Question anyone? – What translators should ask and translation buyers should provide

 

It can be said that wisdom is a certain lack of certainty. One of the characteristics of truly professional translators is that they ask questions before they start a project. Depending on the situation, these queries can relate to audience, purpose, names and legacy translations. The failure to ask these questions can lead to frustration and disappointment.

One essential element of every successful translation is the match of the style to the intended audience. For example, in medical translation, the target population is the patients, who may have no knowledge of medical terms, as compared to the medical staff, who are quite familiar with them. Even more common, linguists must carefully choose the vocabulary in books and material intended for children. In the entertainment business, subtitlists need to keep in mind that the consumers of their translation come from all ages and adjust the vocabulary level accordingly. Thus, translators need to find out for whom the text is intended.

Likewise, the purpose of the document will affect the translation. Linguists working on marketing or sales texts have wide freedom to render their message into the target language, especially as compared to technical specifications documents. Subtitlists face serious challenges as they must avoid exceeding a specific number of characters due to screen space limitations. In legal translation, incorrect language is a serious error when translating briefs and court documents while they may need to be reflected when translating depositions for court if they appear in the original. One translation trash is another translation treasure.

It is impossible to assume how names are spelled, meaning that translators should confirm the spelling if possible. Sometimes, the name spelling reflects another language. Just recently, I discovered (in time), that the common English name Felix was spelled Feliks in Polish. In other cases, immigration officials or immigrants adjusted the spelling, especially of the last name. An example in my family is Bronstein as compared to Bronstejn. Most often, a country simply has several spelling variations, e.g., Steven vs Stephen. As there are no rules, translators must exercise diligence.

An interesting issue, which many translators often ignore, is legacy, i.e., previous completed translations that include terminology decisions of previous translators. For example, in the Hebrew translation of the Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, there have been four translators. Curiously, they have not always translated a concept or spelled a name or concept in the same way, which can be confusing to the reader. In product information material, especially over a series of similar products, it is vital to maintain consistency when referring to specific parts or processes. In general, in marketing, unless the company has decided to change the style, translators need to be aware of the material previously released to the public to render the introduction of new text seamless. The customer may insist that the translator follow previous translations, mistakes and all. Thus, it is important to know that such material exists and ascertain the level of consistency demanded by the customer.

Therefore, as in most services, professionals not only listen but ask questions. To provide a proper translation and meet expectations, translators must attain all the information they require to produce the required document. The failure to do so leads to wasted time, frustration and lost customers. The answer to the query in the title is “yes”.