Numerous languages are spoken and written on our planet and each of these also has many varieties or dialects. They add up to a truly mind-boggling number! Working as a language translator or setting up a language translation agency with all this in mind can be a very challenging mission. The challenges would come in many forms, and one of them would be the misconceptions that translation buyers have about the language translation process. These beliefs can be a major obstacle in the progress of translators and translation agencies. It is important for everyone in the translation business to educate clients on the fallacy of prevailing myths. Some of the most popular and enduring myths are:
The superiority of native translators. The most enduring and widespread misconception and probably the most frustrating and damaging. Many clients simply assume that a native of a specific country would be the best translator for their language. But this is far from the truth. Being a native does not automatically give a person the ability to translate the language well. As an example, the entire population of China might be made up of native Mandarin speakers, but how many of them would be qualified enough to make a linguistically correct translation? Native translators may get off to a good start, but quality translation comes from disciplined practice and study.
The versatility of translators. This is another popular myth that refuses to die. Many language translation buyers believe that translators can work on all types of content written in the language of their expertise. The reality is that a good translator is generally a specialist in specific areas. Someone who can do an excellent translation of literary works cannot be expected to obtain quality results in the translation of scientific or commercial content. That’s good because translation, being a complex process, helps a translator work within well-defined boundaries, which helps them stay current. The corollary… beware of translators who claim to translate all kinds of content.
Translating from language A to language B is the same as translating from language B to language A. Well, at most, this statement may be partially true. There may be some exceptional translators who could do the above, but most translators can only give excellent results in their main language. For example, an English-German language translation expert, whose primary language is German, cannot be expected to deliver quality results on German-English translations.
The best translators are usually associated with certified or professional organizations. The truth is that there are numerous excellent translators around the world who could be self-employed and not associated with any certified or professional organization. A better way to gauge a translator’s efficiency is to review customer testimonials, if provided.
Back Translation can help assess the accuracy of a language translation job. In other words, if you are not sure of the accuracy of your translator’s work, have another translator translate the document into your source language. If the result is the same as the original document, then your translation was successful. This may seem logical, but it is actually completely wrong. The reality is that since each language has a unique structure and vocabulary, a quality translation would never seem accurate when translated back to its source. However, a word-for-word translation that is actually a mistranslation would perfectly translate into a back translation.