Improving translation skills

In order to be a professional translator, it is not enough just to speak a foreign language. Most people think that the job of a translator is only to transform the text from one language to another. But in fact, this is far from the case. A professional translator has an analytical mind-set, deep knowledge of native speech, he is a culturally and spiritually educated person.

With the development of globalization, technological progress, the need for translations is growing. Since the translator must have certain skills and experience in order to make adequate translations, below I list criteria that a real translator should possess:

a)  The ability to read various languages. For an adequate translation, the translator must be able to read the texts, understand their essence, both in the original language and in the language of translation.

b)  Literacy of the letter, both in the original language and in the language of translation. A good translator must know various literary styles and norms, not only when translating, but also when editing text from one language to another. He / she must also correctly use punctuation in order to make the text easy to read and understand.

c)  Ability to use a bilingual dictionary. Using a bilingual dictionary is a skill that even the best translator must master. Sometimes, two identical words can have completely opposite meanings depending on the context, and the translator must be able to feel what meaning a particular word has in a given situation.

Speaking of mistakes in translations, it can be difficult to discern the nature of translation errors, since the most common way to identify errors is to compare the text of the translation with the text of the original. But this comparison is not always able to show why there was a discrepancy - whether the translator misunderstood the meaning of a character in the original text, or because he chose a sign in the target language that does not correspond to the concept. In other words, in the act of verbal communication, the translator can make mistakes both as the recipient of the original message, i.e., the listener, reader of the original text, and as the sender of the translated message. The reason for translation errors is, I’d assume, "insufficient education of the translator."

Here I would identify four types of translation errors, which are based on: 1) insufficient knowledge of the original language; 2) insufficient cognitive experience, i.e. lack of knowledge about the area of reality described in the source text; 3) inattentive attitude to the system of meanings contained in the text, i.e., misunderstanding of what the author says about the subject; 4) inability to distinguish features of the individual style of the author of the original speech product.

Errors at the stage of deciphering the meanings contained in the signs of the original message can affect all aspects of the text as a sign entity: pragmatic, semantic and syntactic. An incorrect interpretation of the pragmatic aspect of the original utterance may occur if the translator is faced with the so-called indirect speech acts, i.e., utterances whose external form hides the author’s true intentions to provoke a reaction from the recipient of the speech product. It is also possible in encounters with various allegories, “Aesopian language” and other forms of figurative speech. Phraseological turns, metaphors and other paths often fulfil a certain pragmatic function and also present difficulties for understanding. Semantic distortions are the most common type of translation errors at the hermeneutic stage. They can relate to both concepts, simple and complex, and the meanings of whole statements. At the same time, distortions are possible at the denotative level as well, when the translator incorrectly understands which class of objects corresponds to one or another concept.

To get rid of further mistakes every translator must go on intensively reading different translations of different kinds of texts, since translating requires active knowledge, while analysing and evaluating different translations requires passive knowledge. Therefore, receptive skills should be developed before the productive ones; i.e. by reinforcing their passive knowledge, translators will eventually improve their active knowledge. Receptive skills improve the translators language intuition and make them ready for actual translating.

To sum up, a good translator is someone who has a thorough knowledge of both source and target languages. Therefore, translators should read different genres in both source and target languages including modern literature, contemporary prose, newspapers, magazines, advertisements, announcements, instructions, etc. Being familiar with all these genres is important, since they implicitly transfer culture-specific aspects of a language. Specialized readings are also suggested: reading recently published articles and journals on theoretical and practical aspects of translation. The articles will not only improve the translators' reading skill in general, but also give them insights which will subconsciously be applied when actually translating.

Note: The picture for the article is copied from the site: https://gre2me.wixsite.com/blog/single-post/2016/02/25/Just-translate-this