If you are like me, you probably started piecing together your family history ages ago. Chances are, you remember all the family stories your parents or grandparents told you. If you are like me, you get a special thrill when you search online through various archives and finally come up with a gem, such as your great-great uncle’s marriage license. When that happens, you feel like you have hit the genealogy jackpot!
But what happens when you come across family documents written in a foreign language? You did all this research, and suddenly, you hit a brick wall! While there is no need to despair, here are three very good reasons why you should consider hiring a genealogy translator:
- Spelling.
In many languages, spelling was not standardized until about the late 1800s. So essentially, our ancestors may have spelled words many different ways. They may even have merely spelled words the way they heard them. They often added extra letters that we would not use today. For example, I have seen standard German words such as “Monat” (month), “ledig” (single), and “verheiratet” (married), written as “Monath”, “letig”, and “verheirthat”. While there is no denying the fact that machine translation tools can be helpful, Google translate cannot help you with outdated spelling. A good genealogy translator knows what to look for, and how to help you get around this problem.
- Handwriting.
In previous centuries, writing styles in many parts of Europe were quite different than they are today. Just like no two people have the same handwriting today, the same is true of our ancestors’ handwriting. For example, the registrar in one town might have written his “Ps” the standard way. However, the one in the next town over may have written his in a slightly different way. As any good genealogy translator knows, the key for overcoming this problem is to be able to read the old style of writing (which often includes illegible scribble) and to look for similarities throughout the rest of the document.
- Style and content.
When you are trying to find out about your ancestors, you do not simply want a standard word-for-word translation. Genealogy translators are not just good linguists who love a challenge. We also specialize in culture and history. When you give a genealogy translator a document to work with, he or she will not only give you the facts, but will also use his or her specializations to convey the meaning of the document, which will give you a much greater insight into your ancestors’ lives. My clients know that when they hire me to translate documents, I will provide them with an accurate translation, as well as detailed footnotes on matters such as historical events mentioned in the documents, additional meanings of words, and other clues that might help to reveal more about their families.
I like to compare family history research to a real-life jigsaw puzzle. No matter how many pieces you manage to put together without any problems, there are always two or three oddly shaped ones that do not seem to fit in anywhere. Genealogy translators are used to dealing with those oddly shaped pieces (that often illegible old-style handwriting in a foreign language). However, as any avid puzzler knows, doing jigsaw puzzles should be fun, not stressful. So next time, why not let a genealogy translator handle those tough pieces? After all, don’t you deserve a bit of fun?