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Hospital names
Thread poster: Rachel E
Rachel E
Rachel E
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:08
Mar 11, 2013

Hi,

What is the best thing to do when your translation includes the name of the hospital? For example, Schlosspark Klinik Berlin. Would you call this the Schlosspark Hospital, Berlin or the Schlosspark Klinik hospital?

Thanks!

p.s. not sure if I put this in the right section of the forum but didn't know which it should belong to!


Yaotl Altan
 
Dr Sarai Pahla, MBChB
Dr Sarai Pahla, MBChB
Germany
Local time: 00:08
Member (2012)
Japanese to English
+ ...
I usually translate the name Mar 11, 2013

I usually translate the name of the hospital to Schlosspark Hospital, Berlin, unless the client has indicated that they do not want names translated.
My rationale for this is that the location of a procedure/treatment may be relevant to the reader, who will be at a disadvantage if they do not understand the source language terms.
Just my 2c - not sure how others do it.


Sara Lette
 
Ty Kendall
Ty Kendall  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:08
Hebrew to English
What do they call themselves (in English) Mar 11, 2013

A good way of finding this out is to go to the hospital's website (most of them have them these days), click on the EN link, if any, and see how they refer to themselves.

In this case:
"the Schlosspark-Klinik is located right next to the Charlottenburg Palace Gardens. With its 334 beds and nine specialist departments it is one of the largest private clinics in Berlin and is reco
... See more
A good way of finding this out is to go to the hospital's website (most of them have them these days), click on the EN link, if any, and see how they refer to themselves.

In this case:
"the Schlosspark-Klinik is located right next to the Charlottenburg Palace Gardens. With its 334 beds and nine specialist departments it is one of the largest private clinics in Berlin and is recognized as being a center of excellence."
http://www.schlosspark-klinik.de/spk-russisch/english-information.html?L=1

...i.e. not translated.

Also: http://www.schoen-kliniken.com/ptp/ (again not translated).

There are also dangers in translating proper names like these (when they are not the official title of the hospital). For example, in my source language - if I came across: "מרכז רפואי העמק" I would need to translate it as "HaEmek Medical Center" as there is no such place as "The Valley Medical Center" in Afula, Israel. The exception to this is when they do actually call themselves by their translated name, but I don't see this very often in my source language and from a brief sojourn into German, I didn't see it there either, the German names remain in the foreign language.

[Edited at 2013-03-11 21:47 GMT]
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Christine Andersen
Sara Lette
 
Anton Konashenok
Anton Konashenok  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 00:08
French to English
+ ...
Ask the client Mar 11, 2013

If this is for clinical research, most large clients have their own style guides, and the requirements are sometimes quite unusual - for example, one client of mine asks for the names to be translated if and only if they are in a non-Latin script. If there's no guide available, it won't hurt to ask anyway whether they want the names translated and how.

 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 00:08
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Into English Mar 11, 2013

I translate from Danish to English, and some of the hospitals I come across have official English names that they use on their English websites. I always check, and use the names I find.

Others use the English word Hospital in their Danish names, but if they use the Danish Sygehus, I translate it, and put the Danish name in brackets afterwards, at least the first time or the first time in each section of the text.

Rigshospitalet calls itself Rigshospitalet, so I leave
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I translate from Danish to English, and some of the hospitals I come across have official English names that they use on their English websites. I always check, and use the names I find.

Others use the English word Hospital in their Danish names, but if they use the Danish Sygehus, I translate it, and put the Danish name in brackets afterwards, at least the first time or the first time in each section of the text.

Rigshospitalet calls itself Rigshospitalet, so I leave it at that.
('Kingdom Hospital' is quite another matter)

The important thing is to give a name that can be found on the Internet and in official records, and that cannot be confused with others.

Many will not have official names in most languages, and it depends too on how easily the name is recognised.

I might not translate Klinik for English readers, but probably would translate Krankenhaus.

[Edited at 2013-03-11 22:04 GMT]
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Adieu
 
Jenn Mercer
Jenn Mercer  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 19:08
Member (2009)
French to English
Translate lightly Mar 11, 2013

I translate the name enough to make it clear it is a hospital, but will often leave some words in French that could be translated such as Nord/North etc.

 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 00:08
Spanish to English
+ ...
Touche pas Mar 12, 2013

Normally I wouldn't translate the name of a hotel, hospital, or other institution. You might as well go the whole hog and call the Schlosspark "Castle Park Hospital", but any mail sent there probably wouldn't make it.

 
Vert-ical Tr (X)
Vert-ical Tr (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 00:08
Dutch to English
+ ...
I agree with Ty and Christine Mar 12, 2013

I use the name the hospital has chosen to place on its website (even if I would have chosen to translate it a bit differently), or its original name if a translation is lacking, indicating what it means in brackets at its first instance of appearance in the text (not in the header).

