What Makes a Good Translation?

There’s of course no complete remedy as to what can make a “very good” or “undesirable” translation. In some sense, a fantastic translation is just one that can be performed to the out there finances while fulfilling its objective.

Even so, there are instances when text good quality is the prevailing factor: a very well composed, conveniently comprehensible text will help you save your colleagues time and go away your clientele and company companions with a optimistic perception. Right here are some things that I suggest seeking out for when analyzing the high quality of a text that has been translated into English. They are the forms of conditions that a fantastic translator ought to be considering when translating your textual content, and emphasize some of the problems routinely encountered in mediocre translations. Some of these points will of study course utilize extra commonly to translations concerning various languages:

– Does the translation overuse official or scientific-sounding vocabulary? The words and phrases that in English audio extremely scientific may possibly generally be immediate translations of phrases in other languages that are plainer sounding. For example, is the phrase “anomaly” applied when “fault” would sound more normal? Does the translation point out a “pulmonary sickness” when “lung ailment” would sound a lot more all-natural to a normal audience? These are common symptoms of a translation from a language these kinds of as French or Spanish, where by the ‘Latinate’ word is a the natural way derived, regular-sounding phrase in these languages, but in English will become a scientific expression suited only for remarkably specialist audiences.

– Does the translation use terms that are comprehensible, but not really ‘le mot juste’? Does the textual content communicate about “social insertion” when “social integration” would seem far more pure? Does it speak about “eventual complications” instead of “opportunity troubles”? Or a person’s “administrative situation” when “administrative position” would additional standard?

– Are adjectives or descriptive phrases applied where by English would additional naturally use a compound? For example, English lets a phrase such as “remotely-available gadget”, whilst other languages may possibly have to use a phrase that basically means “product that is obtainable remotely” or “unit that permits remote obtain”.

– In the same way, are phrases with “of” or “for” over-utilised the place English would use a compound. Above-use of phrases such as “technique of/for profits” fairly than “gross sales method” are common signals of a translation from different languages.

– Are determiners (“the”, “a”, “your”…) made use of as they would be in idiomatic English? Phrases these kinds of as “saw an improved productiveness” somewhat than only “saw increased productiveness” counsel an extremely literal translation. Far more subtly, a phrase these as “the conditions and the ailments”, “the towns and the metropolitan areas” instead than “the terms and circumstances”, “the cities and metropolitan areas” indicates a translation from a which does not generally allow two nouns to share the exact same term for “the” (this sort of as French), whilst repeating the word “the” is unnatural in English.

– Does the translation use a narrative fashion and rhetoric that seems normal in English? We’ve all seen French museum symptoms telling us, for case in point, that “the king will die in 1483”. Far more refined signals of a translation include the about-use rhetorical issues (which, for instance, seem a lot more frequent in Spanish than English, in which they can make your textual content audio overly childish). In a translation into English, conclusions will have to also be built about, say, the use of contractions (“you should not”, “can’t” vs “do not”, “can not”) or preposition stranding (“Who… to?” vs “To who(m)…?”) which may possibly not have been issues in the resource language. Does the fashion adopted convey the impression that you want to give to your audience?

In the end, the translated textual content must preferably seem as though it was the first, penned to express your concept with the type and readability you meant.