Tips for Translators

Commuting is a very arduous job and it can tire you out very easily. Are you one of those who are sick of commuting? If your answer is a helpless yes, you could go for translation services. It is the best thing you could do sitting in the comforts of your house if you know how to speak a foreign language. It is one of the most ideal home based jobs.

If you speak the foreign language perfectly and can translate easily, you will be able to make some great business out of it right from your house. Knowing a language and translating can be a huge opportunity for a great business for you.

Agreed that there are a number of different software for language translation. Also agreed that they are absolutely free but the fact remains that even these texts need to be proofread manually and have their mistakes corrected.

If you know a little of Japanese, you will easily be able to realize that a translator over the internet will not be able to translate Japanese to English or vice versa properly at all. The translated script will need to be read and corrected by a human because Japanese is a very complex language. Only when it is corrected by a human well versed with both the languages, will it be understandably converted to the desired language.

You can see this for yourself by browsing the internet. There are a number of websites that have pages translated in Japanese which are indeed very questionable.

I personally have seen numerous such websites that are very poorly translated. It is very obvious that these websites have been translated by non-native Japanese people. Companies pay a whopping amount for translation but they don’t get their worth at all. Badly translated texts mean a lot of loss to the company because they will lose their clients and visitors. It is hard for visitors to trust websites that don’t even have readable and understandable texts. Bad translation is thus very harmful and damaging.

This is the reason why we need people like you who are willing to work from home and translate well so that the companies hire you and benefit themselves. We need sophisticated translators who will work well from the comforts of their house and deliver good results of translation. You will be able to make great business and Japanese companies and people will hire you.

Translating is thus a very good business opportunity for you. If you know a foreign language, don’t let it go waste. Utilize it and earn well!

There are all kinds of nationalities in the world, and many of those nationalities have their own language. So, it should be of no surprise that there are thousands of monolingual and bilingual speakers in each nationality.

If you’ve decided to begin a translation business, then you’ll notice straight off the bat that you don’t have that much competition from rival businesses. You might also not question the myths of translation.

Myth 1 – Native Speakers Know What They’re Talking About

Native speakers are typically held to be the authority of their language especially when it comes to translation issues. However, that’s the first myth to keep in mind: native speakers are reliable.

When you begin your business, you’ll learn that the majority of customers want the translation to be completed by someone who speaks the native language, assuming that this person is a good writer. That’s not exactly the true!

Sure, there are more than one billion English speakers in the world but only a fraction of them can be trusted and depended upon to make the judgment on whether or not the translation sounds linguistically correct in a business context.

It should not be automatically assumed that native speakers are great writers in their native tongue. And, it should even be less assumed that they are good translators. The reason to have some caution in native speakers is this: they have to have thorough knowledge of the source language along with the target translated language.

When you employ the help of translators for your company, it’s important that remember this: a native speaker of a target language doesn’t always make a good translator.

Myth 2 – Clients Demand Quality

The second translation business myth is assuming what a client’s priorities are. Most people assume the client wants quality material.

And, of course, people cannot be faulted for this way of thinking. After all, who wouldn’t think that a client’s goal is to get back top quality translation from a professional translation company? However, some clients really don’t care about the quality than just getting it done.

According to several studies, the majority of clients want speed, not quality. That does not mean a client will be pleased by broken translation or garbage so long as the material comes back quickly. Here’s something to keep in mind: quality standards when looked at in a business standard is far different than the standards expected in an academic context.

College and university students are taught to attain the linguistic perfection. They must generate translations that include flawless grammar and have a neutral style. However, this kind of training may not be what the client is looking for.

All clients, however, have a thing for deadlines. When foreign clients have shown up to sign a contract, they better be something for them to sign. When magazines are slated to appear on the market, it needs to be available at that time.

When looked at in a business setting, there may be several parties involved in the generation of one document. This means delays can occur quickly and could have serious financial repercussions. Beginning translators need to be mindful of the quality equate to adaptableness to a client’s jargon. Thus, short deadlines are just as likely to get a business’ attention as quality will. If your translation service attracts businesses, you’ll find out rather quickly that the translation industry can be very profitable.

Myth 3 – Translation Has Low Margins

The last myth that must be dispelled is this: translation is an ad hoc business that delivers extremely low margins. This is certainly not true either! There have been several successful translation businesses that have contradicted the conventional image of translators slaving away from the time the sun comes up until the sun goes down in an attic or basement and just barely making enough money to live. Yes, translation is tough work and, even with a computer’s help, the signs show it will still be a manual business for many more years.

Bear in mind this: if you are capable of producing translations of high-quality, can meet the goals of your client’s requirements and work within a deadline, you can make good money and be taken seriously as a translator.

There are few professions that require greater precision and accuracy than that of a freelance translator. Perfection of message transmission requires that you provide the quality assurance of your translations so that they meet all of your clients’ needs as defined by a clear set of client guidelines on how and what you will communicate. It is up to you, the freelance translator, to develop the quality assurance process as it relates to the customer’s needs.

The Technical Quality of the Final Language

For the best results, you should focus on jobs that involve translation into your native tongue. This is important because your primary focus is on the quality of the message provided to the final, intended recipients in their native tongue. So, it is not enough for you to have spent most of your life studying and speaking the target language. Few people can study a language after the first couple years of life and learn all of the subtle variations in the language usage, no matter how grammatically correct their language skills may become. But learning as much of the source language as you can and attaining credentials that show your fluency is a key to ensuring an accurate, total translation in the target language.

Proofreading and editing are not optional. They should be centerpieces of your quality assurance practices. As much as possible, you need to have a separate third-party acting in each of these roles. For a professional freelance translator to maintain quality, proofreading must follow editing in order to ensure the full grammatical and functional accuracy of your written translation.

Ensure Your Understanding of Source Language Materials

If the source language materials have inaccuracies or imprecise information, it is likely to be amplified in your translation. It is up to you to ensure that you review the meaning of the information with your client. You should make any necessary edits to the source language materials before beginning your translation.

Asking Basic Questions About the Purpose of the Translation

It is important to recognize that the meaning of the source materials is likely to be tied up in cultural understandings. But before you can even to begin to untangle culture and language, you’ll need to ask basic questions about the purpose of the source materials and the reasons your clients want them translated. Your method of translation should be based on answers to these questions. You need to understand if your purpose is to convince the audience of something or to provide technical documentation.

Another basic question that must be answered is about the regional dialect of your target audience. Most languages have variations from one region to another and from one class to another. Likewise, language varies between common individuals and technical experts. Ask enough questions of your clients to make sure you provide the right type of translation.

Finally, you need to make sure your documents maintain the visual style of the original. Look over everything to make sure it flows smoothly. Taking the time to see to it that you have the proper appearance in your documents shows a true commitment to quality assurance.