Thursday, September 3, 2009

What Skills Are Required To Be A Good Translator?

These days, people all across the globe generally believe that translation is just the involuntary substitution of languages, and therefore anybody can be a translator if she or he knows a foreign language. This perception is completely wrong, just having a good knowledge of foreign languages does not give any 100% assurance that a translation will be rendered reasonably well. In simple words translation requires skill to make the right and good analysis of the meaning in the target language. Moreover, a translator must be aware of the essence of the subject besides having a fine awareness of the language, including language rules, and spelling rules.

However, as the world is getting more globalize, in the past couple of years we are coming across the greatest challenge of text conversion and that is how to find the proper equilibrium between conveying the sense and beauty of the initial text and making the target conversion more efficient and effective. Only talented translators are competent of finding this sense of balance. So having a superior knowledge of the translation subject is just a part of the translation process.

A skilled text converter has something else and it is his/her talent. He or she must have the ability to make a virtual world where the source language author and the target language reader can network with one another. A talented text converter makes the best use of the nuance present in the source text in order to develop a fresh and effective target text.

The service that translators provide to enhance cultures and nurture languages has been noteworthy throughout history. Translators are transferring messages from one language to another, while preserving the underlying cultural ideas and values. Focusing on these facts, today some questions are being raised: what expertise is needed to encourage translating ability? How can someone turn into a good translator? If you are serious about becoming a successful translator, you must be able to fulfill or follow the following criteria:

1: The first and most important step is reading of different translations of different types of texts. An effective translating requires first-class knowledge, so approachable skills should be developed before performing any text conversion. An excellent translator has a complete knowledge of both source and target speech, so you must understand the diverse genres in both source and target verbal communication. It helps in improving reading aptitude in general, and gives insights, which can be subconsciously useful.

2: The second most vital talent required is the potential to write appropriately in both source and target languages. Writing is the chief work of a text converter. You should be well aware of different styles of writing and morals of editing in both source and target language. Factors like editing and proper punctuation usage increase the value and readability of the translation.

3. You should have listening ability to understand and alertness to grasp various expressions, idioms, and specific vocabulary and their uses. This talent is like an intuition and can't be developed easily, so to a certain extent it requires regular practice. Language intuition is like a necessity for all those who want to be proficient translators.

4. The act of translating is like accepting the significance of the source text within the framework of the source-language discourse. Now in order to enlarge this understanding, you must make yourself aware with cultural divergence and the diverse strategies present in the source and target verbal communication.

5. You should also be well aware of diverse registers, styles of speaking, and social stratification of both source and target languages. This socio-cultural awareness, helps in improving the quality of translations to a large level. It is very important to understand that the work of translating takes place in the socio-cultural framework; as a result it is very vital to evaluate translating activity only within a social perspective.

6. In order to develop excellent translation proficiency, you have to become yourself attentive of different knowledge-providing sources like bilingual dictionaries, encyclopedias and learn how to utilize them. Now using dictionaries requires a very technical proficiency. Words have diverse meanings in different circumstance, and therefore you have to perform a repetitive exercise to know the projected meaning of words in a specific situation.

7. In addition to this you should know the sentence structure of indirect speech and different figures of speech in the source language like hyperbole, irony, and meiosis. Having detail knowledge of these figures of speech will further help in changing your flaccid knowledge into active talent.

Finally, you should know that it takes much more to be a good and skilled translator. Talented translators are not made overnight, it definitely requires a significant investment in both source and target speech. For every talented text converter, switching simultaneously between two universes is one of the most demanding tasks. Consequently refined and systematic practice can lead to the development of skills that can further help in being a good translator.

Goihata a language translation company provides language translation services in Japanese, Spanish and English languages in Europe

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