Why Translations Should be Done by a Native Speaker
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Translation Should be done by a Native Speaker
If you are reading this, and you live either in Quebec, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany or Austria, or if you live in the United States, Canada, Britain, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand and do business with the above countries, then chances are good that at some point you have needed, or will need, a professional translator.
Now the problem here is, given that you are probably not yourself a professional translator, that you need some kind of way to evaluate the work of a translator you might hire.
How do you do this?
Use a Native Speaker
A crucial determinant of whether or not to use a translator is to ask the question:
"Is the native language of the translator I want to hire the same as the language INTO WHICH the text will be translated?"
Think of it this way. If you hire someone to simply WRITE a text, would you hire a non-native speaker to do it?
Translation involves writing a final text. If the translator is constructing a final text, then if he or she does not speak that language at a native level, then you are taking a risk.
Especially True if You are Not a Native Speaker
If you are not a native speaker of the final language of the final translation, then it is particularly important that your translator be someone who speaks the final language of the conversion process as a native tongue.
This is because, if you do not know the language of the final translated text to a native level, then you really will not be able to notice small but important defects in the translation. BUT YOUR CUSTOMERS WILL.
The Translator Should Speak the Same Language as Your Customers
Customers know when there are mistakes in your text. Similarly, people reading your CV will notice errors in a translated CV if they are native speakers of that language.
If you are not a native speaker of the final text of the translation, then you will not be able to judge how your customers view that text.
As a result it is crucial you use a native speaking translator, who can read his or her own text, after it is in its final form, and judge whether it sounds appropriate for a native audience.
Translation from German to English and from French to English
As a native speaker of English, I only translate from German to English or from French to English.
As a result, I can always tell when my own translation needs changing or editing.
Although I function well in both French and in German, and have lived (and currently live) in places where one or more of either French or German is spoken as a (or the) dominant language, I never translate from English to German, or from English to French (or from French to German or from German to French).
Translation Service for Translation from German to English or Translation from French to English
If you are in the market for a translator who can translate from German to English or from French to English, then you can contact me at ProfessionalTranslatorService@gmail.com
I have a multitude of references you can contact beforehand. I am professional, and reliable.
Remember, before you hire a translator, ask this question:
Is the final language of the text to be translated the same as the native language of the translator doing the translation?
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Nice hub ! Thanks for sharing :)
Sometimes it helps to keep the little wrinkles in the translation. For example, wine labels are often quite endearing if the translation is a bit off. However, this is not true of technical instructions, or business documents!
Totally agree, especially in my field of medical translation.
I have recently been doing (fairly simple) medical translations for McGill University Hospital Corporation in Montreal. What languages do you deal in; I mean, English and what (or Welsh, maybe?)
Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian, Polish, French, German, Spanish into English. However, I keep exclusively to medical/regulatory pharma areas, which is where I have education/experience. I don't actually have any formal linguistic qualifications, but have kept clients happy as a fulltime freelance for 6 years now, so must be doing something OK.
I'm from Brazil, but I lived two thirds of my life in the US where I received my education, including a MS in chemistry. I feel much more comfortable writing (and even speaking) in English than in Portuguese, even though I moved here when I was already 24 years old! So I think the idea of having to be a native speaker in order to be a professional translator in that language might be a little stretched. I think that the most important ingredient is to have vocation, a true love of the language and a desire to constantly improve.
Now that I have lots of free time in my hands, I am seriously considering becoming a technical translator and interpreter, but I have wondered if the market isn’t already saturated. Actually, I would love to receive some advice and guidance from successful translators, but I’m afraid that won’t happen, since most professionals might consider me as competition. Would there be anyone out there who thinks otherwise and wouldn’t mind giving me some guidance on how to start. Obviously, I have lots to catch up on.
The standard in the industry is that you should be a native speaker, but people in your case are usually exceptions... it depends on the person.
The market is probably not saturated for Brazilian Portuguese; I would check out Proz.com
Adsense, thank you for kindly replying to my hub posted earlier. I do have another question (kind of a delicate one), how much money (in the average)do full-time freelance translators can really expect to make in their first year of work and what would be the top limit in later years? Thanks!
Maurice, Adsensestrategies, if I can butt in to the discussion... It very much depends on your specialist knowledge and market demand. In my first year as a full time freelance, I made more than in the employment I left. Since then, I have increased my earnings as I got faster at translating and built up my translation memories (using TM software). I am lucky, there is a big demand for medical translators in my languages. I think you would also have an advantage with your chemistry qualifications. I agree that Proz is a very good site to explore. I got the majority of my clients through there, and once you get clients they tend to come back if you do a good job.
nightcats 3 years ago
I think you are exactly correct. The translator should also be familiar with the culture. Pop jargon and slang may be appropriate for one demographic but completely out of place with another. I guess you covered this in your subsection on The Translator Should Speak the Same Language as Your Customers.