A little knowledge is dangerous. This saying easily applies to the translation industry, which is prone to more fallacies than its fair share. Many of us have taken classes in another language that involved constantly translating phrases and sentences. As a result, the idea of doing this professionally may seem like a stretch. Isn’t a translator doing the same as us, only with full documents instead of textbook exercises?
This couldn’t be further from the truth. Translators are dedicated professionals and their work is not easily duplicated. To achieve a quality result, the translation process must be approached with a mind free from the following erroneous notions:
1. Translators translate words:
Translators do not simply translate a document word for word. Dictionaries and “automatic” translations like those done by free online translation programs work word for word. On the other hand, a translator strives to understand the meaning of the original text and to express that meaning in the new language.
This explains why translation programs are unable to create professional quality translations. A concept that can be expressed with a word in one language can be better expressed with a complete phrase or idiomatic expression in a different language. For example, a translator has to decide how to handle words like schadenfreude from German (gained enjoyment of others’ troubles) or phrases like Esprit d’Escale from French (witness of ladder, or thinking of an intelligent response after the moment is over). gone).
Another reason why simplistic word-for-word translations are not professionally acceptable is that words have different meanings when placed in different contexts. A translator needs to understand the context of each word in order to identify the appropriate equivalent in the target language. For example, what should a translator do with the English word “lead”? Depending on the context, it can refer to taking over or a dense metal.
2. Translators can translate from language A to language B and from language B to language A:
While a few talented people can achieve this, most translators can only produce high-quality results when translating a document into their native language. Translators are expected to produce documents that read as a native speaker wrote them. Naturally, very few people reach this level of familiarity with any second language.
According to the American Translators Association, translating into a foreign or acquired language is the height of unprofessional behavior. Before entrusting your translation job to someone, be sure to check their qualifications. In addition to being a native speaker of the target language, a good translator must also be certified in their language pair and familiar with the subject material.
3. Translation and interpretation are the same:
While they share similar goals, these are two separate trades. A good translator is not necessarily a good interpreter or vice versa. The translation is written while the interpretation is oral. Translators take a written document and convert it into a new language. The interpreters listen to the speech and quickly translate it orally into the target language. While translation requires reading and writing skills, interpreting uses listening and speaking skills. Translators must have a deeper understanding of the language being converted, education in grammatical nuances, and subject matter expertise. Interpreters need greater recall and pronunciation powers of short-term memory.
4. Translation is not necessary in my industry:
Does your industry exist in any other country? People all over the world have the same wants and needs. Someone will benefit from meeting those needs, and there’s no reason why that someone can’t be you. Globalization is a fact of life. Technology has erased borders, giving every company the opportunity to expand into new markets. Will yours be the one to discover new customers and suppliers abroad?
Even if your company decides to remain national, translation is a growing need. More than 50 million Americans speak a language other than English at home, including more than 30 million Spanish speakers. Furthermore, research has found that most people prefer to do business in their native language. With increased globalization, your industry may be forced to compete with foreign companies to meet the needs of this large potential market.
Translation can be your key to accessing a larger and more lucrative market. Busting these myths will help you approach translation with a clear mind and help you make the right decisions for your business.