Several colleagues who spend day after day, week after week toiling as editors- that is, correcting translations day after day, week after week– and I have gotten together and after much discussion, we have set down this list of guidelines and suggestions that we feel will be very useful for translators, especially the newer ones… or maybe not.

1. Dictionaries don’t bite. Especially ones online. Do us and do yourself a favor and use them. If you’re not sure of a word’s meaning, look it up! If you are sure, double-check it!

2. Follow the instructions. If the client (or whoever gave you the job) tells you to use certain words or a style that you don’t particularly like, do it anyway! The client is always right. And the boss… (That goes without saying)

3. We are sorry to report that the translator cannot choose the project’s topic, type of file, inclusion or deletion of tables, images, etc., so translate what’s in front of you, don’t turn in the project that you wish you had been given. If there are tables, translate them. If there are images, include them. And if they have text… (Figure it out?) Translate it!

4. There are expressions that you love. Understandable, we all do. It’s like your worn out jeans that fit just right and we keep using despite the holes and the fact that they’re falling apart… Well, when you are writing your autobiography, use these expressions as much as you like. But while you’re translating, please use the correct expression, and try not to use your favorites ad nauseam. (There are times when something is just “about,” not “regarding,” not “concerning,” etc.)

5. There are some writers who are “ugly” editors, we know. Sometimes the source text even comes with errors. The translator’s task is not to improve on the original, but rather to provide a good translation. Seems obvious, but not everyone gets it. Just to make sure we’re clear: what you should do is TRANSLATE, not make the source text prettier in its new language…

6. To err is human and to edit some errors is not divine. Please, reread what you write: make sure it doesn’t say the opposite of what the author said. Make sure commas are where they should be, if one is missing, if an s got skimmed over, if a preposition got left out, if the verb is in the wrong tense… Ah! For those who haven’t yet heard, Word has a little tool called “spell check.” Use it! Although it doesn’t work miracles, it always helps.

7. To wrap things up, a small piece of advice. We know that it’s hard to do this while simultaneously doing all the other things that have to be done while working: checking email, chatting, texting, talking on the phone, keeping an eye on the TV (don’t deny it…). But please, pay attention to what you’re reading (and translating).

8. And last but not least: THINK. Use that wonderful thing known as a brain. And when all else fails (dictionaries, forums, glossaries, more clear-headed colleagues..) and you feel that there’s nothing you can do, that you’re on the edge of a breakdown, that you can’t go on another minute, please, for your sake and ours: QUIT! Quit using the computer, quit translating, QUIT!

Well, quit working for a while: go outside, have some tea, clear your mind and come back later.  And although this advice is valid, please don’t take the comments too seriously…

No matter how beautiful your translation, there are certain errors, most often made by someone just starting out in the trade, that will peg your work as “rookie level.” Most of us are guilty of one or more of these seemingly innocent, yet disastrous mistakes. This article will hopefully point out a few of these

Literal translations– This is something that people just learning the source language are more prone to, but even the most seasoned translators can be guilty of this. One sample translation of a comic strip that I saw translated the English greeting “What’s up” as “¿Qué está arriba?” Don’t do this.

Changing the format– Don’t change the font color, don’t combine paragraphs and try to make your tables and images as similar to the originals as possible.

Accepting a job you are not prepared for– It can be tempting to take any project that crosses your path when you are just starting out in the translation field and hungry for work, but when the client complains that all the legal, medical or engineering terms are wrong, you’ll see why this is not a good idea.

As we’ve talked about in previous posts, while it is possible to drag out the old typewriter and our trusty Simon & Schuster’s and put a translation down on legal paper, we live in the twenty-first century and these days we have: a) a computer, b) a fairly high-speed internet connection, and c) one or more computer translation programs (not essential, but very valuable): a CAT tool like Trados, for example.
Furthermore, we keep our trusty dictionaries on hand (that is, in our computer bookmarks and favorites) a bilingual one, a monolingual one in the source language to check definitions, a monolingual one in our native language to make sure the term we chose is correct, and finally some specialized dictionaries for the particular text:  medical, technical, legal, etc. For the most specific texts, we can check a glossary, bilingual if possible. Maybe the client has sent a “memory” or glossary which may serve as reference or simply tell how the client prefers certain terms are translated.
Ok, now we are ready. What steps do we take?
The first thing to do is read the text. A lot of translation professors recommended reading the entire text before starting the translation. While useful, this is not always easy when we’ve got a tight deadline (as we almost always do…). But it is useful to skim the first few paragraphs to see what we are dealing with, be it a technical manual for some machine, a lease or a love letter… We don’t translate each word by itself, which means that going over the original will let us see what the general topic is and help us keep the proper vocabulary (and style) in mind.
But then halfway through the project comes the big conundrum: what to do with a “problem” word or phrase, something we can’t find in a dictionary, in the glossaries… We’ve mentioned “Googling” words before, and while it’s not a definitive resource, it can help us find out if the word at least exists, is used somewhere, the phrase is correct, etc.
Finally, it is ideal if we can consult a specialist in the field or expert on the topic we are translating (a doctor, engineer, computer tech, etc.), but this is usually a luxury due to the difficulty in getting in touch with the person you need while facing time constraints.
My advice, and what I’ve learned from my personal experience, is to consult a colleague: a different perspective can’t hurt and teamwork can be an excellent idea. Another translator can “help us think,” give us an option we hadn’t thought of or corroborate something we hadn’t been able to verify any other way.
If we also have the good fortune to have a colleague who is a native speaker of the source language in our corner, then this is an added bonus. But this is only if we’re lucky enough to have them.