Select Translations translator Archives

How to choose a valid translator

April 13, 2021 By Caroline Jane Bennett No commentsPosted in Senza categoriaTags: translator

Let’s say you need to translate some documents, making a good impression is essential this time, so youâ€™ve decided youâ€™ll hire a professional. Maybe this is the first time you have called on a translator, maybe not but your past experiences havenâ€™t exactly been good… What happens next? How are you even going to assess the translation once you receive it? How can you really be sure that itâ€™s worth all the money? Youâ€™re hesitant… but it doesn’t need to be a leap into the unknown.

A valid translator is normally also a member of at least one professional association. Membership demonstrates their ability as a translator and constant commitment to training and professional development. In order to become a member, it is necessary to submit qualifications, proof of experience as well as qualified references.

Today I am delighted to say that I have become a Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, providing my current and potential clients with a further guarantee that yes, it really is worth calling me for that all-important document!

Translators through History

November 29, 2019 By Caroline Jane Bennett No commentsPosted in Senza categoriaTags: history, politics, queen, translation, translator

In the last few days it has come to light that yet another manuscript translated from Latin into English is the work of Queen Elizabeth I. Nowadays itâ€™s quite hard to imagine our rulers, be they monarchs or presidents, as scholars or academicsâ€¦. but Queen Elizabeth was already translating from French, Italian and Latin as a teenager and she didnâ€™t stop when she ascended to the throne, quite the contrary, she leaned heavily on her intellectual capabilities as a ruler, finding inspiration and solace in documents she read and translated.

Another very interesting point from a translatorâ€™s point of view is how far she adapted or localised her textsâ€¦ all translators strive to make the translated text sound spontaneous, as though it had been written in the target language, but this was critical to Queen Elizabeth too, she didnâ€™t want her texts to sound like translations, so rather than just rendering the sense into English she tried to bring them closer to her readers both linguistically and culturally. The reason for this was also so she could use them to further her national political agenda!

This brings us to the great conundrum for translators: how far do you deviate from the source document to make the translation sound less â€œforeignâ€ to the recipient? Sometimes implicitly, sometimes explicitly it would seem that Queen Elizabeth I was highly capable not only at transferring the words from one language to another but also at bringing her texts into the present and translating them culturally from foreign to native.

(ph. credit Lambeth Palace Library)

So, what is a translator?

October 18, 2016 By Caroline Jane Bennett No commentsPosted in Senza categoriaTags: communicate, competence, language, translation, translator

It is often assumed that to translate from one language to another it is sufficient to have a knowledge of both languages. Even some dictionaries describe translation as â€œwords that have been changed from one language into a different languageâ€

But a translator needs key skills: first of all, the ability to write clearly and correctly in the target language; knowledge of the source language and culture are equally critical. Translation is the art of taking a concept from one language and expressing it unambiguously and idiomatically in another language.

A well-translated text reads as if it were written in the target language in the first place.

Canâ€™t I just use google? Well, you can if you want, but not if your aim is to communicate a concept appropriately. P.S., being bilingual is not enough either!