The high demand for quality translation needs high-quality translators who know their job. Many of them believe that translation is about preferences influenced by personal opinion and judgment upon a thing and its meaning. The different backgrounds, social classes, generations, and even regions will see different meanings of things so they can make different translations of them. Yet there are several basics that a translator should not miss to stick on quality.
While assessing quality in translation is a difficult task, there are still some standards that govern the way of translating.
- Effective communication – The first issue includes the need for effective communication. In communication, messages should be delivered completely to avoid misperception or other implications. Delivering meaning from one language to another needs to consider the readability and comprehensiveness of the translation results. A translator should never miss the message of a word, phrase, or sentence so they can think forward about the effective and equivalent translation in the target language.
- Grammatical Convention – Grammar rules the language, and there are different grammatical conventions for different languages. You cannot always use the same rules used in the source language in the target. Consistency to style is the key. Therefore, adhering to the rules should be the important basis of a translator’s duty.
- Consistent Terminology – Terminology is a wide area that should be explored by a translator. Dictionary and glossary should be on the tabletop for a translator to refer to when they encounter a difficult case. There are many terms that are specifically used in certain area have different meaning while used in the different areas. Thanks to the internet today, exploration for correct terminology can be done easier today.
- Comprehend the Source and Target – While word-to-word translation can be done only with a dictionary, the style and background can make a few differences. Comprehension of both source and target languages is the key to a good translation result. Several points should be put into account here. First, the acceptable usage of language plays an important factor to make translation sound natural and appropriate. Second, the cultural background will also be another consideration that needs a little research for it to work in transferring the messages.
Whether you like it or not, the translation field is one part that complements some areas of science and linguistic disciplines. That has a lot of things to know in order to succeed to take the full meaning of a document into the target language.