You can often hear that a certain company offers its translation services, and in particular - technical translation. What technical translation is it and how does it differ from the usual one?
Technical translations are a separate type of translation of texts. Use this type of translation in the case when employees of a certain profession need to accurately convey all that is said in a text written in a foreign language. In contrast to the usual - literary - translation, when the text can be transmitted in a more free form, replacing some words with others or changing their order, requires a serious approach and accurate terminology. Technical translations sometimes cause certain difficulties for translators, because it requires not only extensive linguistic knowledge, but also knowledge in the field of many technical features of specific professional sectors. This type of translation is often used in projects such as computer and engineering. When is a technical translation required?
● Translation of the presentation that you want to show to your foreign partners.
● If the head of a company speaks a language different from the language of most of his subordinates.
● Translation and processing of various tables, graphs, reports, instructions and memos to be presented to the same foreign partners and colleagues speaking another language to colleagues and subordinates.
Technical translations cannot be performed by an ordinary translator, such work should be trusted only to professionals, if you, of course, want your translation to be really high-quality, accurate and with the preservation of the terminology and semantic load of the text. No need to try to save money on technical translation - nothing good will definitely come of it. After all, a technical translation should be performed by a person who has extensive linguistic knowledge, as well as a deep understanding of all the technical subtleties of the professional industry, to which the translated text belongs. If the translator does not meet at least one of these requirements, then you should not even hope that the text you receive will be of high quality and highly professional. So what you should know - a translation on a technical subject will have a higher cost than, for example, a literary translation.
The company that performs the technical translations that you intend to contact should at least be well established in the market of translation services. Be sure to read reviews about this company, about the work that has been performed by its employees earlier, and about the employees themselves. You should ask if this company is engaged in translations in the professional field with which your texts are related. Some firms prefer computer-based technical translations, while other firms, on the contrary, engineering. Do not give the work into the hands of an individual, unless you are confident in his professionalism. Conclusion: technical translation is a job that should be done only by professionals.