The SME Translator: Why Industry Experience Is Critical
♬ If there’s something strange ♬
♬ in your translation… ♬
♬ Who you gonna call? ♬
The SME! The subject-matter expert: the one who’s actually laid eyes and hands on the subject they work with.
I know, I know – in true [former] engineer fashion, I took something fun and made it nerdy. But what I’m getting at is one of the main aspects of my profession, and one that’s not well known among the general public or even a non-zero subset of my client base.
While most orders I receive are for translation in its own right, I sometimes receive orders to review and correct another translator’s work. Whenever I review, it’s painfully obvious within the first few sentences when the translator has never turned a wrench or given an injection (my specialty domains are technical and medical).
Translation is an oddity in the professional world. Anyone with an internet connection can proclaim to be a translator and start accepting work. Yet a proper translation – one that uses the right terminology and style – requires knowledge equivalent to that of three university degrees, namely in:
The language being translated from (source language)
The language being translated into (target language)
The subject matter of the text
While most people would agree that the first two are integral to the nature of the job, the third is curiously considered open to debate. Those of us who have worked in the specialty fields we translate can tell you that our experience is critical. We plainly see all the places in our target text where the right translation was arrived at only through intimate knowledge of the field.
This knowledge is lacking among translators who have no experience in the industry they “specialize” in, giving rise to any of the following error categories I have coined: standards ignorance, well-traveled howlers, bald-faced blunders, close but no cigar, over-engineering, under-engineering, flower power, like so totally clueless, and the Darwin Awards.
Translators without industry experience will tell you that experience doesn’t matter and that they can do enough research to probably get most of the words right. Well, no surprises there – of course they will not see the gaps in their knowledge. The root of the issue boils down to one of my favorite sayings: You don’t know what you don’t know.
Not to mention that this rebuttal is fundamentally flawed in other ways. Most of the words? Do you want most of the words in the translation you commission to be right, or all of them? What about the single mistranslated term that’s in the name of your product? Or appears 381 times in your text?
And what about industry-standard phrasing, which by its nature is often impossible to research? What about style? In other words: How do those in your industry communicate, and how should your materials be written so potential customers want to buy your product? Or at the very least, continue browsing your website rather than clicking away out of confusion, annoyance, or mistrust?
Detailed below are the most common types of mistranslations I see. But before we dive into all the fun examples of each mistranslation category, I have a few important notes to share about them:
Some mistranslations will seem to come from left field. These oddities happen because of linguistic differences between the source and target languages. I explain this to point out that the errors did make sense on some level. Not that the translation was rendered correctly by any stretch of the imagination – rather, it does make sense in each case how the translator found the term they found, even if it doesn’t seem like it when regarding the English-language version on its own.
When reading an example related to a field in which you’re not an SME, you might think there’s nothing wrong or that the error must be trivial. In this case, all I can do is ask that you take my word for it that these constitute egregious errors. If my colleagues in the hospital or in the engineering department had uttered any of the phrases in the examples that follow, I would in all seriousness have started assessing for symptoms of a stroke.
Machine translation (MT) is a loaded topic of its own (footnote 1). While I don’t want to venture too far down that road in this article, it’s worth mentioning that what a non-SME can’t handle and what MT can’t handle have considerable overlap. In other words, if you simply run your text through Google Translate or the like, your translation will suffer from many of the same types of errors shared below. With a side helping of additional errors, that is (to learn more, see The Robots Are Coming – But not For Me).
There are a few more points I want to share in the footnotes (2, 3, 4), but feel free to dive right into the list if nitty-gritty details tend to bore you to tears:
1. Standards ignorance
If a non-SME translator is even familiar with the concept of standards (e.g., ISO), it’s because one or two have been named in the texts they’ve translated. However, the standards that apply to readers of the target text won’t even be mentioned – after all, the source text was written in a different country.
