Christie's Russian Website Translation Mistakes

Two weeks ago one of our professional Russian English translators who is a big fan of Christie's auctions found out that their website have a Russian version of the site.
And she let them know that the translation was done very poorly with a lot of syntax and orthographic mistakes. (Just a little note to everyone: If you would like to avoid translation services like that, you should be using Certified Russian translation instead of just regular translation services.) The page I'm talking about is here: christies.com/features/welcome/russian
I also noticed the same kind of mistakes on two other pages: christies.com/features/welcome/russian/buy.aspx and this one christies.com/features/welcome/russian/sell.aspx (Copy and paste into your browser these links to check them out).

On the images below you can clearly see all the mistakes I'm talking about. Of course, if you do understand Russian language.


The image was kindly provided to me by Russian Telephone Translation website.

As far as me, I think that every certified Russian translator can correct those mistakes and/or do a professional English Russian website translation of Cristie's website. I think that a well-respected auction and a brand name like Christie's should have a perfect image.

Here are more images from their website. I marked some obvious mistakes. But of course there are a lot more. You just need to read it carefully and you'll find all of them. I think there are from 13 to 25 mistakes overall on the Russian version of Christie's web site.



All images were provided to this blog under the copyright from Russian Telephone Translation website. All images are copyrighted and can be used only after a written consent from the owner.

Happy Birthday in Russian Language - How to Make a Wish (audio)

Today I am going to teach you how to wish a Happy Birthday in Russian.

So, if need to make a Russian translation for a friend who has a birthday, then read on.

Russian translation for a HAPPY BIRTHDAY is С ДНЁМ РОЖДЕНИЯ - Russian transliteration for this phrase would be - S DNJOM RAZHDENIJA. You can listen to the audio recording of the phrase "happy birthday" in Russian below:


Or you can also say Поздравляю с Днем Рождения - transliteration would be as follows: Pazdravlyaju s dnjom razhdenija and the English for that would be Congratulations with your birthday (I know that it is not a very popular way to say it in English, but believe me, it is very common to wish a happy birthday in Russian).

Here is how it sounds like in Russian:



If you are willing to wish something more, then here are some ideas for you:

I wish you happiness - Я желаю тебе счастья - Ya zhelayu tebe schast'ja.
I wish you health - Я желаю тебе здоровья - Ya zhelayu tebe zdarov'ya.

Here is a good example of a birthday greeting for your friend:

Я желаю тебе крепкого здоровья!
Я желаю тебе долгих и счастливых лет жизни!
И самое главное, Я желаю тебе счастья - безмерного счастья! каждый день!

The Russian to English Translation of this birthday greeting will be as follows:

I wish you a long and successful life.
I wish you excellent health.
Most importantly, I wish you happiness - without measure - every day!

I hope that this post will help you to wish a Happy B-Day to one of your friends in Russian!

Easy to Learn Russian Words

According to a recent survey held on one of the Russian translation service websites, these are the most popular Russian language words and short sentences people are looking for in search engines like google.

PLEASE - Russian translation for that word is POZHALUISTA or ПОЖАЛУЙСТА.

Here is a usage example for you: Can you PLEASE forward me that Russian certified translation today?

The stress should be on the second syllable which is ZHA.

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The next easy to learn word is

How are you? - Kak Djela? or Как Дела?

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Good - Harasho - Хорошо.

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Happy Birthday in Russian will be S dnyom Razhdeniya - С днём рождения!

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Super in Russian is going to be Super - Супер - almost the same like in English=) - so this is the easiest to learn Russian word.

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Bye - Paka - Пока

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Next time I will try to compose a list of useful words for special occasion like a birthday.
So, see you soon.

Certified Russian English Translation - Another point of view

In my last post I wrote about Certified Russian Translation service. Today I have found another provider of certified and notarized translation of documents. Their page described the whole process of ordering such service. And it was pretty interesting to read. They started explaining what does the process include. They mentioned that a certified translation will take no longer than 1 business day, which is very brave to put on a website. Another convenient thing about them is that they accept credit cards. I searched other translation agencies on the web and found out that not a lot of them accept this kind of payments, because they are working from overseas. At the same time a translation of a birth certificate for instance in one company starts from 50 bucks which is a rip off, plus shipping and notarization fees. A Russian certified translation service I am talking about offers a free shipping in the USA which is nice. But I couldn't find the cost for the same birth certificate which sucks. But if you need a Russian certification of a translation, I think you can try them out. And if you are interested to know how the translation process works, you should definitely visit their page.

Russian Certified Translation Services - Does Certified Translator need to live in your area?

