‘The way we do our translation’: a case study of translation policy for Spanish speakers in the public parks of Sonoma County, California

Signs in public spaces can provide essential information. Especially at times of crises, and in places where there are large populations who speak a minoritized language, translation is often employed to create multilingual signage for the benefit of the community. After all, translated signs appear because some authority considers that a certain message is important enough to be visibly communicated to the public, including those who do not speak the State’s preferred language. The decision as to whether to translate or not certain signs may seem arbitrary, but one would hope that it is the result of a guided policy determination. In other words, policy determinations that affect translation can shape the linguistic landscape in multilingual societies. Based on that understanding, this paper explores how translation policy shapes public signage. It seeks to provide insights into the management, practice, and beliefs behind the translation of public signs by the authorities. It will focus on the translation of signs in public parks found in Sonoma County, California. It will thus provide some insights into translation policy as developed using mostly a bottom-up approach, and it will consider some of the present and future challenges in terms of translating signs for the public.