Translation rules: One of our crowdpanthers weighs in

Friday, November 22nd, 2013 In Translation By Roman

Translation rules: There are rules in this world

Rules are important, and one of our crowdpanthers has weighed in with her translation rules. Thanks Alice! We think they are quite good!

• Rephrase ONLY when linguistically necessary or for better understanding by the reader. Otherwise, nevah-evah mingle with phrasing. Translating is NOT rewriting.
• Don’t lose keywords in translation. EVER. It’s an offense!
• ‘Translate’ punctuation. Rules differ between languages so don’t use German punctuation in English for instance.
• Pay extra attention to terminology and jargon. Research if you’re not sure!
• Pay extra attention to composite words. Many languages have rules for that. German, Dutch and Swedish, for example.
• Spelling!!! I know everyone makes them (including me), but seriously…spellcheck!
• ALWAYS re-read the target text with THIS LIST next to it.

What do you think of these translation rules? Do you have any to add? What translation rules do you think are important in order to make the proofreader’s life easy? We also have lots of resources for everyone to improve their translation skills. Check them out!