Lingua Translations

Most of people who make this type of general comment are really unaware of the hardship inherent in translating for movies or text. The translator who deals with the subtitling of a movie has to work within the time frame of the scene.

Because most of the people think of the process of translation as a mere exchange of words from one source language to another target language, it is actually common for us to hear comments that generally devalue our hard work. Were translation is really such an easy work, it would have been replaced in the present time by computer software long ago, rather than truly remaining the often extremely difficult intellectual work it actually is.

The main upshot of this common attitude, which we can dub general, is the notion that translation is an undemanding work. Translating task is presumed to be easy as common people imagine it greatly involves little more than an automatic and mechanical process, matching word for word the contents of the original. By perceiving it as childâ??s play, customers often budget low costs for related work. It is common for large companies and general people to be astonished with the prices actually fixed by the translation companies, and the customer are unprepared to pay the total sums that a project actually demands.

Just imagine what an incorrect translation of safety would mean to a technician whose job is to maintain a large machine. Getting technical translation right is not as easy as it may seem. There can be quite number of significant differences in English terminology between seemingly similar fields. In a technical translation, a technical translator must not only possess an excellent command of both the source and target languages, but also an in-depth understanding of the subject matter, its terminology and right way of expressing in a catchy and simple language.

A key to a best technical translation is the consistent use of correct terminology. It plays the role to promote consistency and accuracy in the technical translation. A Technical translator should be much familiar with technical jargon in both languages. A major part of technical translation is technical writing or a good technical translation requires good technical writing. The main challenge a technical translator face during technical translation is that documents are often written with different stylistic conventions in different languages in a given industry or the standard market prevailing in that region. Technical translation is not like translating literature. There are no cultural cues to preserve and no great literary techniques to convert into specific rules. What needs to be preserved is the technical content of the document in the right manner.

If a person or company wants a technical report of some 600 pages translated in two days for use at an important international meeting, the translator will have to discuss this problem with the person concerned and offer suggestions on what is really required, since it probably will not be possible to make a full translation within the short time available. The price for the translation might also be discussed, since work at night or over the weekend could also be necessary

If the translator cannot produce the best possible full translation within the time available, then an “optimal” solution should be agreed upon.

Such translations could fall into one of the following categories:

- “a translation that provides what is necessary for the stated purpose”

- “as good as possible in view of the customer’s requirements”.

In the case of the 600 page technical report mentioned above, the “ideal” translation might consist of faithful adherence to the source text, which would involve full reproduction of the detailed report. On the other hand, providing the persons attending an international meeting with 600 pages of typescript is certainly not the best way of communicating the contents of the report to them. Due to the obvious time limitations, a summary could be proposed as an alternative. This could have the additional advantage in that key bullet points raised for discussion in the international meeting would be more easily accessible in a summary.