TECHNIQUES FOR TRANSLATION

PREPARED BY TAMMY MORALES

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?

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.

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

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.

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?

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.

GOOD WORK HABITS:

-DO NOT TRANSLATE MORE THAN EIGHT HOURS PER DAY.

-TAKE A FEW SHORT TEN TO FIFTEEN MINUTES BREAKS.

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

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