Knowledge Base Translation Articles

 

One issue that always comes up between translators and reviewers is whether the chosen translation is actually an error or if it’s just a matter of preference. To lessen instances of disagreements, it’s best for both parties to keep in mind that many languages have formal and informal words, and that usage varies according to the topic and occasion.

For instance, in German, one must address a person with “Sie” if you mean to be formal and “Du,” if you’re just being casual. The Spanish language, on the other hand, requires someone to use the second-person conjugationwhen using “You” to refer to the subject, informally, and the third-person conjugation to make it more formal. These are just some of so many other language rules that a translator and reviewer might encounter while taking on a project. The big question here is, is there a clue to find out whether one should be formal or informal?

One thing we at Team Glocal can suggest is to identifythetargetreader.

After all, while it is important for the translator to understand both the source and target languages, one doesn’t achieve a successful translation by stopping Black Eyed Peas Imma Be (92-122 Bpm) (Remixed By Party Bangaz) free downloads there. Having the skill to properly identify the document’s target reader is just as essential to creating high quality, readable, translated content, and one can only get there if the translator understands who the audience and why they are reading the article. The translator must be savvy enough to learn what type of audience the writer might be targeting just by reading the source. (Although sometimes the client may provide a brief containing this information.) Just the same, since we know that figuring out how formal or informal the text you’re translating should be, here’s a little guide that might help you decide on the level of formality you need for your document:

Type of File

Level of Formality

Medical

High

(Documents, Websites, Products, Letters)

 

Legal

High

(Contracts, News, Documents, Letters)

 

Business

High

(News, Internal Memos, Contracts, Letters)

 

Websites

 

a. Software

Medium

b. Search Engines

 

b.1. Monetization

High

b.2. Marketing

Medium

b.3. Advertisments

Medium/Low

c. Social Networking Sites

Medium/Low

d. Tangible Products

 

d.1. Soft-sell

Medium/Low

d.2. Hard-sell

High/Medium

A simpler rule of thumb is if the document tends to discuss necessities like health, education, government, and finance then it should be formal. Other documents can be gauged based on the writer’s tone and by finding out who should be reading the work.

*(img c/o http://alpha-business.blogspot.com/2011/03/formal-vs-informal.html)

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