Looking for expert Galician translation services? Since 2003, Green Crescent has been delivering professional translation services between English and Galician to clients globally. We specialize in various industries, including legal, cultural, and business sectors. Our team ensures accurate, high-quality translations tailored to your specific needs. Get a fast, free Galician translation quote today!
Our Comprehensive Galician Translation Services
Green Crescent’s skilled team of Galician translators includes subject matter experts for industry-specific needs. We provide translations based on the Standard Galician dialect, which is regulated by the Royal Galician Academy (Real Academia Galega), but we also take into account regional variations spoken across Galicia.
We specialize in both English to Galician and Galician to English translations, offering the following services:
Simple Translation
Our simple translations in the English/Galician language pair are designed for basic communication needs. These translations are completed by a single Galician 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 Galician text.
Standard Translation (TEP)
Our Standard Galician 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 Galician communications.
Organization Critical Translation (TEP+)
Our Organization Critical Galician 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 Galician translation, editing, and proofreading (TEP) process.
Bilingual Editing
Bilingual Editing for Galician Translation is the process of editing a translated text by comparing both the source and target texts in the English/Galician language pair. The editor, fluent in the source language and a native speaker of Galician, ensures that the translation is accurate, consistent, and faithful to the source text while also maintaining clarity and fluency in Galician. 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 Galician and Galician 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 Galician 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 Galician 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 Galician 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 Galician language. Green Crescent is equipped to accommodate requests for localized Galician translation, ensuring that your content resonates with the intended audience. Our experienced linguists are well-versed in the nuances of Galician, allowing us to provide translations that are not only accurate but also culturally relevant and engaging. By focusing on the unique linguistic characteristics of Galician, we help you effectively connect with your audience and enhance the impact of your message.
Website, App, and Software Localization for Galician
At Green Crescent, we leverage our extensive experience in software development to provide specialized Galician localization services. We excel in adapting your website, app, or software’s content, design, and functionality for Galician-speaking audiences. Whether you need a fully multilingual solution or specific adaptations for Galician, 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 Galician-speaking regions while adhering to platform-specific guidelines. Let us help you create an engaging and culturally relevant experience for your Galician-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 Galician/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 Galician 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 Galician 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 Galician 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 Galician to English or English to Galician 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 Galician- and English-speaking markets.
Transcreation
Our Galician Transcreation Service goes beyond simple translation by creatively adapting your content to resonate with Galician-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 Galician, helping your brand connect meaningfully and effectively with Galician-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 Galician 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 (Galician 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 Galician
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 Galician 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 Galician language services, including interpretation, transcription, website design and development, and desktop publishing.
About the Galician Language
Galician, known locally as "Galego," is a Romance language spoken by around 2.5 million people, primarily in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. It is closely related to Portuguese, with both languages sharing a common linguistic origin from the Galician-Portuguese language of the medieval period. Galician has its own rich cultural history and is recognized as a co-official language in Galicia, alongside Spanish.
The Cultural Context, History, and Linguistic Features of Galician
Galician has a long literary and cultural tradition, dating back to the Middle Ages when it was used in poetry, law, and administration throughout the Kingdom of Galicia and beyond. During this period, Galician-Portuguese was one of the most prestigious languages of the Iberian Peninsula, especially in lyrical poetry. However, over time, political and social changes in the region led to a decline in the use of Galician, particularly under the influence of Spanish, which became dominant.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the *Rexurdimento* (Galician cultural renaissance) revitalized the use of Galician in literature, education, and public life. Today, Galician continues to flourish as a vital part of the region's cultural identity, with ongoing efforts to preserve and promote the language through schools, media, and government institutions.
Linguistically, Galician shares many features with Portuguese, though it has been influenced by Spanish, particularly in its vocabulary and phonology. The two languages remain mutually intelligible to a degree, though they have evolved separately over the centuries. Galician has a simplified system of verb conjugation compared to Spanish and features distinctive phonetic and grammatical elements that set it apart.
The Writing System: Latin Script
Galician is written in the Latin script and uses a 23-letter alphabet, which is similar to Spanish but excludes certain letters such as "K" and "W" except in loanwords. Galician pronunciation differs from Spanish, particularly in its softer consonants and more open vowel sounds. Like other Romance languages, Galician uses diacritical marks, such as accents, to indicate stress and vowel quality, which are essential for correct pronunciation.
Vowels and Consonants: Galician has five vowel sounds (/a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/) and uses consonants similar to those in Spanish, though it preserves some older Portuguese pronunciations, such as the use of "ç" in certain contexts.
Galician Alphabet
The Galician alphabet is based on the Latin script and includes:
- Vowels: A, a, E, e, I, i, O, o, U, u
- Consonants: B, b, C, c, D, d, F, f, G, g, H, h, L, l, M, m, N, n, Ñ, ñ, P, p, Q, q, R, r, S, s, T, t, V, v, X, x, Z, z
- Digraphs: CH, ch, GU, gu, LL, ll, NH, nh, QU, qu, RR, rr
Key Linguistic Differences Between Galician and English for Translation
When translating between Galician and English, several linguistic and cultural factors need to be considered to ensure accuracy and appropriateness:
Verb Conjugation: Like other Romance languages, Galician verbs are conjugated based on tense, mood, and subject. While English uses auxiliary verbs to indicate tense and aspect, Galician has a more complex system of verb endings, particularly in the subjunctive and conditional moods, which must be carefully handled during translation to maintain nuance.
Word Order: Galician typically follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure, similar to English, but it allows for more flexibility in word order, especially for emphasis. Translators must ensure that meaning is preserved while adapting to the more rigid sentence structure of English.
Articles and Gender: Like Spanish and Portuguese, Galician has gendered nouns, with corresponding definite and indefinite articles that change based on gender (masculine or feminine). English does not use grammatical gender, so it is important to correctly interpret and translate gendered references.
Pronunciation and Stress: Galician uses accents to indicate stress and vowel quality, which are absent in English. Translators must ensure that these diacritical marks are accurately represented in any transliterations or phonetic spellings to maintain proper pronunciation and meaning.
Loanwords and Regional Vocabulary: Galician, like Portuguese and Spanish, has absorbed a significant number of loanwords from Latin, Arabic, and other languages over centuries. Some of these words have different meanings or usages in Galician than in Spanish or Portuguese, requiring careful attention to regional vocabulary during translation.
By addressing these linguistic and cultural differences, Green Crescent ensures that translations between Galician and English are accurate, culturally appropriate, and reflective of the unique identity of the Galician-speaking community.
An Insight into Galician Expression
This passage is from Cantares Gallegos by Rosalía de Castro, a foundational work of Galician literature, which delves into themes of love, nature, and the Galician identity.
- Galician: "Adiós ríos, adiós fontes, adiós, regatos pequenos, adiós, vista dos meus ollos, non sei cando nos veremos."
- English Translation: "Goodbye rivers, goodbye fountains, goodbye little streams, goodbye, sight of my eyes, I don't know when we will meet again."