I’m continuing this series to decompress after some house renovations and draw parallels to help us internalize 9 best practices for translation, as we “renovate” texts.
Best Practice 2 is “Ensure Accuracy”. During our renovation, basic building materials were supplied by the contractor, but we had to order things like taps, flooring, etc. so we could choose the design we liked. It was a learning experience and required a lot of research to get things right… for example, I didn’t realize that not every set of taps will fit every bathroom vanity, etc. However, this pales in comparison to the “door” fiasco. Our contractor bought a steel door, then my son and I spent several hours priming and painting it.
When it came time to install it, the contractor realized his workers had framed the door hole incorrectly. The door DID NOT FIT. Ouch. He was reluctant to move 2×4’s, so he ordered a new door. We had to wait 5 weeks for it, and when it arrived, the integrated frame was 2-3 inches deeper than the wall. Imagine how ridiculous that door looks with the frame sticking out from the wall 2-3 inches. Thankfully it’s on the side that goes to our utility hall, so we can live with it. But that’s what happens when you don’t take accurate measurements.
In order to have Fidelity in our translation, we must Ensure Accuracy. A good translation matches the original document: it doesn’t add any information, leave any out, or change any. If we take too much freedom with a translation, it stops being a translation and is only an adaptation.
A great strategy to Ensure Accuracy is to follow the process outlined in my mini-course “1-2-3 Translation”:
- READ the original document and make sure you completely understand. Look up any unfamiliar words or terms.
- TRANSLATE the document, making sure you convey the same information, but in a way that is natural in the other language. You can move words around in the sentence to accomplish this.
- REVIEW the translation by comparing it to the original document. Check to see if anything was omitted, added or changed, and make adjustments as needed.
This 1-2-3 process will ensure that our translations are faithful to the original text, and will help ensure accuracy.
Have a great day!
Liane 🙂
www.LearnTranslation.com
www.NonprofitTranslation.org
