Looking for expert Burmese translation services? Since 2003, Green Crescent has been providing professional translation services between English and Burmese to clients worldwide. We specialize in industries such as legal, governmental, medical, and non-profit sectors. Our team ensures accurate, high-quality translations tailored to your specific needs. Get a fast, free Burmese translation quote today!
Our Comprehensive Burmese Translation Services
Green Crescent’s skilled team of Burmese translators includes subject matter experts for industry-specific needs. We provide translations tailored to the unique aspects of the Burmese language, ensuring accuracy and cultural relevance across various domains.
- Standard Burmese (Myanmar)
- Shan, Karen, and other regional languages of Myanmar
- Burmese-English bilingual translations for diverse sectors
We specialize in both English to Burmese and Burmese to English translations, offering the following services:
Simple Translation
Our simple translations in the English/Burmese language pair are designed for basic communication needs. These translations are completed by a single Burmese translator without the involvement of an editor or proofreader, and therefore should not be considered final or fully 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 Burmese text.
Standard Translation (TEP)
Our Standard Burmese 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 Burmese communications.
Organization Critical Translation (TEP+)
Our Organization Critical Burmese Translation service is designed for situations where perfection is essential. This option is recommended for texts intended for large-scale printing, technical documents, legal contracts and patents, 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 Burmese translation, editing, and proofreading (TEP) process.
Bilingual Editing
Bilingual Editing for Burmese Translation is the process of editing a translated text by comparing both the source and target texts in the English/Burmese language pair. The editor, fluent in the source language and a native speaker of Burmese, ensures that the translation is accurate, consistent, and faithful to the source text while also maintaining clarity and fluency in Burmese. 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
With each additional round of editing and proofreading, the error rate of a document approaches the perfection horizon. Our proofreading service for English to Burmese and Burmese 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 specialized legal fields, is ready to assist you with the translation of a wide range of judicial, administrative, and private legal documents between Burmese and English. Nearly all countries recognize that submitting documents for translation does not compromise attorney-client privilege. Furthermore, we can 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, engineering, and IT topics, but any text that utilizes industry-specific terminology or neologisms may be considered technical in nature. These translations cannot be executed by generalists alone; they require the expertise of linguists with in-depth knowledge of the relevant technical field in both Burmese and English.
Medical Translation
Green Crescent has established protocols to ensure compliance with HIPAA and HITECH regulations, which you can learn more about here. Our Burmese medical translations are treated as "organization critical," unless otherwise specified, and we are committed to implementing the necessary digital security measures and legal safeguards for every project subject to HIPAA and HITECH requirements. Our team of skilled linguists, specialized in medical terminology, ensures that your translations are both accurate and secure.
Localization
Our translation services are tailored for specific target markets that require non-standard varieties or dialects of the Burmese language. Green Crescent is equipped to accommodate requests for localized Burmese translation, ensuring that your content resonates with the intended audience. Our experienced linguists are well-versed in the nuances of these dialects, allowing us to provide translations that are not only accurate but also culturally relevant and engaging. By focusing on the unique linguistic characteristics of Burmese, we help you effectively connect with your audience and enhance the impact of your message.
Website, App, and Software Localization for Burmese
At Green Crescent, we leverage our extensive experience in software development to provide specialized Burmese localization services. We excel in adapting your website, app, or software’s content, design, and functionality for Burmese-speaking audiences. Whether you need a fully multilingual solution or specific adaptations for Burmese, our services encompass translating text, adjusting images, and modifying layouts. We also adapt and program code for both mobile and desktop applications, ensuring that your app functions seamlessly across Burmese-speaking regions while adhering to platform-specific guidelines. Let us help you create an engaging and culturally relevant experience for your Burmese-speaking users.
Back-translation
Back-translation is often a crucial component of the quality control process, particularly when translating highly technical documents or for critical translations in the Burmese/English language pair where an error could have significant consequences. This process involves an independent linguist translating a previously translated text back into its original source language—either Burmese or English—without reference to the original document. The resulting text is then compared to the original translation to verify its intelligibility, accuracy, and suitability for its intended use. Back-translation is also relevant in situations such as the translation of legal documents, medical texts, and marketing materials, where precise wording is essential. It can be particularly beneficial when adapting content for different cultural contexts, ensuring that the intended message is preserved and resonates appropriately with the target audience in both Burmese and English.
Peer Review
Green Crescent offers professional focus group services that include a comprehensive "read-through" conducted by one or more linguists who were not involved in the original translation process. This approach allows for an unbiased assessment of the translation's quality, style, and overall fitness for its intended purpose. The focus group can evaluate various aspects of the text, including linguistic accuracy, cultural relevance, and the effectiveness of the messaging in reaching the target audience. Feedback is provided on how well the translation conveys the original intent and nuances of the source material, ensuring that it resonates with readers in both Burmese and English contexts.
SME Review
Subject Matter Expert (SME) review is a specialized form of peer review conducted by non-linguist professionals with deep expertise in specific fields. This process is particularly important for Burmese to English or English to Burmese translations of highly technical texts, ensuring that the content is both linguistically accurate and technically precise. In fields such as legal, medical, scientific, and engineering, SMEs help verify the correct use of industry-specific terminology, adherence to regulatory or technical standards, and the contextual relevance of the translated material. By incorporating SME review into the translation process, we ensure that your final product is not only fluent and culturally appropriate but also technically sound and ready for professional use in both Burmese- and English-speaking markets.
