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Subject:Re: SUGGESTION: TechWR and Translation From:Lee Chadeayne <wordnet -at- WORDNET -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 14 May 1996 17:27:20 -0400
In reply to Mr. Posada's query, or some of it... How do you verify that the
output of a translated document is correct?
Use someone whose work you have tested. You cannot accept someone's self
recommendation. So the first rule is: test! Before you start on that big
project, take time to review the translator's background and ask for a short
sample. Be aware that while a translator may excel in history or
biomedicine, he/she may not be competent to translate computer documentation.
Second, it is always worth your time to have a native speaker look at the
document at both ends, i.e., have your California Spanish translation
reviewed by someone in Madrid, or Puerto Rico, or Argentina, or wherever the
target language is spoken. This is not so hard as it sounds with your
Internet connection.
Third, you should ask your client for a glossary of terms and have a final
review by someone in-house at your client's office. This is not abdication
of your responsibility, but a common courtesy. In-house terminology is not
something that even the best translator should be expected to know.
Fourth, try not to work under pressure of time. Give time to review all the
considerations above in choosing your translator, and give him/her time to
research some of the knotty problems that come up.
There are 5 and 6 and more, I'm sure, but as a translator myself, these are
the things that come to mind at first.
Lee Chadeayne
wordnet -at- wordnet -dot- com
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