Learn the difference and get the best results!
When you decide to translate a text, whatever the topic, you need to have guarantees about its quality since the level of quality that the translation has will directly impact how the translated message will reach the recipient. But how to know if a translation is good?
The first filter to ensure that our content will be well interpreted is translating with a specialized agency; so let’s forget about automatic translation tools!
When you leave it in the hands of professionals, you can rest assured that the quality will be excellent.
And how can I differentiate it from a bad translation?
The main axes to consider are clarity and accuracy. The first one refers to how understandable the text is for the reader or target audience; the second one refers that it must be evaluated if the transmitted message arrives appropriately to the needs that one as a sender has at the time of issuing it. We can also observe specific points to consider if we are looking for a good translation, such as:
- The text is easy to read, the writing is good, and the reading flows harmoniously.
- The ideas raised by the text will be easy to understand; you will not have to reread to understand what is being talked about.
- The terminology used will be in accordance with the text’s theme.
- The grammar used will be correct.
There are cases in which an error may seem small, but in context, it could be huge and completely alter the message that you want to convey: a misplaced punctuation mark, a wrongly translated word or expression, among others. These mistakes would be moving you away from the necessary level for a good translation
This understanding of texts, which allows the message to reach the recipient properly, can only be achieved by trained translators, not automatic translation tools.
Precisely, it is the “localization” and not the mere translation that achieves this adequate transmission of the message by the readers because the cultural particularities of each group of recipients are considered.
