It is a common belief to assume that having a sound knowledge of a second language is enough to become a translator. In fact, some people think no other skill is required to translate any kind of document. As a result, many people tend to downplay the value and effort of these language experts. In this article we’ll look into the five most common misconceptions you should avoid.

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1.     Being bilingual makes anybody a translator

Being bilingual only means that you have a sound knowledge of two languages. However, a translation is not made word by word. Quite on the contrary, translating implies having a deep understanding of the text written in the source language and knowing how to choose the best words and expressions to convey the message accurately in the target language. And not all bilingual people can do this.

This doesn’t mean that you cannot be a good translator unless you have a translation degree. There are plenty of excellent translators who don’t have formal training but, unfortunately, many people think that they are able to translate just by studying four years of a foreign language in high school. Even if you are a fluent speaker, it doesn’t mean that by default you are a good translator. In fact, it doesn’t imply that you can write in that language or translate into it accurately.

2.     Modern translation machines make translations easier and human translators are no longer needed

The translation tools now available in the market are far from being able to provide a reliable and good translation. Since they only translate sentences totally isolated from the context, they are unable to understand the different meanings that a word may have and, therefore, the translated text usually ends up being an unintelligible bunch of words one after the other. In addition, translation machines are totally unaware of the difference that may exist between the word order in the source language and the target one and it is not strange at all to find awkwardly worded sentences that require a human translator to clear the mess.

3.     “The translation is ready. Can you just proofread it for me?”

It is quite frequent to find translation clients that come to freelance translators or agencies asking to proofread and edit a translation done either by a machine or somebody that doesn’t have a thorough knowledge of the source and target languages. But what the client doesn’t know is that editing this kind of translations usually implies retranslating the whole document again almost from scratch, which means that the fee to pay will be higher than a regular proofreading one.

4.     A 5000 word document can be delivered in two hours

Have you ever tried typing 5000 words in two hours? You need to be really quick; therefore, translating the same amount of words in the same time is totally out of the question. It is quite difficult for a translator to estimate how many words he can translate in an hour as it depends on various factors. Amongst them we can mention: the type of text to be translated, the subject matter (a highly technical article rich in specific jargon takes longer than a general text) and the format.

On average, a professional and experienced translator translates around 250 to 500 words per hour so it would take between 10 or 20 hours to work on a 5000 word document. Needless to say, if you hire an agency, a group of translators may work on the text simultaneously so the translation is ready earlier. However, you should always bear in mind that if you expect a high quality translation you definitely need to allow enough time for the translation to be done.

5.     Every text can be translated in one possible way.

Different translators will translate the same sentence in different ways, being all of them correct. Translation, as language, is not an exact science and, therefore, there is no unique correct way of conveying an idea in a different language. It is true, however, that some translations will be more appropriate for the context or more in tune with the target audience. This is why you should always try to hire a translator who is well acquainted with the industry the document is about and the target audience.

Many people mistakenly believe that being bilingual is all it takes to offer a good translation. As a result, people often ask a friend or relative who has studied a foreign language for four or five years in High School to translate a document for them. However, translating can be considered an art and it is much more than a simple word by word exchange. With this being said, what makes a good translation?

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Firstly, can you tell the text is a translation? Does it read smoothly and sound as if it were originally written in the target language? Good translations do not look like ones. They are well written, ideas flow naturally and carry the sense and atmosphere of the original text. The information is presented clearly and any acronyms are correctly translated and/or explained.

It is also important to pay attention to the accuracy of the translation. The original document needs to be respected and translated completely, without missing any word or sentence, but it has to be grammatically correct and have no spelling mistakes as well. A wrongful translation is difficult to read and understand and can also seriously affect the reputation of the person or business organization that requested it.

Other aspect that should not be forgotten is clarity. The translator needs to ensure, when possible, that the final document is uncluttered, clear and has no complex and long sentences. In fact, it is not strange at all that the translated document is much easier to read than the original.

Finally, the audience should also be taken into consideration. This is important in two ways; on the one hand,  the translated text should be culturally appropriate for the target audience. There  should be no references to religious or political figures that may offend the reader or be controversial and the style needs to respect the tone and formality used by the original writer . On the other hand, the reading level of the audience should be accurately matched. For instance, the words used should be more complex and sentences more elaborated if the text will be read by scientists or high skilled professionals and simpler if it is written for newly arrived immigrants.

As you can see, there are several points that can be applied to determine whether the translation you are reading is good or not. You should bear them in mind next time you are handed in a translation.

The phrase “lost in translation” elicits a host of responses, be they memories of language confusion while traveling, quotes from the film of the same name, or general considerations regarding translation, its possibilities, failures, limits.  The most obvious associations for many are comical in nature, reflecting harmless vocabulary lapses or cultural naiveté. And then there are the more everyday instances of linguistic imprecision or confusing inconvenience.  Finally, there are examples with graver results, examples wherein being “lost” predicates terrible discovery.

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One such example is that of Willie Ramirez, a Cuban-American high school baseball star who, in 1980, found himself in a hospital, quadriplegic.  The culprit of this terrible realization was a simple and avoidable translation error: after Willie was rushed to the hospital for intense headaches and fleeting consciousness, a communication rupture between Willie’s doctors and family members occurred, resulting in Willie being treated incorrectly for a self-induced drug overdose, allowing an intracerebellar hemorrhage to fester, unnoticed for two days.

The rupture stemmed from a single word—predictably, a false cognate: intoxicado.  In Cuban Spanish, it is used to describe a person who’s ingested bad food or drink; it is not used like the English intoxicated, which refers exclusively to someone who’s consumed alcohol or drugs.  The words were apparently used to both inquire if Willie had ingested drugs and to state that Willie may have been sick after consuming a bad hamburger at the fast-food chain Wendy’s.

The imperfect memory of both the medical workers and Willie’s family regarding exactly what was said and who said it leave only the word intoxicado as the official record.  Once the hemorrhage was discovered, emergency surgery was performed, but the lasting damage was done.  A resulting lawsuit brought a settlement of $71 million.  The annual salary of a medical interpreter is $40 thousand.

Although the case is improbable and singular, it is nonetheless a terrible reminder of translation’s value and necessity.

Read more on this story here.