Translation is the transferring of meaning of text from one language, the source language, into another language, the target language. Sounds simple? One might think that once a person has developed a facility for a second language the job of translation would be quite simple, right? Wrong. Here are the skills required of a translator:
What happens when you give a piece of highly creative advertising copy to a translator? Well, even assuming the translator is highly literate and perhaps even in possession of a talent in creative writing, there are two possible results:
The issue here is that translation is not copywriting. Therefore, at UniDoc we make a distinction. Culturally bound copy, whether it appears in advertisements, catalogs or any other format is handled in a two-stage, two-job process: first translation by a translator, then copywriting by a copywriter. In some cases, in fact, the translation step could be skipped, with the copywriter starting from scratch based on the original conceptual material from the client.
Translators deal with all sorts of source documents written by people of various levels of literacy and in some cases even non-native speakers. The translator is faced with a dilemma when a source document is not written clearly. If the client cannot provide clarification for ambiguous passages, the translation will be rendered with the same ambiguity, or worse, with a meaning not intended by the author. Garbage in garbage out.
Translators work hard, under deadline pressure, with variously written source documents in various fields. Even the best are not superhuman. It is often too easy for a client, who possesses knowledge of the target language, to poke at a translators work because his or her style of writing is different, or whatever. Translation and writing in general is a subjective process and no two persons are going to render the same concept in the same way. If there is a quality issue that demands attention, UniDoc will do what it can to cooperate with the client to either work with the document in question or secure measures to ensure that quality will be increased in forthcoming jobs.
In order to ensure a satisfactory translation we ask our clients to provide ample reference material and, if possible, a glossary of terms prepared specifically for the product or field of business in question. We also ask the client to provide ample delivery time to ensure that the translation is not rushed. Under any given circumstance UniDoc does its best to make sure that the quality level is as high as possible, however, we always recommend that the client review all translations by qualified in-house staff who are natives of the target language.
Click here for an overview of UniDoc's job flow and quality control.