The importance of context in translation

One of the biggest at the moment translate challenges is to face the lack of context. If you understand the text is essential to a quality translation , having the context and references is equally important.

Suppose that a customer needs the following isolated sentence in English translated into another language: "Crankshaft Line Gantries consist of overhead equipment, such as Gantry Carriage, Drip Pan, Blow Offs, and Shot Pins". This prayer, despite being so short, may represent a headache for the translator, since it has no context. You will need to find what each of the elements, to what belongs, what role, etc. In this case, the sentence in question is part of a user manual for a conveyor belt, so the translation is: "the crankshaft line Gantries are composed by a superior team, for example, the carriage of the Gantry, the drip tray" ", blowing stations and spring latches." (A sentence with enough technical and fancy terminology)

Another example is when the customer wants to translate its Web site and sent in HTML format files to translate. If the customer does not tell us which page the files belong (or we do not ask) the translator will have to translate blindly, guessing How to translate single words. While it is an exaggerated example, might that not having the page in question, the translator translate 'Home' as 'Home', when in fact refers to the home page (which may have serious consequences for the user). Having the reference page, the task of translation will be much faster and more accurate.

For this reason, we must make sure to have all the information necessary to achieve a precise translation. Communication with the client is a centerpiece in a translation project, since this step we can request information and reference material.

Often, touches those who manage translation projects find the context or references in the text to translate. It can happen that a reference to another work (a passage from the Bible, one movie, another novel) that appears in a novel, does not understand the reference, the translator not to translate it correctly. We even make decisions about the tone of the translation, if using verbs in the infinitive or go to the user, etc.

Always know the context will result in a better quality translation. It is not only the customer's responsibility to send detailed information about the text in question, but also of the person in charge of the translation project. At Trusted Translations, we always strive to keep a fluent communication with our customers in order to provide the best language service of the market.