Example:
There’s a 0.00001% chance the non-SME translating your operating manual is familiar with the ins and outs of the 70E, and there’s about the same chance they even know the NFPA standards exist. Now, electrical maintenance guidelines in user manuals virtually always involve a word that directly translates as voltage free or deenergized. Having given dozens of training sessions on the NFPA 70E, which OSHA regards as an industry standard, I’m abundantly familiar with the right phrase to use here: establishment of an electrically safe work condition. That phrase will never show up in the translator’s terminology research, and there’s no reason for them to question free of voltage as the right answer. Do you smell a lawsuit? Or is that burning cable insulation…
2. Well-traveled howlers
MT is trained on all the text floating around the whole of the internet, so mistranslations propagate like a virus, even sometimes making it into reputable online bilingual dictionaries. Only an SME translator can detect and avoid these malapropisms that, despite being everywhere you look, do not make sense or would never be used in native technical English.
Example A:
Sense of rotation has made its way into online dictionaries and onto various companies’ websites for the term that means direction of rotation in the context of wiring up a motor. Non-SME translators commonly land on the first term. I’m not sure what electricians are doing when reading that they need to check the motor’s “sense” of rotation – signing the motor up for therapy?
Example B:
The word flap is a hallmark of a German company with poorly translated texts. A handful of different words are the right translation to use in English based on context: damper, cover, hatch, hood, lid, panel, valve, etc. Knowing which to use comes from – you guessed it – industry experience! Although flap is almost never correct, we now have translations everywhere telling us to open the maintenance flap or lock the flap to the pressure tank.
3. Bald-faced blunders
It’s common for one word in the source language to have multiple equivalents in the target language, and it’s the translator’s responsibility to make sure the right word for the context is used. Even one erroneous word can give away a translator’s lack of in-field experience. Not having a clue what a boo-boo they’ve made, that translator sits back and submits the text with all the unfounded confidence in the world.
Example:
I came across the following instruction while reviewing a translation of quality procedures for a company that makes pre-filled syringes: Slowly invert the syringe, turn it right side up, and then tap on it if there is any foam. These are the words of a translator who has evidently never given an injection before, being unaware that light agitation can introduce a few bubbles – the abnormality the instruction was trying to tell you to eliminate. What’s the harm? Well, it’s perfectly reasonable to imagine someone on the production line inspecting a syringe for foam and moving right along when seeing that there isn’t any – that QA inspector is entirely unaware of the mistranslation. Now, one goal of this syringe-inspection procedure was to check for foreign objects, such as a bit of germ-ridden hair that could easily hide at the edge of a bubble. It’s destined for your bloodstream, but sure, go ahead and give that syringe a passing score on inspection – I didn’t see any foam!
4. Close but no cigar
This category of mistranslations comprises the ones most likely to make your potential customers laugh (after they pause in confusion). They’re only “almost correct” because, here again, the non-specialist translator just doesn’t know “how things are said” (including how they would never be said). By their very nature, these phrases are essentially impossible to research online.
Example A:
Laughable terminology: Words can be so similar that it seems like they should essentially be interchangeable when they clearly (to an insider, that is) are not. Here’s a sentence I’ve fabricated to smash a handful of them together in a realistic sentence: If the machine’s acoustic alarm goes off, put on your helmet and protection glasses and check for an optical change in the product. I see the offending terms regularly, as non-SMEs are unaware that these are simply not the words used in the industry. How would they know?
Example B:
Confusing terminology: Will your customer have to review the circuit diagram to figure out what emergency stop break contact means in the error message description table? Break contact and normally closed contact have extremely similar meanings in terms of what these components do in the circuit. If the non-SME translator even comes across both possible terms, he or she might review them in depth. Finding them to be conceptually the same in terms of what the electrons are doing, this translator picks one and moves on. Instead of picking the one that would be used 100% of the time in context, they’ve picked the one used 0% of the time.
