Good translator.

Many people tend to think that a person who knows foreign languages is a good translator. However, that’s not necessarily true, as levels of knowledge of a language can vary. What are the qualities that characterize a good translator?

1. Passion. A translator should be passionate about their translation job. They should use all their means and efforts to deliver every project in excellent shape, as if it was their baby.
2. Translation Skills. A good translator must have a specific linguistic education. They should master not only the foreign language they work with, but also the skills of translation.
3. Curiosity. A translator must be curious and motivated to keep on learning new words and expression. The learning process of a translator should be never-ending.
4. Rich Vocabulary. A good translator must have a wide lexicon, not only in the foreign language but also in their mother tongue. This will make the translation process easier and the quality of the translation higher. It is also convenient for translators to acquire technical terms in specific fields, such as business, law, sciences, engineering, etc…
5. Clarity. A good translator’s goal is to express the idea of the source text as clearly as possible, without ambiguity. They should avoid difficult structures when they can use simple ones.
6. Translation Quality. A good translator should be obsessed with quality.
7. Resources.  In order to achieve the aforementioned quality, a good translator should use all available resources at their disposal.
8. Accuracy. A good translator should provide an exact transfer of information. Despite it being tempting sometimes, the translator should not correct the source text, trying to maintain its “spirit” instead.
9. Honesty. Translators are humans after all, therefore it is normal for them to not know some expressions or words. Nevertheless they shouldn’t just skip it, but they should conduct research and note it down for future reference.
10. Humble Pride.  A good translator should always deliver a translation that they can be proud of, but at the same time be humble enough to accept possible corrections from the editor/proof reader.  The most important thing in the end is always the quality of the translation.

 

Here at LingoStar, we have specialized translators and proof readers from all over the world able to work on any type of document. We can provide language services in over 100 languages as well as English. Call us today or send us an email for a free quote!