Top 5 Difficult Language For Translation

Communication is the key towards understanding, it is through this we make informed decisions and express our feelings. But with so many languages around the world, the role of translation & translators becomes vital for communication to occur adequately. They make difficult language for translation easier.

As it is through this authentic translation which we can understand what the other person feels towards us. Whether it is a feeling of disappointment or association. As we can only know this when the translation is of the highest quality.

Another point to point out is that nothing causes more conflicts than miscommunication. Which is the number one problem that occurs when poor translations are being practiced repeatedly.

Same words in different languages could mean drastically different things. And this is another reason why we need competent translators handling sensitive matters. Following are the problems which occur when translation is not up to the mark:

• Miscommunication
• Confusion
• Frustration

But after discussing all the potential drawbacks that can occur we also need to pay attention to the other side. That is that being a translator is no joke, it takes years of practice to get everything right. You have to pay attention to the following matters to be a competent translator:

• Understand Translation Nuances
• Different Meanings of the Same Word 
• Translation Context

And even after preaching and practicing all of this, there’s still a big chance that you can still get it wrong. The reason for it? Because some languages are extremely difficult. Although there are many Legal Translation Dubai companies or for that fact many translation companies worldwide but even they find it difficult to translate. And today we are discussing the top 5 of those languages while identifying the reasons of why they are difficult to translate. 

Following are the top 5 most difficult language for translation:

1. Mandarin

Mandarin is spoken and understood by more than 1.4 billion people and most of them are Chinese nationals. As it is the official language of China, but it isn’t the only language there. China has more than 302 active spoken languages in their country with everyone having a different dialect. But to unify the country in one voice the Chinese government chooses Mandarin as their official language. As it was already the most famous language there.

But even after being the choice of 1.4 billion mandarins is still the most difficult language to translate for translators. As having close to 50 to 60 thousand characters is the prime reason for it.

Following are the additional reasons why Mandarin is a difficult language for translation:

• Difficult dialect to pick up
• 50 to 60 thousand characters in the language out of which 4000-5000 are used in everyday life
• Difficult tonality & pronunciation, that can cause words to mean completely different.

1. Polish

When the history of your country and its natives is marred by one invasion after another. Overlapping effects of other languages and cultures seeping into your own language is bound to happen. And this is exactly what has happened with polish which has made it extremely difficult to translate.

Following are the reasons why Polish is difficult to translate:

• Difficult accent to understand
• Phonic sounds of various words sound similar
• Completely unique language not similar to any other language

1. Arabic

Vowels are the cornerstone of every language and in the Arabic language, they are completely missing. This is one of the reasons why Arabic is a difficult language for translation. Other reasons which contribute to the difficulty are:

• It is written right to left which is difficult to adapt for most of the world as almost all other languages are written left to right.
• Pronunciation of the words are extremely difficult for non-native speakers
• Almost none of the words are familiar to other western languages

1. Xhosa

Xhosa is a South African language which is also another language that is an extremely difficult language for translation. Although widely spoken in many African countries the main reasons translators find it difficult to translate are the following:

• They use uncommon Phonetics
• The language and its words sound and feel extremely aggressive for translators/translation.
• Their language compromise of different alphabets, clicks and other sounds combined together which is why translating for non-native is extremely difficult.

1. Hungary

Even though the Hungarian language has been around since the 9th century. But even thousands of years later it is still one of the most difficult language for translation. As Hungary has the absolute most troublesome syntax rules. Hungarian sentence structure is worked around the case framework, there are 18 thing cases that direct how certain words are joined and bent. Additions direct tense and ownership rather than the word request, which is the way most European dialects tackle the issue. In addition, the Hungarian language has a few vowels and consonants that can demonstrate precarious for English speakers to explain.

Reasons why Hungarian is difficult to translate:

• There are various factors that dictate how words sound which can be difficult for translators.
• Innovative dialect not easy to mimic
• Vowels and phonetics are difficult to grasp.

Languages are a beautiful tool used by humanity since the dawn of time to communicate. But it is the role of translators which has made it possible for all these various beautiful languages to blend together. And work in a synchronized harmony for us to understand each other.

But even translators sometimes fell short to translate them as some of these languages in their native form are extremely difficult for translation. And that is exactly what we have highlighted in this blog.

We hope you would have enjoyed this blog and found it useful. Which language according to you is the most difficult to translate? Let us know in the comments.