When you send a text for translation, you expect translators to convert the text from one language (source language) to the other (target language). It seems a fairly straightforward task, if not a simple one. However, this seemingly straightforward task demands various skills that translators employ, thus adding value to a new product created in a foreign language. This added value is typically not evident and therefore underestimated by users of translation services.
So let us take a closer look at some value-added services provided by translation professionals:
Quality control of source materials
Authors of source texts are prone to mistakes at times. In their texts, they may fail to notice awkward changes of style and register, as well as allusion to culture-bound expressions and cliches alien to the target audience. Not infrequently, authors (for example, staff members of international organizations) write in non-native languages, thus coming up with sloppy use of the language or nonstandard expressions.
No one will read the source text more carefully than the translator. She or he will identify these weak points and will contact the author for clarification and verification. Good translators ask questions in the translation process, which is a good practice since it allows improving the original and producing a clear translation product geared towards the target audience.
Doing a proof of a typeset copy of the translation is another value-added service provided by translation professionals. Translators review the typeset copy for last-minute additions made by the client, as well as for grammar and syntax, line breaks, spacing, numeration, font type and size, incorrectly processed colors, cut-off text, etc.
Provision of functional communication
The translator's task is not only to break through linguistic barriers, but also to ensure that a translated text achieves the same purpose and function as the source text is intended to achieve in a concrete communicative situation. To put it simply, the translated text must work well for the target audience.
Linguistic expertise is not the only asset the translator must have to achieve this goal. Intercultural expertise and cultural awareness are additional valuable assets that the translator uses to map the information provided in the source text with requirements of the target audience, thus ensuring effective communication in a multilingual and multicultural setting.
Based on translation specifications provided by the client, the translator analyzes the source text, researches additional terminology, coins neologisms as new concepts emerge, and uses her or his intuition and insight to create a new text adapted for the target readership.Value added by translators, though often not measured and not immediately apparent, helps translation clients to save time and money as translators can identify and correct serious mistakes in the source text, support the client's decision-making process, help to reach the foreign language audience, etc. And this work improves the client's return on investment.
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Irina Lychak has a degree in teaching English as a foreign language, has translated for the National Bank of Ukraine and The World Bank, and has been a freelance translator of English into Russian and Ukrainian for many years. From Irina's website, learn more about translators ( http://www.language-translation-help.com/language-translator.html ), their services and rates, and steps the translation buyer should make to get the translation that works.
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