Translation Myths

As long as people from different parts of the world have been communicating there has been a need for translators. As the world has become a smaller place and globalization has brought peoples into greater contact, the need for translators has grown and so too has the various misconceptions and myths about translation. Translators must know more than just the vocabulary and grammar of a language. It's not as simple as sitting down with dictionaries and translating content word for word.

What follows is a list of some of the most common myths about translation office.

1) Bilingual People Can Translate

Being raised bilingually is not something that makes one a translator by nature. You can't simply wake up one day and decide to do quality Spanish / English translation just because you understand the languages, are fluent with them, or are even a native speaker of both. Spoken language is different from written language and those who can fluently speak a language aren't necessarily good writers. Translation, however, is much more than writing and an understanding of translation theory is a necessity. One needs to understand the problems and issues that are inherent in translating languages.

A translator needs to know such things as when it is important that the cultural elements of the original text be transferred to the translated version and when they should not be. Different approaches need to be taken when translating technical texts, legal documents, philosophical writings and fiction.

2) Translation Can Be Done Quickly

Translation is a process that takes a considerable amount of time. It isn't reasonable to assume that translators can easily translate material in a flash. Far too many people think that translation is a simple task that can be accomplished quickly, as if one just substitutes Spanish words for English words.

A competent typist may be able to finish copying a 3,000 word document in under an hour. However, you would be hard pressed to find anyone capable of typing thousands of words in an hour where translation is concerned. The actual number of words that a translator can produce in an hour can vary depending on the type of text that they're dealing with. However, a good rule of thumb is about 3,000 words per day. For comparison, this article (including the title and subheadings) has 1,092 words.

Translators must spend a great deal of time to ensure that the finished product looks like an original work. They spend time on:

* Looking up definitions, synonyms, word usage, etc.

* Considering context, concepts, semantics, ambiguity, cultural influences, verbiage, etc.

* Editing and proofing grammar as well as mechanics such as punctuation and capitalization

3) A Translator Can Translate Both Directions Equally

Translating from English to Spanish as well as Spanish to English is something a translator generally should not do. While there are some gifted translators in the world who can handle both directions, most translators limit themselves to one direction for good reason. It's not like a highway where traffic flows easily in two directions.

Regardless of how well a translator has learned additional languages, one language will be dominant. It is generally preferable for a translator to translate into his primary language. A skilled and trained individual translating into his dominant or native language will be able to more adequately understand the subtle nuances of his own language than a non-native speaker would.

4) Translators Can Translate Anything If They Know The Language

People specialize for a reason. No one can be an expert in everything. Knowledge of a language is obviously necessary for translating but understanding a language doesn't make a translator an expert in all things. To be able to translate a particular subject area, a translator should have an intimate knowledge of that field. Medical translators, for example, develop a large vocabulary of medical and biological terms and have an understanding of human anatomy and medical procedures. A translator who doesn't understand what he is translating is doomed to produce a poor translation.

5) Computer Translation Is Pretty Reliable

While translation software may be useful for certain tasks - it might help the reader get the general gist of the text - it is far from being a reliable source for translation. The problem with computer translation is that the software doesn't have a deep knowledge of the language. It doesn't understand ambiguity, know how to deal with irregularities in the language, and is prone to inaccuracies due to multiple meanings for a single word. A human translator is able to comprehend context and has an understanding of the culture that has helped shape the language.

Computers have been known to come up with some pretty funny (or scary) translations. The same can be said for so called translators who are nothing more than bilingual. This writer once saw an English language sign that stated something to the effect of "No Vandalism - Violators will be prosecuted." The Spanish translation stated something like "Victims of rape will be prosecuted." Not a good translation to say the least.

6) Translators Can Interpret And Interpreters Can Translate

While it may seem like the two would be interchangeable, there is a distinct difference between translating and interpreting. Writing and speaking are two very different things, and one skill set is very different from the other. Just because someone is skilled at one does not mean that he or she is skilled at the other.

Translation deals specifically with translating into a text format, whether the source material is another document or speech (audio translation). Translators need to be good writers and depending on the individual's area of expertise, a background in technical, creative, academic, or other forms of writing is necessary. A translator also needs reading and comprehension skills, along with knowledge of linguistics and a high proficiency for editing and grammar. For those who are involved in audio translation, listening skills are also important.

Interpreting deals specifically with producing the final product orally. An interpreter will listen to a Spanish speaker and then express what he hears in English. A knowledge of linguistics and phonetics is important as well as a background in interpersonal and intercultural communication. Interpreting can be a mentally exhausting task as one needs to accurately express what the speaker is saying as he is saying it or just after. There is no time to use dictionaries or to carefully craft a statement. Listening and comprehension skills are a must as are public speaking, voice and diction skills and an understanding of non verbal communication.

Resource

Understanding Translation Quotes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN7oPg4z09s

Time and time again Translation clients are left baffled by the Translation Agencyquote process. The fact that there is no formal method for translation quotes means that quotes can be interpreted in many different ways. A client may think he is choosing the cheapest quote while in fact this may be the opposite.

The following article describes some of the headaches and remedies to confront the quoting process. Normally, someone looking for translation services will shop around and receive at least three quotes. Firstly the needs of the client must be taken into consideration.

Is the client is only looking for a single language to be translated with no additional translation services such as software localization, desk top publishing or software localization? In this case it is often recommended to go straight to the translator and avoid the middle man, the translation services company, as they of course take a percentage of the translation which in some cases can be up to 50% of the translation quote. This is justified by the additional value they add to a translation.

