Quality Triumphs over First Impressions
Anyone whose goal is a long-term investment in a sustainable business knows that the essence of survival in the market today is the principle of re-ordering (i.e, the return of a satisfied customer). The client will come back only if the product’s quality has won him over. While important, the first impression is not the only thing to take into account.
Crafting Excellence: The Dream Team
Although it is true that successfully implemented marketing can attract clients, it is actually quality that is the only guarantee of the long-term sustainability of business and cooperation with clients. Every translation agency that cares about its professional reputation and the satisfaction of its clients is familiar with this concept and invests in the prestige of its translations and the quality of its translators. In order to achieve this, the most important thing to do is to gather a successful team of experts: organizers, translators, proofreaders, and people with a strong sense of language and the context in which it is used.
Beyond Words: The Complex Nature of Translation
Yet another thing that we should definitely keep in mind when we talk about translation is the specific and complex nature of the translation process. A good translation implies excellent knowledge of both languages: the source language substrate and the target language of the translation. Translation is much more than simply transcribing the words of one language into the words of another language; it is much more than a mere replacement. This is to say that it is by no means a straightforward reproductive activity that can be done routinely. This is particularly true for artistic texts / belles-lettres, and, above all, poetry, which is claimed to be untranslatable, that is, that only poets can attempt to translate it.
The Translator's Mental Gymnastics
Translation involves the simultaneous activity of several mental processes: understanding the text, memorizing it, formulating the appropriate translation, proofreading and editing the translation, in order to eliminate both potential material – semantic errors and spelling errors. Obviously, the aim of translation is to make the translated text (or speech) fluent, readable, comprehensible, impressive and appealing. An experienced and knowledgeable translator will keep all these features in mind, in order to create a decent finished product.
Translation as an Art Form
The translation must conform to the mode of expression characteristic of the language into which it is being translated while preserving the accuracy and precision of the source language. Avoiding the so-called literal translation is the supreme task and one of the greatest challenges for the translator who cares about their reputation. It requires not only a thorough knowledge of syntactic structures, vocabulary, especially the phraseology of the language from which it is being translated and into which it is being translated, and orthography, but also cultural differences, customs, and even a specific sense of humor sometimes, as well as contextual adaptation of the text to all the aforementioned specificities; (re)familiarization and marking of linguistic nuances, too. That is why it is important for a translator to be eloquent, to have a large lexicon, to be original and creative in order to express to listeners or readers, the aim, the desired content and the specific meaning of the translation. That being said, we can tell that translation is much more than a job – it is an art.
It is the genuine artwork with words to choose the right word in a wide range of possibilities: to compose an appropriate formula of words that will be a clear reflection of the meaning, tone and intention of the original text.
Therefore, translation is neither simple nor easy and it implies great responsibility. It entails the ability to make independent decisions and be bold (in accordance with extensive experience), it calls for creativity that will allow the translator to express himself/herself freely yet accurately. By translating, the translator mediates between the author of a text and his/her audience, but at the same time he/she leaves his/her personal mark, i.e. stamp on the translated text. This is to say that the same original text will be translated differently by different translators. This is already a testimony that translation is an original process, a kind of painter’s canvas that displays not only the previous experience of the translator but also their temperament, mental and spiritual horizons, which can be easily recognized by those who can see through it or are good listeners. This is why the translator is a kind of artist who must learn to play freely with words and enjoy it, but must never become their slave.
