There are different ways to approach a translation, but I have found that a step-by-step method works best for our non-profit translation team. I call it 1-2-3 Translation and the three steps are: Read-Translate-Review.
Before beginning to translate a document, the translator should READ the document as many times as necessary to completely understand it. This will ensure the Fidelity of the translation (that it is faithful too the original document; it conveys the same information). The translator should highlight any unfamiliar words and expressions and look up their meanings in an online dictionary. Then they should find the matching word or expression in the other language (using a bilingual dictionary or Linguee.com) and write it down.
Next, it is time to TRANSLATE the document, to recreate it in the other language. To ensure the Readability of the translation, the translator should work on one part of a sentence at a time, such as the set of words that appear between punctuation signs. The order of the words may need to be changed to fit grammar rules in the target language. For example, in some languages, adjectives appear before the noun, and in some languages they appear after the noun. Linguee is useful during this step. Another way to keep the translation readable is to move parts of the sentence around to be more logical. Sometimes the end of a sentence in the source text fits better at the beginning of the sentence in the translation.
The final step is to REVIEW the translation. Even though a translation team process includes a bilingual reviser, all translators have a responsibility to do self-revision of their own translation before handing it off to someone else. During this step, a grammar and spelling corrector should also be used. One of the best ways to review a translation is to read it out loud, because any missing words or errors in logic become obvious that way.
I encourage every translator to use this “1-2-3 Translation” method for every translation they work on, regardless of the length of the document. My mini course called “1-2-3 Translation” is available here: https://www.lianergrant.com/training.
Next week, we’ll look at another important translation topic. Stay tuned!
Have a great week!
Liane 🙂
