How Does Translation Work?
If a bear s**** in the forest and there's no one around, does it still smell? If a translation was done well, would you ever know it was a translation?
Leaving the forest (and its smells) for another day, I'll tell you what definitely stinks: a crappy translation. When a text has been translated effectively, it’s virtually undetectable as anything other than a piece originally written in your native language.
Many of the products in your day-to-day world, much of the software you use, and a great proportion of the medicines and medical equipment keeping you and your loved ones healthy are developed abroad. What do they have in common? The texts that supported their development (research, patents, etc.) and the texts that make them accessible to you (websites, user manuals, etc.) were translated. Most people aren’t aware that translation even happened on a product’s way into their hands, so they definitely don't know how it happened.
That’s why people often ask how translation “works” when they learn what I do. I get this question surprisingly often, so I thought I’d write up an in-a-nutshell version of a translator’s workflow to help demystify what goes on in this behind-the-scenes profession.
As when boiling any profession down to a few paragraphs, this explanation constitutes the 30,000-foot view. While each professional will have their own twist, here’s my process at its core:
The translation brief. I collaborate with the client to iron out the details necessary to ensure that I produce a translation that is fit for purpose. This includes verification of U.S. English as the desired variant (the translator must be a native speaker of the specific variant being marketed to!). I might ask about target demographics (this applies more for a book, for example, than a user manual). I check whether the client has a preferred or internal style guide that defines aspects such as permissible abbreviations or how numbered lists should be formatted.
Research. Now I dive into preliminary research, combing through the client’s online materials (website, YouTube videos, LinkedIn posts, etc.) to see what terminology has already been defined in English (if any) and to understand the company’s tone of voice and style.
Translation – converting language 1 (source language) into language 2 (target language).
a. What this step entails: I work line by line, creating sentences in the target language that retain the meaning of the source language and are in accordance with the translation brief. Reference material is a major part of this step: thesauri, dictionaries (industry specific, monolingual, and bilingual), and competitors’ websites. (Feeling like there’s more to translation proper? Check out What Is a Translator? for a synopsis of translation theory.)
b. How (where) it’s done: Although I might simply use a word-processing program, I often work inside a CAT tool. CAT stands for computer-assisted translation. A critical point is that these programs assist with workflow and are entirely unrelated to machine translation programs, such as Google Translate. CAT tools help ensure that terminology and repeated phrases in a client’s texts are the same every single time. Read What is a CAT Tool? if you’re dying to know more!
Now it’s time to review, which is a two-step process:
a. Review 1: bilingual check. The purpose of this first review is to once again go sentence by sentence, comparing source to target to verify that nothing was omitted, added, or mistranslated.
b. Review 2: monolingual check. I review the final product without the “distraction” of the original text. Is there any unnatural phrasing? Are there sentences that don’t make sense on first read? Typos? Potential errors in the source text to ask the client about?*
Questions, comments, and delivery.
a. I might have questions or comments that I include with my delivery of the translation. For instance, I might need to let the client know about an error in the source text, which is then up to them to fix in their own materials. If something seems incorrect but I can’t be confident that it’s an error, I’ll pose the question and alter the translation accordingly once I receive a response. Or I might leave a comment with an alternative translation (generally only for a very creative text or if the client requests such, as this practice is otherwise somewhat unprofessional).
b. If I have no questions or comments, I deliver the translation, and the client and I are essentially at the finish line!
Now that you have new insight into the hidden world of translation, you can move on to more important questions. The sound of one hand clapping, whether people are intrinsically good or bad, and whether that bear's excrement gives off an offensive odor even if there’s no nose around.
*During the initial translation and the bilingual review, most of my focus is on getting the meaning right. It’s during the monolingual review that I can devote more brainpower to following the flow of the text and ascertaining cohesiveness. For instance, if step 10 of a procedure is to remove the valve from a piece of equipment, I think you’ll need to enter another dimension if step 22 is to open that valve. What likely happened is that whoever wrote the procedure was copy/pasting steps and forgot to change step 10 to say that you need to install the valve rather than remove it. I discover such errors several times a week – and my clients always express their gratitude for it!
Updated: September 3, 2023