Technical Terminology and Translation

In our almost 30 years of translation services for our vast amount of clients, we've come across many different hurdles, especially in the world of technical terminology translations.

In a few words translation means conveying words, ideas and intent from one language to another.
Words are the building blocks of any spoken or written language.  In and of themselves, they have very limited meaning. Even one word added, deleted or replaced in a phrase can dramatically change the meaning or intent of the message.

For example, the following 7-word phrases have just one different word, but a world of difference. “See the books on the table”.  “Move the books on the table.” This may sound elementary, but it indicates intent. The first intent is passive, while the second is active. It’s absolutely crucial for a translator to understand the intent of the client. Is the client trying to inform, persuade, enlighten, alert, advise, etc.?  As machine translation (using computers to translate) grows in popularity, it falls short and is generally quite inadequate when trying to decipher intent.  

A computer will recognize thousands of words, but it isn’t able to get into the mind of the writer or speaker.  For an in-depth comparison of human vs. machine translation see:  http://www.anecsys.com/2015/04/human-translation-vs-machine-translation/.  

If you’re trying to read an email from a long lost cousin who speaks another language, or you only need to get a general idea of what is written, then by all means try one of the common online translation sites such as https://www.translate.google.com/  or https://www.babelfish.com/.  Quite often, especially when dealing with advertising or marketing, intent is not clear. Coca Cola has a well-known campaign called “Coke is it!”  The intent, of course, is to sell their product. But how does one translate this?  And how does one translate this with style? These are just a few of the things translators deal with on a daily basis.  Here are a few more examples of Coke slogans.  “Ice-cold sunshine.” “America's favorite moment.”  “Passport to refreshment.” “Coke knows no season.”  “For people on the go.”  “It's the real thing.”  “Coke adds life.”  “Life tastes good.”  “Make It Real.”  “Open Happiness.”  “Taste The Feeling.” and  "As it should be." Send any of these slogans to a dozen different translators working with the same language pairs and you’ll get at least 6 different translations, perhaps more.  And, they will all be correct.

If you're in need to technical document translations, or any other form of documents like HR translations, or Amazon page listing translations, feel free to reach out for an estimate. Here at TSI, our job is to make yours easier.