bilingual Editing for Bislama Translation is the process of editing a translated text by comparing both the source and target texts in the English/Bislama language pair. The editor, fluent in the source language and a native speaker of Bislama, ensures that the translation is accurate, consistent, and faithful to the source text while also maintaining clarity and fluency in Bislama. This step occurs after the initial translation in our TEP (Translation, Editing, Proofreading) Organization Critical and Standard Translation services. We also offer this service as a standalone option for translations completed by individuals or organizations not affiliated with Green Crescent.
Proofreading
Our proofreading service for English to Bislama and Bislama to English translations involves reviewing a single-language text to identify and correct surface-level errors, such as spelling mistakes, grammar issues, punctuation errors, and formatting inconsistencies. This step is the final phase in our TEP (Translation, Editing, Proofreading) Organization Critical and Standard translation services. We also offer proofreading as a standalone service for translations completed by individuals or organizations not affiliated with Green Crescent.
Legal Translation
Green Crescent's elite team of linguists, each with subject matter expertise in legal fields, is ready to assist you with the translation of a wide range of judicial, administrative, and private legal documents between Bislama and English. We can also implement enhanced security measures to ensure strict confidentiality upon request.
Technical Translation
Technical translations involve any text that features specialized vocabulary or language registers, necessitating additional research and terminology verification. Common technical subject matter includes legal, medical, scientific, and IT topics. These translations require the expertise of linguists with in-depth knowledge of the relevant technical field in both Bislama and English.
Medical Translation
Green Crescent provides professional Bislama medical translations with a focus on accuracy and confidentiality. Our team of skilled linguists, specialized in medical terminology, ensures that your translations are both precise and secure.
Localization
Our translation services are tailored for specific target markets that require localized varieties of the Bislama language. Green Crescent ensures that your content resonates with the intended audience. Our experienced linguists provide translations that are not only accurate but also culturally relevant and engaging.
Back-translation
Back-translation is a crucial component of quality control, particularly for critical translations in the Bislama/English language pair. This process involves translating a previously translated text back into its original language, either Bislama or English, and comparing the result to the original translation for accuracy.
Peer Review
Green Crescent offers professional peer review services where one or more linguists not involved in the original translation process assess the quality, style, and overall fitness of the translation for its intended purpose.
SME Review
Subject Matter Expert (SME) review is a specialized form of peer review conducted by non-linguist professionals with expertise in specific fields. This process ensures that Bislama to English or English to Bislama translations of highly technical texts are both linguistically accurate and technically precise.
Transcreation
Our Bislama Transcreation Service adapts your content creatively to resonate with Bislama-speaking audiences. We ensure that your brand’s messages maintain their original intent, emotional impact, and tone while aligning with the cultural and linguistic nuances of the target market.
MTPE-Full (Machine Translation Post-Editing - Full)
MTPE-Full involves comprehensive post-editing of machine-generated translations to meet the highest standards of linguistic quality. This includes correcting grammar, syntax, and terminology to ensure the text flows naturally in Bislama or English.
MTPE-Light (Machine Translation Post-Editing - Light)
MTPE-Light is a streamlined version of post-editing designed for situations where speed and cost-efficiency are prioritized. The human editor fixes major errors, ensuring the overall meaning is clear and understandable.
Additional Language Services and Options for Bislama
Certified Translation
Green Crescent provides certified translations of a wide range of legal documents, including birth, marriage, and death certificates, diplomas, school transcripts, passports, and much more, in both Bislama and English. Our certified translations are recognized for their accuracy and compliance with legal standards, making them suitable for official use. You can receive hard copies of our standard certificate of translation mailed directly to your home or business.
Rush Service
If you require expedited service, Green Crescent can usually accommodate such requests. However, please note that rushing translations may come with trade-offs, which could affect both price and consistency. Please consult with a project manager for more details.
Discounts
Volume discounts are available for large projects, long-term clients, and for non-profits, charities, NGOs, and government organizations.
Minimum Fee
There is a minimum project fee of $75.00 USD per language, which can be reduced or waived for regular clients.
Additional Language Services
In addition to translation, Green Crescent offers a range of other Bislama language services, including interpretation, transcription, website design and development, and desktop publishing.
