2. BEFORE TRASLATING A DOCUMENT, ASK YOURSELF THE
PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS:
1-IS THE TEXT LEGIBLE?
2-AM I FAMILIAR WITH THE SUBJECT MATTER?
3-DO I HAVE THE LINGUISTIC RESOURCES TO DEFINE
UNFAMILIAR WORDS? (DICTIONARIES, PEOPLE)
4-IS THE TEXT COMPLETE?
5-CAN I DO IT WITHIN THE TIMEFRAME?
6-DO I HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR DOING IT?
3. EFFECTIVE APPOACHES
THE FIRST MATTER A TRANSLATOR MUST DEAL WITH IS
THE EQUIPMENT.
A-WORD PROCESSING ALLOWS A GREAT FLEXIBILITY IN
PRODUCING A TEXT
B-COMPUTERS ALLOW THE TEXT TO BE STORED ON A
DISK AND MODIFIED LATER ON.
C-CLIENTS ARE GETTING USED TO ASK FOR
TRANSLATION ON A DISK FOR THEM TO EDIT IT.
D-IF THERE ARE TWO TRANSLATORS INVOLVED IN A
PROJECT, THEIR TEXTS CAN BE ENTERED BY AN EDITOR
TO BE EQUILIZED.
4. ANOTHER APPROACH IS:
AM I QUALIFIED TO DO A PARTICULAR TRANSLATION?
FEEL CONFIDENT ABOUT A PARTICULAR ASSIGNMENT IF
THE RESULTS ARE TO BE SATISFACTORY.
DO AN ASSESSMENT OF THE FOLLOWING POINTS:
-TIME AVAILABILITY
-REFERENCE TOOLS (BOOKS, DICTIONARIES)
-PRELIMINARY STEPS NEEDED PRIOR THE TRANSLATION
-PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE DOCUMENT: DIFFICULT
HANDWRITING
-DIFFERENT LANGUAGE INCLUDED IN THE TEXT
5. PRELIMINARY STEPS
-CONSULTATION WITH AN EXPERT IN A SPECIALIZED
TECHNICAL FIELD REGARDING A DIFFICULT TERM, WHICH
IS UNFAMILIAR TO THE TRANSLATOR.
-A TRIP TO A LIBRARY TO DO A RESEARCH ON THE
SUBJECT.
6. TEXT WRITTEN IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE
THERE MAY BE PARTS OF THE TEXT WRITTEN IN A
DIFFERENT LANGUAGE.
THIS CAN OCCUR IN COMMERCIAL, SCIENTIFIC AND
SCHOLARLY DOCUMENTS.
BEFORE STARTING THE TRANSLATION ASK YOURSELF:
-DOES THE TEXT NEED TO BE TRANSLATED?
-CAN THE TRANSLATOR HANDLE IT?
-IS IT NECESSARY TO ASSIGN IT TO ANOTHER
TRANSLATOR?
7. SPECIALIZED TERMINOLOGY IN A TEXT
ONE SHOULD FIRST:
-GO THROUGH THE DOCUMENT
-LIST THE UNKNOWN TERMS
-LOOK THEM UP
- MAKE A WORD LIST
FIRST BY MASTERING THE DIFFICULT
TERMINOLOGY, ONE GAINS A BETTER
UNDERSTANDING OF THE SUBJECT.
GET USED TO MAKE A LIST OF TERMINOLOGIES AND
KEEP THEM IN A COMPUTER DATABASE.
8. GOOD WORK HABITS:
-DO NOT TRANSLATE MORE THAN EIGHT HOURS PER
DAY.
-TAKE A FEW SHORT TEN TO FIFTEEN MINUTES BREAKS.
9. BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR TRANSLATION YOU
SHOULD GO OVER IT AGAIN, USING THE FOLLOWING
CHECKLIST:
-OMISSIONS (WORD, PHRASE OF PARAGRAPH)
-FORMAT (FOLLOW THE ORIGINAL ONE)
-MISTRANSLATION (WORD)
-UNKNOWN WORDS
-MEANING (FIND OUT IF YOU MISSED THE MEANING
OF A SENTENCE.
-SPELLING
-GRAMMAR
-PUNCTUATION
-CLARITY
10. YOUR COMPUTER IS YOUR BEST FRIEND WHEN IT
COMES TO TRANSLATING, EDITING, AND PRODUCING
A FINAL COPY.
LEARN HOW TO DO COLUMNS AND TABLES
USE THE SPELLING CHECKER
SPEED AND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY ARE THE MOST
IMORTANT ASPECTS IN TRANSLATION.
THANK YOU
