The Importance of Russian Translations

As one of the largest countries of the world and the biggest part of the former USSR, Russia commands a significant presence on the world’s political map. It is well-known for its large oil exports and manufacturing of military equipment. Despite the collapse of the powerful Soviet Union, Russia remains one of the most important nations for conducting business globally. And the growing business opportunities in Russia, especially in the oil industry, in teaching and others, have increased the demand for Russian translations.

Belonging to the Indo-European family of languages, Russian is an Eastern Slavic language. Among all the Slavic languages such as Belarusian and Ukrainian, Russian is the most widely spoken. It is spoken by around 278 million people worldwide and is the official language of Russia. And although it doesn't have official status in many countries, it is still widely spoken in countries such as Estonia, the Ukraine, Latvia, Belarus and other countries that were once part of the Soviet Union or the Communist Bloc. These countries include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and more. It is also spoken in Finland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Mongolia, Israel, the USA, Canada and other countries. Russian also enjoys the status of being one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

Russian dialects

There are various dialects of Russian language. These dialects are based on their geographic location related to Moscow. Some believe there are two major dialects – the Northern dialect and Southern dialect.  Other linguistic experts are of the opinion that there are three dialects, namely the Northern, Central, and Southern. In addition to these three, there are other regional dialects too. All dialects are distinct in terms of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and intonation.

The Northern Russian dialect contains a good number of words of Finno-Ugric origin, while the Southern dialect tends to be influenced by the Ukrainian language. And the Central dialect is influenced by dialects from both sides and thus contains characteristics from Southern as well as Northern Russian. The Standard Muscovite Russian is based on the Russian spoken by the people in Moscow.

Before you entrust the job of translations to any company, first find out who are your customers and where are they located. Are you targeting the people located in Northern Russia or the Southern part of the country or are you looking for customers in the Ukraine or Kazakhstan? In order to get proper and accurate translations, you are well-advised to hire a professional translation company, be it a Montreal translation services provider or translation services Toronto, where experts provide the translations keeping in mind where your target audience is located.

Literary translations of Russian books

Due to the huge popularity of Russian books, the demand for literary translations of Russian books is very high. Russian literature started to flourish during the 19th century because of outstanding works by  poets, playwrights and novelists such as  Alexander Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, Alexander Sumarokov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky,  and many more. Translated works of novels such as Anna Karenina, or War and Peace are hugely popular to this day.

Considering the huge demand for Russian literary translations and the growing business opportunities in Russia, it make sense to approach a reliable and professional translation agency, be it a Toronto translation company or a Montreal translation services provider, which can guarantee accurate Russian translations. When it comes to Russian translations, don't ever take a shortcut and use the services of experts who are familiar with the Russian language, its culture and characteristics.