Whether I’m training university students or volunteer translators, I always like to begin with the big picture… what makes a quality translation?
After more than a decade of translation experience, master’s and doctoral research, I believe it all boils down to 3 things: Fidelity, Readability and Conformity.
- FIDELITY – This just means faithfulness. A good-quality translation faithfully reproduces a document in the other language; in other words, the translation matches the original. This means no information has been omitted, added or changed. In my opinion, Fidelity is the most important aspect of quality in a translation, and it requires translators to work carefully and conscientiously.
- READABILITY – This means the translation flows smoothly in the target language. A native speaker of that language can read it without pausing to try to understand awkward sentence structure or words that don’t fit the context. Another word we use is “idiomatic” – the expressions and phrasing sound natural to a native speaker. I believe that Readability is the second most important aspect of quality in a translation, and it requires translators to have a large vocabulary and extensive writing experience in the target language.
- CONFORMITY – This means the translation conforms to accepted language standards. This includes grammar, spelling, punctuation, and accents if applicable. Conformity also means that the translation respects any provided style guide or project parameters. While Conformity is in third place, it is still crucial because most people won’t continue reading a translation that has many typos and errors. It requires translators to do a thorough self-revision of their work before the translation is used.
I teach these 3 keys to quality translation in my core online training: “Think Like a Translator“. Check it out!
Have a great day!
Liane 🙂
www.LearnTranslation.com
www.NonprofitTranslation.org
