Want to Know the Truth Behind Common Language Translation Myths?

Imagine making a connection between two distinct cultures, where every word and phrase constitutes the core composition; the outcome is the essence of translation, a magnificent blend of art, culture, and linguistic concepts. Despite its importance and the specialized experience required to undertake translations, it is often misunderstood and covered in myths that can change its true meaning. If the challenges and nuances of language translation are not understood well it can result in failures and undermine the appreciation of the complexities and professionals behind the process who dedicate themselves to this specialization. Language service providers need to stay updated about these myths from time to time and come up with practical facts that debunk these myths to highlight the importance of language conversion. It may pique your interest to learn about the essential qualities of a professional language service provider and what sets them apart. If you want to know more about this, you can read this insightful web blog on Qualities of a Professional Service Provider.

In today’s web blog, we will dive into some of the most common translation myths that must be understood and set straight.

Some Common Translation Myths Debunked

• Myth: Conversion is a simple word to word process

One of the most common myths is that language conversion is simply a word-to-word change process. The fact is that language conversion requires an understanding of the context, the idiomatic expressions, and the cultural aspects of the language being translated. The point of the whole process is to convey the meaning and not just the words.

• Myth: Any Native Speaker can Become a Translator

Often people assume that native speakers can substitute as translators. The reality is that even though native speakers might be fluent in their language and have clarity about the technical aspects. However professional translation requires specialization, and it needs the necessary techniques and in-depth knowledge about the conversion process. The 2018 Winter Olympics spotted the confusion between international journalists and players when a local volunteer incorrectly translated the native language. This highlights the need for professional translators and illustrates that knowledge of terminology and techniques is essential for native speakers to become translators.

• Myth: Bilinguals are Natural Translators

A person who is well versed in two languages is known to be bilingual. While being bilingual can be quite helpful in day-to-day life in easing communication. But professional language conversion requires specialized skills, training and a deep understanding of the technical aspects of both the source as well as the target language. A bilingual person may be able to understand both the languages efficiently, but he might not be able to translate the legal documents with accuracy if he doesn’t has proper knowledge of legal terms.

• Myth: Machine Translation is Sufficient for All Purposes

Machine tools have taken the world by surprise. With economic efficiency, multiple language selection, instant results, and know-how about almost all topics machine translations are becoming quite trendy. But they are being enough and sufficient for all purposes is a myth. No doubt machine translation tools like Google Translate and DeepL can be useful for basic comprehension, but they fail in rending accuracy in conveying the context, tone, and subtle meanings and require interference of human experts for sharpening and polishing the content.

• Myth: Any Translator can translate any Subject

This myth is similar to the myth that bilinguals can be translators even though the basic job of translation is to convey the meaning from the source language to the target language. But it is essential to realize that such conversions are specific to the subject; meaning that the translators need to specialize in their respective fields such as legal, medical, scientific-technical, etc. so that they can meet the requirements of the subject matter extensively and train themselves to become experts in their respective domains. If you want to explore more about how subject-specific knowledge plays a decisive role in this industry, you can read this insightful web blog that studies the ambiguity between scientific and technical translation Exploring Scientific and Technical Translation a Comparative Analysis.

• Myth: Translators are the only Players in the field.

When we say translation; people assume that it is only the translator or the linguist doing all the conversion work. Well, the fact is, that translators may be the man of the match but they work cohesively with a specialized team of collaborators and subject matter experts who bring completion and success to the project.

For example, a technical translator who is translating the user manual of a certain product will have to work closely with the engineers who have the subject-specific knowledge about the product, to be able to deliver a sensible conversion.

• Myth: Translators only have to deal with the Written Text only

We all know that translating only the written text is an understatement. Translators often have to work with various kinds of media that include audio-video content, media content, and develop compelling marketing strategy content, where they have to adapt their language conversion methods to meet the requirements of each particular format.

• Myth: Translation is a Speedy Process

While experts can do their job efficiently and within tight deadlines, it is essential to understand that quality work takes time. Often the translations have to go through thorough research and pass rigorous quality measures to ensure that the intended message of the original text is conveyed accurately in the target language without any loss in translation.

• Myth: Translation and Interpretation are Same

While both translation and interpretation come from the same branch, they are quite distinct in approach and method. Translation deals with the written text and interpretation involves conversion of the spoken language. A translator has to conduct research and refine their work to produce a successful conversion, an interpreter has to convey the spoken words simultaneously in real time. Therefore, both aspects require distinct skills, which looks like similar, but not the same.

• Myth: All Languages are the same to Translate

While the process of language conversion involves the same steps and specialization, all languages differ in grammar, syntax, technical composition, scripts, and cultural contexts. Therefore, all languages are different and unique to translate.

Essence

Understanding and acknowledging the complexities of language and translation is essential to course through today’s highly interconnected global world. By debunking these myths and accepting the actual facts we can appreciate the expertise and creativity that is involved in the process of translation and build stronger and meaningful connections between cultures globally.