Posts Tagged ‘Japanese interpreter in Spain’

Translator’s fidelity

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

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Fidelity and transparency have been sought after as the ideal in translation for ages. There is even mention of a French critic in the 17th-century who said that translations, like women, could be either faithful or beautiful, but not both at the same time. Being a female Translator, I completely disagree with that statement as “impossible” is the daily challenge in our profession.
Fidelity refers to the level to which a translation accurately presents the meaning of the source text, without adding to or subtracting from it, without intensifying or weakening any part of the meaning, and otherwise without changing or interfering with it while transparency relates to the point to which a translation appears to a native speaker of the target language to have originally been written in that language, and is consistent with the language’s grammatical, syntactic and idiomatic standards. One translation can be a “faithful translation” and another can be an “idiomatic translation” rendering transparency but the two attributes are not mutually exclusive.
Quality in translation entails high accuracy which refers to fidelity and transparency, proper translation of the terminology and attention to the target audience, considering the linguistic codes (lexicon, morphology, phonology and syntax) of both languages. This process requires thorough knowledge of the grammar, semantics, syntax, idioms, composition, form, voice, and the like of the source language, as well as the cultural contexts of its speakers. Translation is inherently a difficult activity indeed as it must take into account a number of constraints, including context, and writing conventions.
Just our conscious effort to pursue high accuracy, beautifully manifested through fidelity and transparency, will render a translation which will be considered “faithful” to the original text and “useful” to its potential readers even though acceptable translations can be as creative and original as their source texts.

Paulina Torres De Witt
www.goihata.com

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Successful translators

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

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Successful people are continually looking for ways to expand their knowledge because they understand that to be updated is a must in order to have the chance to seize new opportunities. They repeatedly invest in the process of self-education. They are always buying and reading books to acquire knowledge and put into practice what they learn. They regularly attend seminars given by experts and are eager to listen to those who have greater experience. We have to learn from them because they have the right attitude.
By contrast, the vast majority of the population is completely different. They hardly read books; they actually prefer to browse magazines and newspapers. When they read a book, it usually is the latest pulp fiction bestseller… I’m not criticizing pulp fiction writers though – everyone has the right to do as they like – but I’m trying to emphasize the fact that if only 15% of the population buys books, it means that 85% of the population don’t read books at all… pity! Of course, these people never go to seminars either (unless their companies pay for it), and they are not interested in buying courses to develop themselves in any way. They say they can’t afford it but astonishingly, they can afford their cigarettes, alcohol, etc. Times are tough but in most cases though, not investing in a book that will help you improve your life style is simply an excuse. Ironically, the people who need to commit to self education are the last people to do it.
You have to weigh the financial cost against the long-term personal cost of not obtaining the knowledge you require. Let’s learn from successful people: Translators cannot afford to be outdated when we want to do well in our fields and achieve all of our goals!

Paulina Torres De Witt
www.goihata.com

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Coherence when translating

Friday, April 11th, 2008

- www.goihata.com
When we receive a document to translate it is very important to check the writing quality in the original. There is a tacit axiom in translation which every one of us knows: the translation will never be much better than the original (or in tech-talk: GIGO – Garbage In, Garbage Out!) If the original is an incoherent, illogical piece of nonsense, so the translation will be. If the source text is a brilliant piece of erudition with great literary merit, then the translation should surely be the same.
Japanese translation, Spanish Japanese English translators
The point is Translators cannot go much above the quality of the original, and translation buyers should not necessarily blame a bad translation on the Translator. Of course, we must always do our best to render the information in the optimum manner even though it is best not to rewrite the original or improve its style or content, insert our own clever ideas or original phrases… just translate and offer quality work free of errors and omissions before deadline time. Be a competent, responsible, and capable professional who will honor agreements and produce quality work.
Make sure that there are no errors, omissions, spelling or punctuation mistakes, and that you deliver your translation on time in the form requested and expected by your client. If not sure about the client-s expectations, always ask while in time. If you do it this way, you will get more work. if not, you will only cause grief.
If a text is truly beyond understanding, the only responsible course of action would be to contact the client and leave the decision regarding whether to translate it or not into your customer’s hand. You may lose a job this way, but you will likely win the confidence of the client. The latter is ultimately worth far more than the former, no doubt!
Paulina Torres De Witt
- www.goihata.com

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Updated translators

Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

– www.goihata.com
On every profession it is important to be updated but in ours it becomes vital! We ought to read constantly and a whole variety of themes: let’s take advantage of the internet to read newspapers from different countries every single day and let’s keep a file with all the information that we gather here and there, that way we will have access to the right word, the precise name and any special date at all times. It is a must to be informed and on the alert.
Updated modern translator
There are several things we can do: A good idea is to keep personalized lists with terms, words and phrases that catch our attention and we consider might be useful sometime; read reviews and books related to our business to be aware of the latest changes and/or tendencies; open a folder in Favorites on your browser to save the links considered important for consultation as well as learning; adapt to changes by buying the latest equipment and software in order to be more efficient and productive; join discussion groups on the Web; share information with colleagues around the world.
When time is not an issue, although I know most of the time it really is, let’s offer our services without any charge… Remember the saying, the more we give, the more we get! You can easily find several institutions that are helping out the global community in a selfless manner and we can be part of that chain and contribute with our favorite cause, as doing so will keep us active and will provide an excellent opportunity to share our knowledge without expectations except for the satisfaction of helping others. There is always something interesting to share with the entire world, it is just a matter of reaching out and offering a hand.

Paulina Torres De Witt
– www.goihata.com

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