Best practices of professional translation companies

Though the concept sounds simple, translating one language into another isn’t as easy as it may seem. This is because not only does the translator require full mastery of two languages, the subject field, terminology as well as cultural differences, but they must also also fully ensure their work is free from any errors, ambiguity or awkwardness. A slight error can have catastrophic consequences and so to ensure accurate work, our translators always follow the below best practices:

1. Nativeness - It is imperitive for a translator to have knowledge of formal aspects of the source and target language at a native level, including grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and syntax.
2. Skilled proofreaders - Translators are constantly under pressure to deliver thousands of words on a daily basis and even the most careful will require an independent proofreader checking the document, amending any mistakes and therefore raising the quality of the document.
3. Conducting research - Using reference documents from clients allows professional translators to verify their understanding of the source text. If the references is not available, translators should research online to find reliable material that confirms their understanding. Any uncertainties should be listed for the client to verify and it is important for translators to never make assumptions!
4. Build Translation Memory Databases - Translation Memory (TM) is able to store previously translated sentences and paragraphs. Not only does this help the translator consistently use the same terminology throughout, but it also allows them to reduce a client's costs.