If the translated report is going to be used for clinical trial or spontaneous adverse event reporting, all names of hospitals, clinics, physicians, locations, patients, nurses, etc. will be removed by
... See more
I use the name the hospital has chosen to place on its website (even if I would have chosen to translate it a bit differently), or its original name if a translation is lacking, indicating what it means in brackets at its first instance of appearance in the text (not in the header).

If the translated report is going to be used for clinical trial or spontaneous adverse event reporting, all names of hospitals, clinics, physicians, locations, patients, nurses, etc. will be removed by the end client for reasons of confidentiality and irrelevance. On the contrary, the hospital's correct name would be very important for e.g. publications and the like.
Good luck!
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XXXphxxx (X)
XXXphxxx (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:08
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Depends Mar 12, 2013

Don't translate the name if it's part of an address but do translate it if there is an official equivalent. As Ty says, look at their website.

 
joanduplessis
joanduplessis  Identity Verified
Local time: 01:08
Afrikaans to English
The less the better Mar 12, 2013

Agree with Neilmac. Don't translate the name - nobody will be able to find which hospital you are referring to. Leave the name as is. You can include the translation in brackets after the name, to give insight into the meaning.

 
Anne Diamantidis
Anne Diamantidis  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 00:08
German to French
+ ...
Usually like Sarai Mar 14, 2013

Sarai Pahla wrote:

I usually translate the name of the hospital to Schlosspark Hospital, Berlin, unless the client has indicated that they do not want names translated.
My rationale for this is that the location of a procedure/treatment may be relevant to the reader, who will be at a disadvantage if they do not understand the source language terms.
Just my 2c - not sure how others do it.


I tend to do that too - not translating the name per se but adding "hospital" to the name. But that depends on the clients wishes, on the target group/markt, etc. Once the text featured a Children's hospital with a quite long name: I kept the entire original name and added "hôpital pédiatrique" in French between brackets.
Case by case basis I think.


Dr Sarai Pahla, MBChB
 
Shu Ma
Shu Ma  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 16:08
English to Chinese
+ ...
Depends Jan 11, 2015

I think translating a name depends on how famous it is and the context of the translation.

 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 00:08
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Translate the descriptive part, keep the name part as-is Jan 11, 2015

Rachel E wrote:
What is the best thing to do when your translation includes the name of the hospital? For example, Schlosspark Klinik Berlin. Would you call this the Schlosspark Hospital, Berlin or the Schlosspark Klinik hospital?


In South Africa, which an English-Afrikaans bilingual country (for most practical purposes), the custom is to translate the descriptive part of the name with a direct translation. For example, Churchhill Post Office in Afrikaans would be Churchhill Poskantoor. It works the other way around, as well.

It is difficult to know what the "tradition" is in English (specifically in UK English), but I suspect it will be the same, namely to translate the descriptive part of the name. Also, it is unusual in English to put the place name at the end of the of the name, if it forms part of the name. I would think that "Berlin Schlosspark Hospital" would be far more likely than "Schlosspark Hospital Berlin". What do you think?

Another consideration is whether your readers may be confused with a false friend. If they read about "Schlosspark Klinik", they may think it is a mere clinic, not a fully fledged hospital.

I agree with Shu Ma about whether a name may be very famous, but again, it is difficult to determine whether it is famous or not.

Another consideration is whether the English name may refer to more than one thing in German. I don't know much about German, so forgive the example, but if there were a hospital named Schlosspark Klinik and a hospital named Schlosspark Krankenhaus, both in Berlin, then it would be more dicey to translate "Klinik" as "Hospital", unless it is not really important that your reader be able to distinguish between the two. In such a case, I would translate it as "the Schlosspark Klinik hospital".


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 00:08
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Ty and Lisa Jan 11, 2015

Ty Kendall wrote:
A good way of finding this out is to go to the hospital's website...


Lisa Simpson, MCIL MITI wrote:
Don't translate the name if it's part of an address.... As Ty says, look at their website.


If the web site was translated by a translator who also didn't know and simply guessed, then looking at the web site wouldn't help either. And the English-speaking people who work at the German hospital aren't linguists, so they're likely to use whatever they've become used to, so calling the hospital and asking for an English nurse to tell you isn't a good solution either.

I agree that you should not translate the descriptive part if it is part of an address, but that usually applies to all portions of the address except for the country name.


 
Andrea Halbritter
Andrea Halbritter  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 00:08
French to German
+ ...
Ask the client Jan 11, 2015

I would not translate names, but ask the client to know what he thinks about it.

 
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