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| [quarterback*] |
There is a common misperception that a professional translator only
requires certain, easily attainable language abilities. These include thorough
knowledge of the target language, which is shared by any person raised and
educated in a country whose official language is the one required;
and a reasonable knowledge of a foreign
language learnable through a couple of years of high school study or a few
months of Internet effort. Add a bit of machine translation or AI
magic. Voila, you too can become a professional translator in a few months.
Reality is quite different. Clearly, the above-mentioned qualifications
do not guarantee any language proficiency. Furthermore, professional translators
require subject-matter knowledge so they can understand the material and use
the correct terminology. However, beyond the required language and subject
matter proficiency, professional translators must also be adept in the
following technical skills:
Word – The visual aspect is an essential part of a
professionally translated document. Therefore, translators must know how to
fully format documents, including charts, margins, fonts, paging, borders and
colors. As they must do their work efficiently, they must be familiar with the
short cuts and professional tricks of using Word. If you think you really know
Word, try taking any serious Word proficiency test. In practice, most casual
users are aware of only a small percentage of the program’s abilities.
PDF – A significant percentage of original documents
received by professional translators are in PDF or jpg. It is often necessary
to process these documents to ascertain the number of words, categorize the
documents as convertible or not and convert the documents into a useable Word
document if possible. Experience is vital.
CAT tools – Just as you would not expect a professional
carpenter to tighteen each screw manually, whenever possible, most professional
translators use computer aided translation software (CAT) tools, often MemoQ or
Trados, to efficiently and effectively translate texts. These programs cost
money and require time to learn. The failure to use them often leads to a lack
of consistency and avoidable errors, not to mention a large waste of time.
QA – Just as there is no such thing as good writing but
only good rewriting, there is no submittable first draft, only a final document
that underwent directed and thorough rereading and checking. Therefore, an
essential part of the translation process, sometimes taking 50% of the time, is
the quality assurance. Programs such as spellcheck, Xbench and Grammarly
provide effective ways to review large amounts of texts. Customers should be
aware that AI can be a problem as the
quality of its suggestions depends on the prompts it receives. Furthermore and
more importantly, use of AI can create a serious breach of security since the
material generally enters public domain. Most customers insist on
confidentiality.
Social Media – Translators work to make a living. Therefore, they
require customers. One methods of attracting customers is the correct use of
social media in all its forms. Using this application for business purposes is
actually quite complex and requires expertise. By contrast, using them improperly is a waste of time. Depending on their area of specialty, professional
translators must gain some proficiency in branding and marketing.
LinkedIn – For legal, financial and other business-oriented
fields, LinkedIn is the most focused of all social media and is effective for B2B
contacts. However, it takes skill and knowledge of the system to actually
benefit from this platform.
Scheduling – Professional translators often work on many
projects simultaneously. Being a professional means that the person delivers on
time. Thus, serious freelancers take advantage of software that helps them
prevent “forgetting”.
Billing – Customers and tax authorities alike require proper
billing. Freelancers also need to keep track of payments if they wish to stay in business. So, professional translators must know how to use
accounting programs.
For professional translators, this skill set involves constant learning.
First, nobody is naturally proficient and/or even open to all skills. Even if a freelancer
has background or knowledge, technology is constantly evolving. The modern
dynamic business world forces professionals of all types to never stop
developing their primary and secondary skills. The cost of the failure to do so
is irrelevance.
For translation buyers, it should be clear that a professional translator
has for more than basic language skills. Accordingly, such professional deserve
to be paid. As this is the start of the American football season, I will
compare translators to quarterbacks. It would be foolish for a professional NFL
team to use a high school quarterback, no matter how skillful that person is,
as they are simply not up to the task. Using a rookie or a low-cost option may
be effective in certain situations but won’t get the team to the Superbowl.
Paying a top player appropriate money is a major factor in raising the trophy
at the end of the season. Translation buyers interested in creating an effective
document in terms of content and impact should go with a pro, a person with
many talents and skills.
* Picture captions help the blind fully access the Internet.
Picture credit - Pixabay
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