What you need to know about a translation!

OK, you are told that you need your document to be translated by a certified translator. What now?

You check the yellow pages (now Google) and find one. Translator tells you that he can get the work done. What now?

He delivers the work, but what do you need to know in order to distinguish a good job from a poor one? Was his translation correct?

Just remember Lord Woodhouselee, properly known as Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747-1813) and his Essay on the Principles of Translation published in 1791. Please consider his three principles as guidelines when reviewing a translation:

1. A translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work;
2. The style and manner of writing should be of the same character as that of the original;
3. A translation should have all the ease of original composition.

Is this understandable? Not so much, lets put it in other words:

1. Translator must reflect the ideas of the original document, he must understand what he is translating.
2. Translator must understand the style and recreate it.
3. Translator must create a reflection of the original document.

Translator is there to translate (duh!), not modify the original document with new words and fill it with his ideas of what sounds better.

In other words, a translator is an artist that replicates the work of art painted by someone else, consider this before you approve of the translation you paid for.

I am a certified translator (english-spanish) in México, contact me I am glad to help my customers ([email protected]).

Thank you Language Realm for the information to write this brief suggestion.