Translation & transcreation
For me every translation also involves transcreating and localising. Ignoring cultural differences and translating word for word is a thing of the past - today´s clients want an end result they can use without having to think about adapting it to local requirements. Having reviewed a lot of press releases my advice to junior translators is always the same: Be brave enough to step away from the original. Change things around! Make it sound natural! Most clients will not care if you stick to the same word order. Grab the reader´s attention - make it interesting. After all, in most cases your translation will serve a marketing purpose.
Revision, review & proofreading
Confused yet? You are not the only one. Thankfully ISO 17100:2015 has come up with some definitions of how these terms should be used within the translation industry. Here´s a quick overview:
Revision: Bilingual examination of target against source language (bilingual editing)
Review: Monolingual examination of target language (monolingual editing by domain specialists)
Proofreading: Examination of the revised target content and applying corrections before printing
Post-Editing
For most translators Post-Editing is the enemy of everything they have been trying to do. Of course revising a machine-translated text can actually take longer than translating from scratch. However, for certain projects machine translation and Post-Editing can serve their purpose. Working on software manuals for example I have witnessed the evolution of neural machine translation and how it has become more and more intelligent. What started out as very simple suggestions, getting only 50 % of a sentence right, has now become a useful basis and can save a lot of typing. So rather than fearing for their own jobs I would suggest translators embrace this technology and make the most of it - where it makes sense.
Consulting & cultural advice
Did you know that for Germans it is bad luck to congratulate someone or celebrate your birthday before the actual day (celebrating the evening before is fine as long as you stay up until midnight and congratulate then)? Have you ever heard of “Dinner for One” or wondered why no-one knows it in England? Did you know that, as a rule, women do not pour themselves a glass of wine in France? Did you know that it is bad luck to put new shoes on a table in England? Or that Australians abbreviate everything from avo (avocado) to arvo (afternoon)? Thanks to living and travelling in different countries I can give you important insights so you can avoid any potential pitfalls. So if you have any questions - ask!
I am happy to help.