Example C:
Phrasing: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen something like tighten the bolt with 14 Nm of torque. And okay, fine – the user probably got the point. But if this one sentence sounds that batty, what is the rest of the translation like? Is it too confusing for users to understand? Is it even correct? I can tell you what the translation isn’t: It isn’t written in a way that instills trust in your potential buyer.
5. Over-engineering
Mistranslations in this category occur when the translator has found a bright and shiny equivalent for the source language term but can’t evaluate whether it’s appropriate. Being unequipped to evaluate the term’s fitness for purpose, they simply choose the term that sounds the most complex. It’s how you end up with:
A handful of specs about an impeller when the component is just a wheel
Instructions to set a pressure vessel on pillow blocks instead of plain ol’ support stands
A warning to never decommission fuses rather than to never render them inoperable
6. Under-engineering
These mistranslations essentially go in the opposite direction of the over-engineered terms. As translators, it’s our job to use turns of phrase that readers of the target language will understand. This sometimes entails taking a nicely packaged phrase in the source text (because the source language has industry-standard phrasing too) and using several “plain” words in its place. But if you’ve never worked in the industry you translate for, chances are you’re unaware that a certain technical or industry-standard term even exists. You’ll wind up overcorrecting by “under-engineering” the translation – unpacking or simplifying phrases that should have been left alone. It’s how you end up with:
Cobots are fast learners instead of it doesn’t take long to teach cobots
Work involving a heat source instead of hot work
Very fast delivery instead of just-in-time delivery (footnote 5)
7. Flower power
One of the most overlooked skills required of a successful translator is the ability to write well. And contrary to popular belief, technical translation absolutely offers room for creativity – marketing materials are necessary in any industry. But no matter how much creativity should or shouldn’t be infused into a text, part of our job description is to write with appropriate style. I sometimes review translations that are written as if they are to become the next steamy romance novella. I feel bad rewriting the translator’s text so that your potential customer will want to read it (and become your customer), and you’ll feel bad when you receive my invoice after redoing the original translator’s work.
Example:
I once reviewed a translation for a machining center that was filled with sentences like this one: Despite diminutive floorspace requirements, once you get these machines in your shop, they offer up an extensive working area that embraces variegated possibilities. Let’s set aside that their flowery words aren’t even used correctly. I can tell you from working as an engineer in a department with machining that this is not going to entice anyone sourcing their next machining center.
8. Like so totally clueless
I think technical translation is a target for those without any industry experience because they believe that if they can follow along with the steps of a procedure, they must be getting it right. Even outside all the other categories of mistranslation that can’t be precluded with research, there is an element to choosing the right words and phrasing that boils down to intimately knowing the subject matter. It seems to be the hardest pill for non-SMEs to swallow. And while I hate that I can’t offer a better explanation than “you just had to be there,” it shows time and again that not having “been there” leaves the non-SME clueless as to what’s going on – and they likely don’t even realize they’re clueless.
Example A:
I came across a curious phrase while reviewing the translation of a brochure for a piece of test equipment. The text repeatedly said that the support surfaces are hand-scraped. A few paragraphs in, I realized the client was trying to communicate that the contact surfaces are manually polished. While the former phrase made complete sense based on the words used, it was nonsense in this context. For those who have worked with precision test equipment, it’s quite obvious that the latter phrase was intended.
Example B:
Sentence structure doesn’t always line up perfectly from language to language. That’s why the source text in the leaflet for a piece of medical equipment could say in one sentence that the patient would need testing for platelets and Factor V Leiden. The translator carried that structure over in saying that platelet and Factor V Leiden levels needed to be tested. The error here is obvious to those who work in the medical field. And though it may seem otherwise to the layperson, there’s nothing nitpicky or petty about this example. What’s written is nonsensical, and considering that a translator’s job description is to write the right words, there’s a fundamental issue at hand.
Example C:
When reviewing the translation of an operating manual for production line equipment, I came across the phrase the button does not function on all belt sections instead of the button does not affect all belt sections. Even though it could have been interpreted as such based on the source text, the first one is not what was meant, which would be plain to see for an SME translator. Or, if that was the correct meaning, whoever was originally writing that user manual really needed to stop and submit a maintenance ticket for that machine.
