Technical Translation

Sometimes, as technical translators, we’re considered to be less-gifted than our colleagues translating literature and that’s a shame because manuals, reports, clinical trials and brochures are full-fledged books, with their characters, actions and paradigmatic structure. 

I like reading manuals. When I need to fix something, or need to do something I’ve never done before, I look for instructions. Reading well-translated, accurate manuals is half the battle. Watching a tutorial with good subtitles is a fast, efficient way of learning things. 

Terminology compliance, consistency, a clear phrasing are essential features to deliver a good-quality translation: reference materials, shared query files and a constant feedback from the client are incredibly useful to understand the text first-hand and thus to make it clear and understandable for our audience.

Technical is somewhat an umbrella term covering an infinite variety of topics, from the Aerospatial industry to Zootechnics (see for yourself: read the topics in any drop-down menu when you apply as a freelance translator on some agency’s website): I specialize in medical translation,  automotive and agriculture.