Best Practices for Translation

Translation is the process of rewriting text from one language to another language, without changing the meaning of the original text. Translation helps people from different communities speaking different languages to exchange information.

In the ancient times, translation was essential for commerce between different countries. Translation also helped in scientific development and exchange of religious philosophies among different countries and people.

The translation process can be divided in to four steps as listed below: Interpreting the original document: The translator reads, analyzes, and understands the exact idea conveyed in the document by the original author that needs to be translated. Developing a rough document: The translator generates a rough document using the knowledge gained in the first step. Developing the translated document: The translator then refines the rough document to a finer document using additional resources, such as dictionary and the Internet. This is a crucial step where the translator needs to carefully consider the cultural differences associated with both the languages. This is because the audience of the translated text may not understand the literary references, idioms, and phrases used in the original text. For example, if the original text refers to Arjuna in context of bravery, a westerner reading the translated document might not understand the relevance of this reference. It would be a good idea to replace Arjuna’s name with Achilles. Reviewing the translated document: The final step in the translation process is to examine the work done. In this step, the translator: Checks the vocabulary. Checks the punctuation marks. Checks the spelling of words. Checks the grammar. Checks the idioms used. Checks the names and culture specific words.

After reviewing the document, the translator can also send the document to another translator for a peer review. Performing all the above steps in a dexterous way produces a document that conveys the intended meaning of the original text and also addresses the cultural identity of the target audience.

There are many software tools available that can assist a translator in the translation process. However, the tools most often only provide literal translation of the words given in the original sentence. Often, the intended meaning and context of the original text is lost during this literal translation. As on date, only a human translator is not bound by such limitations and is capable of producing high quality translated documents that can be read, understood, and enjoyed by varied audience across the world.