Why Do You Need Professional Translator?

If you ever had some certificates or professional paperwork that needed to be translated from one language to English you might know it is not easy to find professional can master and execute the order. This is especially difficult if the language is not common, because even though you might find interpreter to explain the document or speak on your behalf -the fact is that interpreter job skills are different from translators who are masters and proofreading the material and find the equivalent expression or sometimes being able to communicate the sense of humor which might be hardest to conquer as professional translator.

Besides have you ever used Google translation software and realized that the results are far from what a native speaker would say? A professional translator will not use Google but might have a specialized translator software to ensure the quality and quantity will be in the level of excellence the client is looking for.

The Translators Need To Speak, Read and Write and Be Able To Express

Translation of an expression can cause business loss of millions of dollars- if you don’t believe just search Pepsi, KFC or Ford international campaigns. Each of them had their slogans misinterpreted while translating their campaigns outside the USA and the outcome was bad publicity and failure of their promotional campaign which caused a large monetary loss and probably many sleepless nights for the managers to regroup and focus to ensure the unpleasing outcome could be corrected. The similarity between all of the ill-favored campaigns was that the choice of the words for the slogans in these campaigns was too literal and was misunderstood in each case. The translator should be a master of words who can see when the literal use of words is needed and when another expression in the host country language would be more appropriate.

Translators Have Multiple Expertise

Similar to any other professions translators have multiple expertise. Some are excellent at literary translators, where others are experts at translating manuals or software user interface and so on. When choosing an interpreter or translator the client should discuss the nature of the text, volume or quantity of the job as well as the question of whether the translator has prior experience from similar projects. This will ensure that the final product will be what the client is paying for.

Speaking the Language Doesn’t Mean You Can Translate

It is a known fact that across the borders people speak English, however, it does not mean all these people can translate. It is difficult to translate the meaning of the text to English if the translator is not able to grasp the entire idea of the paragraph or chapter but rushes to explain the meaning directly as he or she reads the words. Have you ever read your favorite book both in your native language and English?

You might find it odd in time to time how different feeling the book or movie has when it is translated. This can be an extremely difficult task especially when the puns and humor are tied into the language and their dialects -and there is also the cultural difference that has to be able to mirror into English. For example, in 1954 Vaino Linna wrote a war novel called Tuntematon sotilas or The Unknown Soldier which is considered Finland’s national legacy. However, most of the puns and sense of humor in the book lies in the original book in the different dialects of the soldiers and understanding such culture and thus the translator cannot truly get the image and needed puns in the translation.

Translating For Movies

If you thought translators had a hard time already by now- let me shed a little more light for the life of a translator. If you are specialized to translate for the movie subtitles – you cannot just listen or watch the movie and write everything they said down and those words would all appear on the big screen. Similarly that the client gives time constraints when the work has to be submitted, each country has its restriction on how long the subtitles can be, the type of words that are best suited for the audience wise (easy to recognizable words)- not to mention the special need audience such as deaf.

From A to Z

Translation professional services might not only need punctuality, proofreading skills and the ability for project management. Sometimes it takes the ability to understand and translate from totally different alphabetical system to another. An expert Chinese speaker and translator might say that most people translating forget how few words you might need to express something that an English speaker uses many sentences for. To be fair Cantonese, Russian, Korean and Japanese are in the top list when speaking hardest languages to learn but translating from any of these languages to English can be an even tougher challenge due to the fact there is no connection to Latin or Germanic languages.