fash-biz-digest

 

 

Translation

The four basic rules of professional translation

 

We all know that careless translations and the failure to meet deadlines as some of the features that should not be on the agenda of any professional translator. While these can be described as the core values of translating, a good translator needs very good research skills, the capacity to write with speed and at the same time to write well and a mastery of the two languages.

 

A mastery of the two languages

A good translator must have a proper grasp of the two languages, to be able to find the appropriate word, term or expression to convey the real sense of any word. In legal translation for instance, tribunal d'instance will automatically be magistrate court, conseil de prudhommes will be translated as employment tribunal and cour de cassation as the supreme court.

On the spot research

The second fundamental rule of translation is to read, evaluate and understand the document to be translated at the beginning of the project. To quickly undertake a research of similar materials and see how they were translated as well as how the document was formated. And finally to start work on the first draft, with due regard to the number of pages to be produced and the project deadline.

 

Revising the first draft

Good translation is working on the first draft to produce further drafts before the emergence of the final document. Because, translation is simply producing clear, concise and well written documents to reflect the original material.

 

Re-read and proof-read

 

Project coordinators say that the early morning strategy should be on the watch list of many professional translators. Due to the fact that the mind catches typing errors, and tiny mistakes easily at start of the day. It's also at this stage that efforts should be made to ensure that the two materials(source and translated) have the same meaning.