What is translation?

Translation is not hard science. Translation is an art. In arriving at his translation of a text, the translation puts his knowledge and skills to use in pursuit of a certain balance, a rather subjective one at that, between faithful rendition, compliance with the rules of the target language, and a natural and stylish flow of the text. No small role is there to play for the individual translator's linguistic competence or, in other words, his command of the respective languages, the importance of which is so widely neglected nowadays, even by professionals. The translator needs also to heed the purpose for which the source text was written, as well as the purpose for which it is being translated, as long as he has such knowledge. And so we do when we translate.

Beautiful or faithful? What can and what cannot be expected of translation

It is not true that translation may be either pretty or faithful. What is true is that the translator's skill matters, as does the time available, and the quality of the source text (not all source texts are pretty to begin with). It is certainly true that, at times, one needs to choose. Likewise is it true that such choices are very subjective and translators may legitimately differ in their opinions. This is an entirely different situation from the one in hard science, say, mathematics or empirical sciences. It should therefore not be expected, as a rule, that one translator will do it exactly the same way as some other did. Significant differences in style can sometimes be noted between individual translators. The foregoing is particularly true for Polish and English. Literal translation, easily imposing itself on a person with somewhat decent command of a language, need not necessarily be the best one. On the other hand, neither is it the translator's task to rearrange every sentence's order and replace words with synonyms to show off; for truly what is there to show off other than deficient precision? It is not to be expected that a translator will make a mellifluous report out of hastily scribbled notes which were delivered to him in that form. In other words, one should not mistake translation for editorial jobs and actual writing. For similar reasons, we should not expect an unwarned translator to share, spontaneously, our specific preference with regard to e.g. more literary or more common language, strict prescriptive grammar or easy modern language. The translator will translate the text in the same manner in which it was written. This is what fidelity to the original requires unless something else was clearly agreed with the client. Translators are not mind-readers. Nor are we. But you can always discuss the details with us in advance, which we encourage you to do.

Proofreading and correction (by us, of texts supplied by the client)

While correcting a text we similarly take account the purpose of doing so. This because simple proofreading in order to fish out actual, objectively verifiable errors is one thing, and correction intended to upgrade the language of the source text is another. Verification that serves to challenge a translation delivered by someone else is yet another different affair altogether. There is also a significant difference between fully correcting a translation, and correcting the target text only (for example, popular proofreading or verification by a native speaker of the target language who does not much understand the source one, may cause more harm than good). We regard any instance of correction or verification individually.

How can I make my translator's work easier?

Translation is made significantly easier by diligent work of the original author on his text, by using correct language and reviewing the source text thoroughly prior to sending it to the translator for translation. The document sent should also be the final version, in order to avoid on-the-fly corrections. The translator is also not competent to make decision on tracked changes (changes specially marked in the original text as remaining yet up to someone's decision) any more than he is competent to make business decisions in the place of his client. If we are giving our translator a text to correct, it might be advantageous to consider whether we should not actually order professional translation right off the bat. For example, there is a fashion for foreign speakers of English to write in English and order that writing translated into their very own mother tongue (without ordering a review or proofreading first). That fashion is ill advised.

The translator and the reviewer

While delivering translations for our clients our aim is to provide good translation first and to please the client only second, and we generally do not concern ourselves with pleasing the proofreader (unless he has a point). This is similar to a lawyer who needs to give accurate advice even if his client won't like it. Much in the light of what we wrote above about translation being an art and not a science, this applies to any 'QA' processes, reviews, proofing charts and other such that our clients sometimes ask us to address. Thus while we fully appreciate the value of good contact with our clients and we adhere as far as we can to the wishes of our clients as communicated in advance, and we are readily available to discuss the details of the client's expectations so that they may fully enjoy our work, we are, however, generally not ready to cooperate with reviewers and proofreaders who lack linguistic proficiency or objectivity. If you retain such a proofreader or reviewer, we suggest hiring a different one. Or a different translator. If you wish to verify our work (which is comendable), have it done by a truly qualified professional. This is of extreme importance in the case of legal texts.

Legal texts

How much legalese does a non-lawyer understand? It depends on how the contract, judicial opinion, statute or some other piece of legal writing was written. Sometimes a lot, typically not that much. This is not to say the lay reader has no idea of what the text is about. Not at all. However, a vague idea of what the text is generally about is not enough. A contract is not a literary piece. The prose does not count more than the meaning does. And the meaning does not consist in general message. The meaning is specific unless it is not. But it takes a lot of knowledge to decide. There is a reason lawyers and dentists use each other's work: the dentist doesn't really want to appear in court unrepresented and the lawyer doesn't know how to treat his own aching teeth (it would be hard for him to do even if he know how). Legal translation combines legal knowledge and linguistic skill. It should not be haphazardly braved by even professional linguists who lack the requisite legal training, nor by lawyers who are not at ease with the relevant languages. Thus it is important to work with professionals.