5 Common Mistakes Beginner Translators Make

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-Your Translation
Partner
Common Mistakes Beginner
Translators Make
5

2. Translation
 Translat ion is a ski l l acqui red by pract ice
 Overal l development of t ranslat ion ski l ls can be achieved through on-the-job
training, though t ranslat ion cer t i f icat ion courses do help
 A Translator must be wel l versed wi th syntax, phraseology, etymology to
del iver t ranslat ion fai thful to the or iginal text and yet sound f luent
 The Speed and Accuracy rat io can only be bet tered wi th experience
 Translat ion requi res sensi t ivi ty to minute di f ferences in word usage
which is acqui red through cl ient - facing exposure and feedback modules
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3. 1] Translating Word-For-Word
 Beginner Translators f ind i t easy to t ranslate word - for -word
 Word- for -word t ranslat ion causes the output to lose i ts syntax
 Syntact ic rules are not universal for al l languages
 Use of dict ionary aids in understanding the sui tabi l i ty of words for var ious
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contexts
 Of ten word-for-word t ranslat ion tends to give a garbled output
 I t is ext remely necessary for a t ranslator to f i rst interpret the meaning of
the content and then t ranslate
 I t becomes easier for a t ranslator to repl icate style of the content for wel l
interpreted documents
 I t is most advisable to have documents proof read by nat ive bi l ingual
exper ts for developmental feedback and improvisat ion

4. 2] Over Doing Translation – Lack Of Objectivity
 Beginner Translators tend to over express themselves through thei r ini t ial
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t ranslat ions
 In the Process of adding ext ra value, the t ranslated text loses i ts object ivi ty
 Technical terms may di ffer in meaning i f over expressed in process of
t ranslat ion
 Beginner t ranslators fai l to real ize that most people prefer cr isp ( to - the-point
) t ranslat ion
 Purpose of the document to be edi ted should be ident i f ied before
t ranslat ing
 Documents (Manuscr ipts) meant for publ icat ion have a set of rules that
should be fol lowed
 Technical Checkl ists play an impor tant role and are not very popular among
novice t ranslators

5. 3] Wrongly Translating Words of Cultural Derivation
 Every t ranslator must be able to ident i fy words of rel igious and cul tural
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der ivat ions
 Assuming synonyms is a general tendency when a t ranslator is cul tural ly
unaware of the language
 Translators of ten f ind themselves in di lemma wi th regards to l inguist ic
gender of words and thei r usage which var ies across languages
 Per fect Translat ion involves research capabi l i t ies as one of the major ski l ls

6. 4] Poor Client Engagement
 Novice Translators tend to let go regular interact ion wi th the cl ient dur ing
the t ranslat ion process
 Understanding the cl ients requi rements is just 1 par t of the communicat ion
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cycle
 There is immense scope for assumpt ion and mist ranslat ion i f clar i f icat ions
are not made dur ing t ranslat ion
 Exper ience teaches t ranslators of how inter im reviews and feedbacks
ensure higher level of cl ient sat isfact ion

7. 5] Neglecting The Writing Style Of The Document
 Novice Translators of ten emphasize on mere t ranslat ion
 These t ranslators fai l to note the genre and style of the or iginal content
 Vocabulary takes di fferent forms in di fferent types of documents which
needs to be clear ly understood before t ranslat ion
 A beginner t ranslator may f ind i t di ff icul t to t ranslate a legal document
unless he is able to ident i fy and maintain the style in the target language
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