We've got a lot of calls from clients who live in different parts of the United States. And all of them need a Russian English certified translation. For example a certified translation and sometimes notarized translation is needed for High School Diplomas, College and University Diplomas, passports, marriage and divorce certificates, birth certificates, etc. So, almost all the new customers keep asking if a certified translator needs to be located in their area or not. Well the answer is NO, a Russian translator does not need to be in your area. With the invention of internet, everything can be done electronically. Basically you can send an English Russian Certified Translator a copy of your document via email and this professional can work out of the copy without any problems.
So if you need a Certified and Notarized Translation of your documents, you can definitely contact this company: RUSSIAN ENGLISH CERTIFIED TRANSLATION.
They have a lot of experience in this particular field. You can check out their testimonial page.
By the way prices are very affordable as well, probably the most reasonable on the territory of the continental USA.

Freelance Translator Day in Russia — May 14th

It appears that today is a holiday for freelance translators in Russia. Nobody really knows why exactly on May 14th. But one great Russian writer said (Russian translation: Russia cannot be understood with the mind alone) Умом Россию не понять. The name of the writer is Tyutchev (Russian last name) Fyodor (Russian man's first name) Ivanovich (Patronymic).

Origin of the word "freelancer": Freelancer, or a freelance worker is a person who works without a long-term contracts. This term was first used by Sir Walter Scott in 19th century in his famous "Ivanhoe."

Army of poor Russian people continues to grow

Picture is taken from газета.ру,
the text was done by using Russian phone translation.

It is really difficult to speak about the the gap between rich and poor in Russia. During this past year the gap has not declined, but it continues to increase, according to Rosstat data.

According to the statistical agency of the distribution of money incomes among Russians in the first quarter of this year, one third of the total (30.3%) incomes of Russian population is accounted by the richest 10%, and only 1.9% - 10% share of the poorest citizens. Since last year the ratio has been steadily changing in favour of the rich. In the same period in 2007 - 10% of the richest people had 29.7% of the total incomes, and only 2% - 10% share of the poorest citizens. And this is despite the growth of salaries, pensions, as well as the growth of consumer goods.

Therefore, experts recognize the result of the prevailing rather strange, given that in late 2007 and early 2008 the Government had made efforts to increase revenues to the neediest categories of citizens - government workers and pensioners. For example, since last year the pensions grew almost by 37% and in March 2008 monthly pension was 3895 rubles; accrued average nominal wages in March of 2008 was 16428 rubbles, while real wages in March of 2008 increased by 14.6% comparing with March 2007.

But the differentiation of income is no way affected. "Therefore, efforts were inadequate and did not increase salaries", - explains expert Natalia Akindinova. Disappointing statistics related to the fact that incomes of the richest and the middle class grew more than the poor and needy Russians. For example, the proportion of the population with average incomes over 25 thousand rubles per month increased from 5.2% in the first quarter of 2007 to 9.8% in the first quarter of 2008. Those who earn 10-15 thousand rubles increased from 16.9% to 19.7%, and those who receive from 8 thousand to 10 thousand rubles - from 11.3% to 11.6%.

Make your computer write Russian letters

You was always wondering how to make your computer write Russian letters, i.e. letters in Cyrillic. If you are in the non-Russian speaking country, then most probably you don't have Russian letters installed on your computer keyboard. I can show you how you can type these symbols using regular US keyboard. I'm using Windows XP. I also attached an image of a Russian keyboard so that you could see where a particular letter is located. I hope it helps.

Step 1.: Go to Start Menu
Step 2.: Select Control Panel
Step3.: Click on Regional and Language Options
Step4.: In the submenu at the top select Languages
Step5.: You will see "Text services and input languages" - click Details
Step6.: After that you will see Installed services, click Add
Step7.: Add input Language window pops out, select Russian

After going through all these steps you will be able to type Russian letters. To switch in between language bars you should try either pressing CTRL+Shift or Alt+Shift all depending on your settings. So now you can start making Russian letter translation or just communicate with your friends like you are in Russia.

Learn Russian Swear (bad) Words in Dialogue

You will not learn the language if you don't know cultural things like swear words and bad phrases, slang after all. This is why I decided to give you an opportunity to see how you can use these words in a real situation. Here you can find one of the dialogues I have found on Russian translation website.
I am using as many commonly used words and phrases as I can think of. I included Russian version plus a Russian transliteration so that you could read and pronounce these swear words and phrases. I also put some guidelines for how offensive each word/phrase is. I used a scale from 1 to 3 to show how offensive this or that bad word is.
This short story is about two friends who are watching a sport game.
If you would like to find more dialogues, you can find them on this page: Learn Russian Language. We also have Russian Phone Translation phrases at your request.

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Visiting a friend watching the game (on Russian TV).

1) Блять3, ты все еще смотришь эту игру? ::: Blyat', ty vse eshe smotrish' etu igru?:::Shit, Are you still watching this game?

