subject: Problems When Doing Translation Jobs [print this page] Translating is what translators doTranslating is what translators do. A translator is a business person, and must attend to all the other matters that we are looking into in this article series. For now though, we will look very closely at a canonical translation job, dissecting it for all we can find, and perhaps even coming up with some problems or issues that veteran translators can learn from.
Firstly, you have to do when you get a job, be it by fax, overnight mail, or email, is confirm that it was you expected it to be. Make sure youve got what they said you should have. Once you are certain of the material, you should make sure that you can translate it. This means not only that you have the requisite knowledge and resources to deal with the material, but also that you can complete it within the allotted time. There is nothing agencies hate more than not getting work when they are supposed to get it.
Sometimes the agency wont be able to tell you how long the material is. Remember that just because they send you a job in Chinese doesnt mean that anyone there actually reads the language. If they cant give you an estimate, tell them that you need to see all of the material before you will agree to a time frame. If they don't yet have all of the material, and this can happen when they are awaiting arrival of the rest of a document from their client, then inform them firmly but politely that any estimate you give now will be subject to revision, possibly considerable revision. Agencies realize this, or will accept it once you tell them, and so will be happy to await an accurate estimate from you.
Since we all work on computers, a hard disk crash, CPU failure, disk drive failure, virus attack, and even having the computer stolen are facts of life. So back up everything you do every day. If worse comes to worse, send them the disk and let them deal with it.
The other major problems that afflict translators involve the original text. Such difficulties include terminology, the printed quality of the original, idioms and dialect, neologisms, and the quality of the writing in the original.
Terminological problems are to be resolved by looking in a dictionary. But if you work in a very technical field, or if you work with new material, youll find that youre encountering words and phrases which have not yet been created in your target language. Discussing how to handle this with your client is your best approach. They may give you carte blanche to create your own words and then let their editors repair any linguistic damage youve wrought. Or they may give you a glossary to work from.
The printed quality of the original is mostly an issue when the source text is in a language such as Chinese or Japanese, but this is always haunting translators because of that boon and bane of their existence: the fax machine.
Translators are well within their rights to demand a clean, crisp, coherent copy of the source text. But even so, clean copy does not guarantee that the handwriting is legible. Struggle along as best you can, show it to friends and see if they can help, and try to talk to the person who wrote it. If all of this fails, the agency usually quite understands about any illegible portions of the text. Just be sure to tell them about it and ask them how they want you to annotate any illegible areas in your translation.
Aunes Oversettelser AS has been in the business for 26 years, and we are specialized in technical translations. We are specializing in the Nordic languages, and can offer services into Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Icelandic. The premier translation agency for Norway and the Nordic region! Technical translation services for businesses in the Nordic countries and translation agencies world-wide.
