Subscription
Subscribe to get expert insights straight to your inbox
Subscription
Being a translator is a challenging job and requires a lot of hard work and study. Not only do they need to constantly develop their skills but also stay connected to at least two different cultures. If you want to pursue this career and earn a living as a translator, it’s better to know that translation is not merely about replacing a word with the similar meaning in another language. It’s very essential to understand the broader context and smoothly adapt the message to other cultures without any conflicts. Then what are translation skills you should prepare to be a part of this field? Let’s take a look at these highlights below.
Read more: Do You Need App Localization?
This is one of the core translation skills. A translator must enjoy writing and exploring words and phrases, testing out what goes where best. In some cases, translators have to complete the target related to word counts or character counts that are finite. So, if translators can write with flair, they’ll know how to express the idea adapted to the meaning and conditions.
There are various ways to enhance your translation writing skills. For example, you can take a writing course, collaborate with your peers to find out how they localize the message. Another method that could boost your writing skill would be reading your translations out loud to determine any unnatural phrasing and spending time polishing your wording and expression.
As a linguist, you often have to encounter the cultural barrier between two different countries. Of course, it will be risky if you’re not familiar with one of them as it could fuel the misunderstanding in your translated content. A practical example would be the order of time implication, in English, it’s likely to understand that 10/02/2019 will mean October 2. However, some Asian countries will refer to it as February 10 which may lead to adverse results if it is mentioned in legal or financial documents. Therefore, it is essential to locally sympathize with the target audience who will be reading your content.
You can enhance your cultural competence in various ways but the best option would be visiting or living in the second country. Other potential possibilities to improve your knowledge about the target countries include: actively watching foreign language films, following the related-field native authors, reading the literature of the relevant countries, etc. Continuous exposure to these materials will increase the chance to come across popular cultural factors. It also promptly realizes jargon in the source file to accurately translate it to the target language.
Ideally, you should have expertise in at least one particular field. You may acquire this specific knowledge by studying a second language combined with a degree in a specialist area. With a certified degree, you can access higher profile clients and even earn yourself authority in the field. Another way to become a specialist in a field is by working in that environment. This often happens when you’re in a different position and discover your interest in translation career by chance.
If you are a freelance translator, having expertise will also create a chance to market yourself to ideal clients since you can define the niche market group and approach them easier and able to get more replies.
You don’t have to be proficient in technology but the working process will be more convenient and seamless if you’re familiar with common software such as Microsoft Office and especially CAT Tools. CAT Tools is vital to a lot of translators who do a lot of similar and repetitive work. Like computer games or software translation, it provides necessary functions like a quality check, generating statistics about the translation process, importing, and exporting many different files formats, etc. Therefore, be prepared for some technology elements in your translation skills.
In translation, remaining the content meaning and style intact from the original is extremely important. It requires translators to work without judging the materials or applying their perspective on it. Otherwise, the audience can misunderstand the original description and the distorted translation may negatively reflect the brand image. If translators discover factual errors in documents, they should first double-check that they can prove their point, then notify the client to get more details about the problem. Some clients may assert that they want the original text to be kept intact. In that case, place your findings in writing but translate as instructed.
Any client will require you to stay on the working timeline so that other stages of the process won’t be affected. If you are insufficient self-discipline, it is difficult to become a successful translator. No matter who you are a freelancer or an internal translator, respecting time is very important.
Most of the source materials clients hand out to translators are confidential and not officially released yet to the local market. A minor information leak could fuel a serious situation and adversely impact the company’s image. Therefore, every linguist should be self-aware of their importance in the process. To keep information fully secured, some clients may require you to sign a confidentiality agreement before sending out any content.
You may need a lot of time to become an experienced and professional translator. To accelerate this process, apply these 7 translation skills to agilely achieve the goal. Besides, frequently evaluate yourself and keep the thought in mind that you always have more to learn as this is a challenging job and require you to regularly update your knowledge, twist your style and reinvent yourself every time you handle a new project. However, it also delivers great satisfaction whenever positive feedback from your client comes with a repurchase decision.