Does the client need multiple languages translated? In this case the client may have the in-house resources and knowledge to deal with a multiple translation language project however this is often not the case as a lot of projects tend to be one off or a lot of the multilingual projects require a lot of specific translation expertise and skills which are only available within a translation services company. For instance, the use of translation memories, the availability of a large database of specialized translators, Desktop publishing specialists or software localization engineers. For many companies this expertise and resources would be a sizeable investment and not worth it in the long run so they tend to outsource their translation needs.

On the plus side a lot of translation tasks are very measurable, for instance word counts to measure the cost of translation, page counts to measure the costs of desktop publishing, string counts to measure the costs of software localization. Even though all these tasks within the translation process are very measurable translation quotes can differ to the extent that clients may even wonder if they are looking at the quote for the same project.

Here are some pointers to bear in mind when requesting a Translatorquote:

With regard to the cost of translation some translation services companies may charge by:

· Word count which tends to be the most reliable

· Character count which can be especially the case with Asian languages

· Page count which can be unreliable as there are often great variations in the number of words per page

Word counts and translation rates can vary greatly too due to the following factors:

Some translation companies use Translation Memory technology. This technology can reduce the word count greatly even with new translations as there may be a lot of repetitions within a file. For instance, in the case of software a lot of the User Interface strings are repeated throughout the software. A lot of companies will offer a discount on these repeated strings or offer the repeated terms at a reduced word count. One thing to bear in mind however is that the cost of translation memory technology will be factored into the translation price. At the beginning the prices may seem a little more expensive but once the translations are in progress and the translation memories of previous work built up, the benefits of reduced word counts and more consistent translations are clearly evident. Paying that little bit extra will increases quality and in the long run reduce cost provided the translation memories are managed correctly. The aforementioned gives an insight as to why some prices and word counts can vary from one translation quote to another.

Understanding Translation Quotes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN7oPg4z09s

Time and time again Translation clients are left baffled by the Translation Agencyquote process. The fact that there is no formal method for translation quotes means that quotes can be interpreted in many different ways. A client may think he is choosing the cheapest quote while in fact this may be the opposite.

The following article describes some of the headaches and remedies to confront the quoting process. Normally, someone looking for translation services will shop around and receive at least three quotes. Firstly the needs of the client must be taken into consideration.

Is the client is only looking for a single language to be translated with no additional translation services such as software localization, desk top publishing or software localization? In this case it is often recommended to go straight to the translator and avoid the middle man, the translation services company, as they of course take a percentage of the translation which in some cases can be up to 50% of the translation quote. This is justified by the additional value they add to a translation.

Does the client need multiple languages translated? In this case the client may have the in-house resources and knowledge to deal with a multiple translation language project however this is often not the case as a lot of projects tend to be one off or a lot of the multilingual projects require a lot of specific translation expertise and skills which are only available within a translation services company. For instance, the use of translation memories, the availability of a large database of specialized translators, Desktop publishing specialists or software localization engineers. For many companies this expertise and resources would be a sizeable investment and not worth it in the long run so they tend to outsource their translation needs.

On the plus side a lot of translation tasks are very measurable, for instance word counts to measure the cost of translation, page counts to measure the costs of desktop publishing, string counts to measure the costs of software localization. Even though all these tasks within the translation process are very measurable translation quotes can differ to the extent that clients may even wonder if they are looking at the quote for the same project.

Here are some pointers to bear in mind when requesting a Translatorquote:

With regard to the cost of translation some translation services companies may charge by:

· Word count which tends to be the most reliable

· Character count which can be especially the case with Asian languages

· Page count which can be unreliable as there are often great variations in the number of words per page

Word counts and translation rates can vary greatly too due to the following factors:

Some translation companies use Translation Memory technology. This technology can reduce the word count greatly even with new translations as there may be a lot of repetitions within a file. For instance, in the case of software a lot of the User Interface strings are repeated throughout the software. A lot of companies will offer a discount on these repeated strings or offer the repeated terms at a reduced word count. One thing to bear in mind however is that the cost of translation memory technology will be factored into the translation price. At the beginning the prices may seem a little more expensive but once the translations are in progress and the translation memories of previous work built up, the benefits of reduced word counts and more consistent translations are clearly evident. Paying that little bit extra will increases quality and in the long run reduce cost provided the translation memories are managed correctly. The aforementioned gives an insight as to why some prices and word counts can vary from one translation quote to another.

Does the translation price include revision? Some translation services companies factor the cost of revision into their translation rate making them more expensive. This has an obvious advantage in that translators are only human and a third eye to revise texts enhances quality.

To summarize the use of translation memory technology and revision greatly enhance quality and give us an insight into why translation rates can vary so much between translation services companies. One must also bear in mind that a client can be more focused on cost as opposed to quality as in many cases they will have local offices doing the revisions.

Why do prices vary so much from language to language? There is a simple rule of thumb here in that the prices tend to be reflected by the country of a particular language. For developing countries the local language tends to be translated more cheaply than developed countries. For instance Chinese translation services tend to be cheaper than Swedish translation services.

To summarize, three main factors that influence the cost of translation are:

· Use of translation Memory technology

· Language combination being translated

· Whether there is revision

So far we have only considered the cost of translation but what about the other translation services:

Software localization tends to be charged on an hourly basis but again the hourly rates can vary greatly from one translation Services Company to another. Again a major factor can be the location of the translation services company. For instance a translation vendor in a developing country tends to have much lower hourly software localization rates as opposed a vendor in a developed country where the costs of labor are much more expensive. The same principle also applies to the cost of desktop publishing.

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