Welcome to the latest in my series of articles. See here for the last one. This time I am going to discuss some of the challenges you may encounter when translating.
You know your native language thoroughly, you are fluent in your second language and you can write – so translating is simple, right?
Well, in principle. But, however experienced a translator you are, things sometimes do go wrong. After all, we are all human and anyone can have a bad day. So what sort of issues might you come across, and how can you get around the problems you encounter?
- I have no idea what that means!
If in doubt, Google it. Of course. But what if Google doesn’t help? A few years ago, before Google searches got as good as they are now. I was carrying out a translation for Gengo and I came across a German phrase I had never heard before:
Ich bin zu nah am Wasser gebaut.
I Googled, with no success; I sat and thought about it, but I couldn’t work it out. The context did not help in this case. Luckily for me, the chimney sweep was in the house at the time and I went out to where he was working and asked him. He explained that it means that:
I cry too much; I am over-emotional.
And I went back and completed the translation.
With little things like that, if you fail to find an answer online (and nowadays you can find most things online if you use the correct searches – the above phrase can easily be found now), and you can’t work it out for yourself, it helps to have someone who can help you. Obviously you need to maintain confidentiality: don’t give away customer details, and only provide enough information for the person helping you to get adequate context. I occasionally ask one of my German friends for help – they don’t even necessarily need to speak the target language (my chimney sweep didn’t). However do not, whatever you do, simply submit a translation with a guess or a blank space without sending a note to the customer. Communication is the key here. If you really can’t find an answer, let the customer know so that they understand.
- I’m stuck: I understand the text but I can’t think how to translate it
Why is this the case? Sometimes it is simply because I have been working too long without a break, in which case, if possible, I down tools for a while and go and do something else. Sometimes it is because something just isn’t easy to translate.
There are, for instance, many occasions when a literal translation doesn’t sound right in English. As an example, a recent translation I checked contained the following:
Wi gesagt, gerne mit dem Hinweis: Kuck mal, er trägt den und den [Produkt] von [X] oder [Y] oder von wem auch immer.
The translation was:
As I said, gladly with the note: Look, he is wearing the [X] or [Y] [name of products] or from whomever.
The first part of this translation, “gladly with the note” makes very little sense, and the second part should actually have stuck to the original German word order. When I was checking the translation, I needed a little time to think out a better alternative as a suggestion. An appropriate translation depends, of course, on what precedes this particular sentence, as well as the tone of the text in general. Here it is relatively casual. But what if I were doing the translation myself and came across such a sentence and my brain couldn’t immediately think of a good way of rephrasing it?
If I am stuck and time allows, I will walk away from the computer and go and do something else for a few minutes (even for a few hours, or overnight if the deadline permits it). If it is part of a fairly short translation, and time is equally short, I would carry on, making a note to go back to the part I am stuck on, and finish the rest of the text. Since of course I always check my work thoroughly before delivering it, going over problem phrases becomes part of this check. It is quite likely that by then I will have thought of a better way to reword the sentence. But, whatever you do, don’t provide something that sounds wrong in English and hope that you can get away with it.
What I do always try to do is to pace my work so that I don’t take on so much that I become too tired to work effectively. I always take regular breaks in order to rest both my body and my mind. Staying hunched over a computer for too long is counterproductive. So go and make a cup of tea, walk the dog, or simply find something else that relaxes you and take a breather.
By the way, a suggestion for rephrasing the above sentence, although by no means the only alternative, is:
As I said, I might add: Look, he is wearing [name of products] from [X] or [Y] or whomever.
Still rather off the cuff and could be improved upon, but a bit better!
- I keep getting interrupted
Granted, there are some things that are unpredictable and you can’t plan in extra time for, but mostly, if you work at home, as I do, you can expect interruptions. My cat likes walking over the keyboard, which makes for interesting reading – if necessary, I shut her out of my office. The postman comes with a parcel and I have to answer the door to him. The phone rings… make sure you factor in time for the little things when you take on work, and ensure that your friends and family know not to expect you to answer calls from them when you are working unless it is an emergency. Simply count small interruptions as break times.
- The customer has complained about my translation
There are many reasons why this might happen, and it is not always because you have produced a poor translation. But sometimes it might be that you have. It could happen to the best of us.
If a customer asks for something to be changed, and they are justified in doing so, simply do it. Be polite and professional, and the customer will go away happy.
On occasion a customer may not like the way you have translated something, although there is nothing actually wrong with your work. This may be simply a matter of preference (if the customer has a house style, for instance), or they may have misunderstood what you have written. On occasion, your customer may be native in the source language and have some understanding, albeit incomplete, of the target language. In which case you may have to explain why you used the wording you did. For example, a long time ago I translated something related to computers and for the German word
einfach
I used both
simple and easy.
The customer, obviously aware that English has many more words that German and wanting a more varied text, asked why I hadn’t used other words such as, for example,
facile.
I politely explained why this word was not an option in this case and the customer went away satisfied with the answer. So, to reiterate, whether a complaint is justified or not, be polite and professional in your answer. And, if it does happen that a customer rejects your translation, Gengo will always get me or one of my colleagues to check it before making a decision as to whether the rejection was correctly made or not, so don’t worry, Gengo will be fair to you.
In summary, with the best will in the world, things can get challenging. To minimise problems:
allow time for your translation;
use all the resources you have to hand if you get stuck;
take breaks when necessary;
check your work before you submit it;
and communicate politely and professionally with customers when you need to.
As always, please do ask questions or make comments. Happy holidays to you all, and a very happy New Year.
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