Блять – noun: two meanings: slut, and you say it when you are expressing yourself. English equivalent – shit, fuck. You can use this word only in this form.

2) Сборище долбаебов3. Они вдувают2. Играют как девочки. ::: Sborishe dolbaebov. Oni vduvayut. Igrayut kak devochki. ::: What a bunch of shit! They suck! They play like sissies!

Долбаебов – singular – долбаёб – a very strong bad word; meaning - a dumb person. You can use this word to anybody whom you don't like or you are a veeeery good friend of.

1) Кто? Команда А? Но капитан нормалёк1 играет. :::: Kto? Komanda A? No kapitan normalyok igraet. :::: Who? "Team A"? But that captain is good!

Нормалёк – derived from a word Нормально - English equivalent - normal.

2) Ты это видел? Осёл2. Это даже и не пахло фолом. Ty eto videl? Osyol. Eto dazhe I ne pahlo folom. :::: You see that? Foul!? That was not a freaking foul!

Осёл – another way to say that a person is not a smart guy, you can't tell this to a female, used only for men. Original meaning - an animal – dunkie.

1) Арбитр или косой1 или слепой1. Arbitr ili kosoj ili slepoj. :::: The ref has a screw loose, or he's blind.

2) Знаменитый игрок еще ни разу не забил. Меня это бесит1. Znamenityj igrok eshe ni razu ne zabil. Menya eto besit. :::: "Famous player" hasn't scored yet! I can't stand it!

Бесит – imperative form – бесить – English version for annoy. He annoys me – Он меня бесит. A very common way of expressing your feelings toward somebody. Popular among teenagers.

1)Забудь, давай лучше посмотрим бейсбол или теннис. Zabud', davaj luchshe posmotrim beisbol ili tenis. :::: Never mind. Let's see some baseball or tennis instead.

2) Забей2. Достало уже. Айда1 карты поиграем. Zabej. Dostalo uzhe. Aida karty poigraem. ::::: Screw it. Enough! Let's go play cards (specific card or board game?).

extra stuff:

1) Но ведь это Кубок Мира. No ved' eto kubok mira. :::: but this is the World Cup!

2) Насрать2. Хочешь посмотреть как они вдуют2? Nasrat'. Hochesh' posmotret' kak oni vduyut? ::::: Whatever! You wanna watch them get clobbered?

Насрать – imperative form. Litterally – to take shit. Pretty rude verb. Became popular in 1995 (approximately).

3) Но мы все еще можем их сделать2. No my vse eshe mozhem ih sdelat'. :::::: But we can still pull it off!

Сделать – imperative form – делать. English translation - make. Я тебя сделаю – translation - to win. I can't find an English equivalent. May be there is no one.

4) Не теряй времени. Ты теряешь своё время. Ne teyaj vremeni. Ty teryaesh svoyo vremya. :::::: Don't waste your time. You are wasting your time.

5) Арбитр обкуренный1. Arbitr abkurennyj. ::::::: The referee is on drugs!

Обкуренный – adj. From verb – Курить - To Smoke.

6) вратарь..... () ..... не следит за игрой ::::: vratar' ne sledit za igroj ::::::::: the goalie.... (and other potential positions, like refereee!) ...isn't paying attention.

7) Гол. Gol. ::::::: Score!

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Russian Letter Translation Research

So, an eternal question is — Should you go with a free translation tools, cheap translation services, professional translation services charging slightly more that a cheap one, or with an expensive service of some translation conglomerate?

Well we also wanted to know the answer, so our sponsors helped us on our research in this field...
We prepared a medium size letter in Russian to send to some Russian translation companies offering different prices for Russian letter translation service.

We googled for Russian translation and got a lot of results. Here is a screenshot for you.




OK, so on the top of the page you can see Free translators. They will give you a rough idea of what is written in your letter....It's your choice....

Then goes a Russian Translation service company which offers a Russian letter translated for four cents per word. We sent them our letter. The response came as soon as within 45 minutes, which was a record. Our linguists analyzed the translation and it got 4.5 out of 5, which I think is pretty high score.

Then I found a website of a person from Ukraine who was offering translation as well. The price was two cents per word. I sent a translation and got a response 11 hours later (I figured that was because of the time difference between Ukraine and USA). Well I got my translation and it seems that a lot of words were misunderstood by a translator, or he was using a machine translation. The overall work got 2.8 points.

Then we found a website which charged ten cents per word for a letter translation!!!! Wow, that's a lot!!! But we still wanted to try it out. Well we got a response from the website pretty fast in about an hour and a half. The quality of the translation was great for a book translation. This means that a Russian person would think that Pushkin, or Dostoevsky wrote the letter to her/him. The language was old fashioned. It seems that the translator has never been to the US and does not understand the culture. So they got 3.6 points.

I hope very much that this research will help you choose the right translation services for your needs.