Professional Translations and Reviews
Professional Translation Services – Professional Translations and Reviews
Professional document translation consists of a 3-step process that includes different levels of review: Editing/Proofreading and Final Review/Certification. In the following, we are taking a look at why it is crucial to allow for time to perform revisions, corrections, and improvements as needed in every single document translation project.
Let’s begin with the obvious: While professional translators have excellent writings skills and will always do their best to avoid typos, grammatical and punctuation errors, another set of eyes focusing on these type of issues will ensure that not even the slightest detail is overlooked—just as every professional report, business letter, or article in any other industry is read and reviewed several times before it goes to print or to the client.
Since document translations are based on other (source) documents, an important part of this initial review also consists in checking for completeness and making sure that the layout of the target material matches the source materials and/or the client’s requirements.
Then there is the stylistic and terminological aspect. The professional reviewer needs to double-check vocabulary and terminology, especially in document translations of highly technical nature. While the writing style is to a certain extent a subjective affair—we all have different ways to express ideas—it must be ensured that the style employed is right for the target audience of the respective document translation project. Flow and readability are other crucial factors and part of the job description of the professional document translator serving as editor.
Sometimes document translations come back with notes from in-house reviewers of the client. When going over the notes, it is vital to distinguish where the suggested change is a stylistic preference—it may be part of the company lingo, which the professional translator is not necessarily aware of, unless a specific glossary has been provided. The document translator going over the review notes also needs to clarify where the client-revised text departs from the source and make the client aware of the fact. While a company’s foreign branch may have the freedom to recreate the material, the translator does not—once the revisions go beyond stylistic changes, professional translators are bound by their duty to truthfully render the original and are not authorized to add anything or leave anything out.
Document translators, editors, and proofreaders serving professional document translation services companies such as Legal Translation Solutions and its parent company, ASTA-USA Translation Services, are well-versed and experienced in performing the different levels of review and communicating to the client—by way of translator’s notes—any issues and questions that may come up with regard to style and terminology.
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Languages and Cultural Background
Professional Translation Services – Languages and Cultural Background
By: L. Amado – 2/07/2010
The raw materials, so-to-speak, of the professional translator serving professional document translation services companies are languages. Languages are social creations and thus inseparable from their cultural context. In order to produce high quality, accurate document translations, professional translators need to have an in-depth understanding of source and target cultures.
The study of languages is fascinating and teaches us a great deal about the people who speak them. Languages are many things but, at the end of the day, their primary role is to provide us with a tool for communication. One of their main functions consists in facilitating the mutual understanding of people living in same region.
In some societies, this “utilitarian” role of language is particularly pronounced due to historic circumstances. This is the case of languages such as English in the United States or Spanish and Portuguese in Latin American countries. The fact that English has become the de facto official language of the United States can be considered a historical and geographical accident. The same is true of Latin American countries in relation to Spanish or Portuguese. Interestingly, the United States never actually declared English (or any other language, for that matter!) as its official language.
English did not evolve as a native language in what is now the United States as it did in England. It was “imported” by English settlers, as were many other European languages along with different communities of settlers such as the French, Spanish and Dutch. Of course it has since then developed in its own ways, which is why British and American English differ in vocabulary and even—to a certain extent—in grammar. The difference in European and Latin American Spanish and Portuguese is even greater, and translation projects in these languages need thus to be handled in accordance with their specific (European or Latin American) source or target markets.
It is interesting to note that the flood of Italian immigrants to Argentina that took place in the beginning and toward the end of the 19th century may have turned the country into an Italian-speaking nation. To this day, most Argentineans speak Spanish with a very distinct Italian rhythm.
In other countries, besides its obvious use as a tool for communication, the native language has traditionally a more complex role. In countries such as France and certain regions of Spain, for example, languages have always served as a defining element of the national culture. For the French and the Catalonian and Galician in Spain, the language shapes the culture just as much as the culture expresses itself in the language, and they take measures to protect this national treasure—the latest language protection law in France only dates back a little more than a decade. Professional translators working in these languages need to be particularly sensitive to subtleties of tone and expression. Finding the right vocabulary and phrasing are crucial.
Whichever their language pair(s) may be, professional translators serving professional document translation services companies such as Legal Translation Solutions, and its parent company, ASTA-USA Translation Services understand that it is impossible to assure high quality, accurate professional translations without taking into account and understanding the cultural background of both the source and target language(s).
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Text Expansion and Contraction in Document Translation
Professional Translation Services – Text Expansion and Contraction in Document Translations
By: L. Amado 02/03/2010
One interesting and seldom discussed aspect of professional translations is the fact that the length of a text in one source language will typically expand or contract when translated to certain target languages. When translating documents from one language to another the content will typically change in length as measured by the number of words. This variation is known as text expansion and text contraction.
When translating documents text expansion and contraction is not a constant ratio… It varies according to the languages involved in the translation of written content. For instance, an English document professionally translated into Spanish can be as much as 25 – 30% longer (a case of text expansion). Conversely, a Spanish document professionally translated into English will, on average, be around 10 – 15% shorter (a case of text contraction). Texts in other European languages may similarly be affected. On the other hand, documents translated in Asian languages tend to be shorter than the English source content.
Text expands and contracts for different reasons. The structure and rules of a language – aspects such as grammar, syntax, terminology, and sentence structure – all play a part in this outcome. The English language is generally more concise and to the point than Romance languages. Subject matter is also a factor in text expansion and contraction in professional document translations. Formal text covering technical, legal and academic subjects tends to be more affected than informal text, such as letters or personal papers.
In the professional translation services industry there are several reasons why it is very useful to know how much texts will expand or contract. Some professional translation services providers calculate costs based on the target language word count, that is to say, the number of words in the finished translation. Some others calculate costs based on the source language word count, that is to say, the number of words in the document to be translated.
Text expansion and contraction is also a major issue when dealing with software localization, web page design, desktop publishing (DTP) and artwork design. In the case of software localization, before the actual professional translation takes place, software developers typically perform what is known as “mock translation”, replacing text lines in the source language with strings of letters, taking into account the average text expansion and contraction ratios. The aim is to make sure that the extra length of the professionally translated text does not affect functionality or the way the text is displayed.
Likewise, in the case of web page design, DTP and artwork, designers need to know if the translated text will fit into an existing webpage or artwork file. Text expansion and contraction will be a major factor to determine the required font size, how much room is needed, the number of pages, amount of block space and so on.
Professional translation services companies such as ASTA-USA Translation Services (www.asta-usa.com) and its legal division Legal Translation Solutions (www.legaltranslationsolutions.com) can help its clientele deal with text expansion and contraction and other issues affecting professional translations.