Example D:
The lower the word count, the more challenging the translation – it’s often significantly more difficult to translate a single word than a whole page. That’s true no matter how well you know the specialty field you’re working with, as there’s just no context to guide you. But if you have a grasp of the ins and outs of the subject matter, you have a greater chance of figuring out the proper translation on your own (rather than asking the client to explain every individual word). When reviewing the translation of a brochure for municipal cleaning nozzles, I came across the statement that the nozzles can be used for cleaning the soles of your shoes. What was being communicated by the one-word source text is that the nozzles are meant for cleaning the bottom of sewer channels. And no, it doesn’t count that the wrong and right translations are almost the same concept if you’re a dog owner.
9. Darwin Awards
It’s exceptionally common that I encounter mistranslations that check several boxes, in which case the translator’s lack of experience is particularly problematic. The root of the issue: If a translator’s work doesn’t go through an SME reviewer, the translator will likely never know they’re delivering low-quality work. After all, when your [potential] customer can’t understand your website or follow your user manual, they don’t contact you and share this reason for not becoming or remaining a customer. They just saunter on over to your competitor (while the translator saunters over to their next order, continuing to build a misleadingly handsome CV).
Example:
Over-engineering + close but no cigar + like so totally clueless: Use ascent supports without rollers. This one invites both confusion and laughter. What was meant: Do not use ladders, platforms, or scaffolding with casters.
“Specialist” translators with no experience in their field will tell you they can look up anything and “usually” find the right word. True subject-matter experts will tell you that they draw on what they’ve experienced and that there are aspects of landing on the right terminology and phrasing that can’t simply be looked up.
Which of these proclamations makes logical sense to believe? There is a right answer, and I’ll give you a hint: It’s not the one that says, “I’ve never worked in the industry to know otherwise, yet I’m confident I can usually get it mostly right.”
At worst, mistranslations lead to lawsuits, injury, or death. At best, they leave potential customers confused, skeptical, laughing, or all of the above (footnote 6) – regardless, they’re not buying your product. Just as you expect your translator to know both the source and target language, you should also expect them to know the subject matter equally as well.
Updated: September 3, 2023
Footnotes:
The same holds true of “AI,” which as of this writing does not exist even though the media would have the masses believing this (hence the quotation marks).
Every example is indeed one I encountered in the wild when reviewing a text translated by a human (i.e., not a machine translation engine, such as Google Translate).
I’ve limited my examples to those that would be essentially impossible to research, or that a non-SME simply wouldn’t know to question. There are some interesting mistranslations I come across that could indeed be researched and yet are so common that they fortify my point for specialist translators with in-field experience. If I only had a Swiss Franc for every time I’ve encountered motor where the component was an engine, or vice versa.
I’ve omitted explanations regarding the right translations except where necessary for context. If you’re a fellow SME translator or a potential customer, everything I’ve included in the text stands for itself. If you’re a non-SME translator: While I empathize with how harsh this statement might seem, if this article makes you feel lost, that’s kind of the point.
In the name of transparency, I’ll share that this didn’t come from the review simply of a translation but of the monolingual edit of a translation. In other words, a professional editor unfamiliar with the source language was paid to clean up a text that had been translated into English. I was helping head a team on this particular project, and it failed spectacularly. Not one editor came from a technical background, and the result was anything but surprising: They made errors that fell into my nine categories in nearly every text. And although I just now declared this an unsurprising result, it is indeed noteworthy. This group of people was working with only one language and did not have knowledge of another language to muddy the waters. And yet they still made the same quantities and types of errors – simply because they didn’t have specialist knowledge.
Once potential customers finish wiping tears of laughter from their eyes, if they continue browsing your site, they’re sure to be wary about making a purchase. That’s because they know it’ll take some time to get help when needed based on the time difference (your business has now been marked as an overseas one) and the language barrier.