About the Bislama Language
Bislama is one of the official languages of Vanuatu, an island nation in the South Pacific. It is a creole language derived primarily from English, with influences from French and various indigenous languages of Vanuatu. As the national language, Bislama is widely used for communication between speakers of Vanuatu’s more than 100 indigenous languages, making it a vital lingua franca across the country. With about 10,000 native speakers and over 200,000 second-language speakers, Bislama is central to Vanuatu’s national identity and is used in government, education, media, and daily communication.
The Cultural Context, History, and Linguistic Features of Bislama
Bislama emerged in the 19th century during the colonial period as a pidgin language used by indigenous laborers who were brought to plantations in Australia and Fiji. Over time, Bislama developed into a creole language, gaining structure and complexity, and became the main language for communication among the diverse linguistic communities of Vanuatu. Today, Bislama reflects the colonial history of Vanuatu, with much of its vocabulary rooted in English, but it has also incorporated elements from French and local languages.
Bislama retains the simplicity and flexibility of a creole language, with a straightforward grammar and a largely phonetic structure. The language has played an important role in maintaining a sense of national unity, as it allows people from different linguistic backgrounds to communicate easily.
The Writing System: Latin Alphabet
Bislama is written using the Latin alphabet, which consists of 26 letters, as in English. The writing system is simple and phonetic, meaning that words are generally spelled as they are pronounced. The lack of complex spelling rules and the absence of diacritics or special characters make Bislama easy to write and read for both native and second-language speakers.
Vowels and Consonants: Bislama uses five vowels (a, e, i, o, u) and 21 consonants, similar to English. Pronunciation is relatively straightforward, and the language has few exceptions or irregularities in spelling.
The Bislama Alphabet
Bislama is written using the following alphabet:
- 5 vowels: A, a, E, e, I, i, O, o, U, u
- 21 consonants: B, b, C, c, D, d, F, f, G, g, H, h, J, j, K, k, L, l, M, m, N, n, P, p, R, r, S, s, T, t, V, v, W, w, Y, y, Z, z
Bislama’s phonetic spelling system means that words are written as they sound, which simplifies both reading and writing. This consistency makes Bislama relatively easy to learn, especially for speakers of English.
Key Linguistic Differences Between Bislama and English for Translation
When translating between Bislama and English, several linguistic differences must be taken into account to ensure accurate and culturally relevant translations:
Simple Grammar Structure: Bislama has a simple and flexible grammar compared to English. There are no verb conjugations for tense; instead, tense is indicated by separate words. For example, "mi stap" means "I am" or "I am doing," while "mi bin stap" indicates past tense ("I was"). Translators must account for this simplicity while maintaining the meaning of the original English text.
Reduplication: Bislama often uses reduplication (repeating part or all of a word) to intensify meaning. For example, "smolsmol" means "very small," and "fasfas" means "very fast." This linguistic feature, which is not commonly used in English, must be carefully handled in translation to convey the intended meaning.
Limited Vocabulary and Borrowed Terms: Bislama has a smaller vocabulary than English, which means it often borrows words from English or French to express certain concepts. This can lead to a mix of local and foreign terms within a text. Translators must be mindful of the cultural and linguistic context to ensure that borrowed terms are used appropriately and understood by the target audience.
Tense and Aspect Markers: In Bislama, tense is marked by words like "bin" (past) and "bai" (future), rather than by changing the form of the verb, as in English. For instance, "mi bin wok" means "I worked," while "bai mi wok" means "I will work." These markers need to be accurately translated to ensure that the correct tense is conveyed.
Word Order: While Bislama generally follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) sentence structure similar to English, there is greater flexibility in sentence construction. Translators must ensure that the translation maintains clarity and coherence, especially in complex sentences.
Pidgin Origins and Simplified Expression: Because Bislama originated as a pidgin, it often uses simplified expressions that lack the nuance found in English. Translators need to be creative in conveying more complex ideas or emotions that may not have direct equivalents in Bislama.
By recognizing and adapting to these linguistic features, Green Crescent ensures that our Bislama translation services are both accurate and culturally appropriate, allowing for clear communication across diverse linguistic and cultural contexts.