by Lucy Justina
Translation is a process that makes the content available in different languages for global access. Product brochures, legal documents, books, manuals, financial reports, and websites are usually translated in different languages to make the content readable to the people from different origins. The process of translation sounds as simple as converting the text from one language to another, but there is a need for lot of precision as wrongly framed sentences can sometimes change whole meaning of the document, especially legal documents. Big organizations therefore hire professional translators to get the error-free translation.
Knowledge of two languages is in fact the bare minimum you may look for in a translator. However, here are the skills that make any translator a good translator!
It’s quite apparent that translation requires knowledge of both the languages, but just working knowledge may not help. It has been observed that one of the two languages involved in translation assignment is the native language of the translator. The comfort of translating any other language into the native language usually becomes the reason for mistakes. One should not go easy with the language even if it is his first language as there is lot of difference in written and spoken versions of the language. The professional translator would be the one who would acquire the profound knowledge of both the languages before undertaking translation job.
Thorough research of the subject would become key to find proper words. Some legal documents and product brochures may lose the entire meaning if the correct word is not used during translation. Detailed research would make the translator find the right words that would depict the correct meaning.
There are institutes offering professional certifications that are globally recognized. Depending on the type of project, one should look for the certifications. It is not necessary that all experienced and skilled translators may be the certified ones, hence ensure that selection of translator should be based on the project and not just on the experience or certification of translator. Sometimes the experience of working for relevant projects may overweigh the certifications. Finding the right blend of experience and certification based on the translation project would ensure effective and error-free translation.
Most of the translation projects are confidential and the documents involved may require high level of confidentiality. Translator should be ready to undergo necessary confidentiality contract to maintain the secrecy. Discipline on the translator’s part is also required as all these projects are time bound and come with fixed deadlines. In order to ascertain these qualities, one can look for the past records and client testimonials for the translator. His past project will speak about his work.
Mechanical translation of the document from one language to another can also be carried out by the computer, but the reason to hire the professional translator lies in the human touch involved. Effective translation is the one that is done after understanding the context of what is written, and that calls for all of the above qualities in the translator!
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