Let’s face it — language translation is not without its aspects of difficulty. So many people believe that they can handle it on their own, yet a lack of experience often results in a multitude of errors. Some mistakes occur so frequently that they’re easily identifiable as being common in language translation, especially among those who are new to the industry. More often than not, these result from simply not encountering enough different translation scenarios, and can take years of experience to properly avoid.
Fortunately, many of these issues can be worked around, and it usually just comes down to being able to identify the problems and work towards ways to keep them at bay. Here are three of the most commonly made mistakes in the world of language translation, all of which are avoidable.
Translating Word for Word
For many novice translators, it can be extremely tempting to translate a document word for word. After all, it makes sense that this would be an accurate route to take. Because of differences in languages and dialects, however, this typically results in an inaccurate translation, and it may even come off as gibberish. The culprit is usually syntax, which is something that no translator is capable of learning overnight. With experience, however, this issue tends to fade away.
Mistaking the Meaning of Certain Words
In English, there are certain words that have similar spellings, yet completely different meanings. It’s one of the reasons why English is actually such a difficult language for many people to learn, yet it’s far from being the only language with this issue. Mistaken meaning of certain words can wreck even the best translations and should be avoided at all costs. Nevertheless, those who are new to translation are bound to make mistakes when it comes to the meanings of certain words, especially if they’re new to a particular language.
Disrupting the Flow of Communication
Perhaps the hardest thing for novice translators to nail down is the ability to translate andprovide a good flow of communication at the same time. It’s the kind of thing that often gets overlooked, yet proper communication skills are the cornerstone of a good translation. The words may all be translated properly, but grammatically, they might be a mess. Communication is just as important in written form as it is in verbal form, after all.
