Technical translation sounds very specialised and expensive to the uninitiated, but the reality is that all translators specialise. Part of the expertese that you buy from a translation agency is the ability to select the appropriate translators for each project. Some jobs may require a mix of expertese, for example when we  translate e-commerce websites requiring technical engineering knowledge, legal translation and marketing translation. Legal translation requires a particular mindset and approach on the part of the translator, its all about fidelity to the original source language, whilst marketing is about conveying concepts and ideas in the most relevant and compelling way for the target market. This is quite apart from the different areas of vocabulary required and the required tone and feel of the target text. The solution is usually to use different translators with different areas of specialism for different parts of the site. Terms and conditions should be translated by a legal specialist, if legal specialist terminology is used, however if you want terms and conditions which are accessable and easy to read for the end user, a more marketing orientated approach may be appropriate. With an engineering text, it is important that the translator understands the specialist terminology used, and has the necessary expertese to make an accurate translation. Something to consider when ordering a translation, is that your chosen translation agency may not have project managers who can read the source text. We’ve had a few instances of clients sending us documents unsure of the source language, for languages we work in regularly we can identify the language, but sometimes this can be tricky. For example there are many languages which are close cousins like Dutch and Flemish, a translator would know instantly which language the text was written in, but a project manager may not. The more specific you are when ordering, the easier the job is for the agency to ensure they use the right translation team for the job. The impact of sending the text to the wrong translators, is that it will slow the process down.

Last year we were working on some medical translations Spanish to English, in the middle of a large set of medical records, were hand written notes in another language Catalan. This wasn’t obvoius before working on the document. Fortunately the lead translator on the project also translates from Catalan, so there was no delay for the client, but had we used a different translator without this expertese, we would have had to resend the document to a second translator, introducing delay for the client. The simplest way to avoid these typese of issues is to give us the fullest information you can about the source text, and area of technical specialism, and the target market.

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