Transcreation
Our Burmese Transcreation Service goes beyond simple translation by creatively adapting your content to resonate with Burmese-speaking audiences. At Green Crescent, we ensure that your brand’s messages, campaigns, and communications maintain their original intent, emotional impact, and tone, while aligning with the cultural and linguistic nuances of the target market. Whether it’s marketing, branding, or advertising, we reimagine your content to feel authentic and compelling in Burmese, helping your brand connect meaningfully and effectively with Burmese-speaking audiences.
MTPE-Full (Machine Translation Post-Editing - Full)
MTPE-Full (Machine Translation Post-Editing - Full) refers to the comprehensive post-editing of a machine-translated text between Burmese and English, ensuring the final product meets the highest standards of linguistic quality. In this process, once the machine generates the translation, a skilled human editor thoroughly reviews the entire content, ensuring that it is not only accurate in meaning but also flows naturally and fluently in the target language. This detailed editing process includes correcting grammar, syntax, and terminology, adapting the text for the intended audience, and ensuring it adheres to any stylistic preferences or regulatory requirements. MTPE-Full is suitable for business-critical texts where precision and quality are paramount.
MTPE-Light (Machine Translation Post-Editing - Light)
MTPE-Light (Machine Translation Post-Editing - Light) is a more streamlined version of post-editing, designed for situations where speed and cost-efficiency are prioritized over linguistic perfection. In this process, the human editor focuses primarily on fixing major errors and ensuring that the overall meaning of the machine-translated text is clear and understandable in the target language (Burmese or English). While MTPE-Light may not deliver a translation that is fully polished or ready for publication, it provides an efficient and cost-effective solution for internal documents, reports, and communications where basic comprehension is sufficient.
Additional Language Services and Options for Burmese
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 Burmese 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 often comes with trade-offs, which may 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 Burmese language services, including interpretation, transcription, website design and development, and desktop publishing.
About the Burmese Language
Burmese is the official language of Myanmar and is spoken by over 32 million people as a first language and by millions more as a second language. It belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family and is known for its tonal system, which plays a crucial role in conveying meaning. The language has a rich history, with strong influences from Pali, Sanskrit, and Mon, contributing to its unique script and diverse vocabulary.
The Cultural Context and Linguistic Features of Burmese
Burmese is a tonal language, where pitch or intonation changes can significantly alter the meaning of words. There are three primary tones: high, low, and creaky. For example, the word "ma" can mean "mother" (မေ), "come" (မ), or "no" (မု) depending on the tone used.
Burmese script is deeply intertwined with its cultural and religious identity. The script itself is derived from ancient Brahmi, and many Pali loanwords, especially related to Buddhism, play a critical role in Burmese vocabulary. Translating Burmese effectively requires an understanding of these cultural and religious contexts to preserve the nuance of the original text.
The Writing System: A Unique Challenge
The Burmese writing system is complex, comprising 33 consonants and 12 vowels. One of the challenges is that Burmese script is written without spaces between words, making it necessary for translators to correctly segment sentences and phrases based on context. Additionally, Burmese does not use punctuation in the same way as English, so sentence structures are often determined through the flow of the text and context clues.
Tonal Markers:
In Burmese, written tonal markers help convey meaning, especially for homophones. These tonal markers must be preserved during translation to avoid altering the meaning of the words.
A Broad Inventory of Consonants:
Burmese incorporates sounds from multiple language influences, including Pali and Sanskrit, resulting in a rich inventory of consonants that may sound similar but have different meanings. For instance, the sound "t" can be written as "တ" (ta), "ထ" (hta), "ဋ" (ṭa), or "ဌ" (ṭha), each with different implications depending on its use in a word. Similarly, the sound "d" can be written as "ဒ" (da), "ဓ" (dha), "ဍ" (ḍa), or "ဎ" (ḍha), all varying in meaning based on context and tone.
Key Linguistic Differences Between Burmese and English for Translation
Several linguistic factors differentiate Burmese from English, and these must be considered for accurate translations:
Sentence Structure:
Burmese generally follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) structure, which contrasts with the English Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) pattern. This difference requires careful reordering of sentences to ensure clarity in translation.
Verb Conjugation:
Burmese does not conjugate verbs for tense, person, or number. Instead, time is indicated by context or specific time markers. For instance, the verb does not change form regardless of whether the action is happening now or in the future.
Lack of Articles:
Burmese does not use definite or indefinite articles like "a," "an," or "the" as in English. Translators must rely on context to determine where these articles are necessary in English translations.
Plurality:
In Burmese, plural forms are indicated by adding quantifiers or using repetition, similar to Thai. For example, "students" can be written as "ကျောင်းသားများ" (kyon thama mya) or by repeating the noun. Understanding how plurality is conveyed is essential in translating correctly into English.
By recognizing and adapting to these linguistic and cultural differences, Green Crescent ensures that our Burmese translation services deliver the highest standards of accuracy and cultural relevance. Whether your project involves legal documents, marketing materials, or technical content, we provide translations that resonate with Burmese-speaking audiences effectively.
An Insight into Burmese Wit and Expression
This passage is from Not Out of Hate (ညှဉ်းဆဲခြင်းမမှီ) by Ma Ma Lay, first published in 1955. This novel is a hallmark of 20th-century Burmese literature, shedding light on the tensions between traditional Burmese values and Western influences during British colonial rule.
- Burmese: "တစ်ခုခုကောင်းမှန်သောအရာကိုဖန်တီးရန်၊ ဘဝမှကောင်းကျိုးဆောင်ရန်၊ ရုန်းကန်ဆန်ခတ်မှုများလိုအပ်ပါသည်။"
- English Translation: "To create something good, to contribute positively to life, one must endure struggles and resistance."