10 Things a Professional Certified Translation Service Agency should do
Whether you need your Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Diploma, School Documents, Court Documents, Adoption Documents or Corporate Technical Documents translated, you should make sure that the translations agency you are hiring will do the following:
- 1. For example: you may need your document translated for school, your Birth Certificate needs to be accurately translated for Immigration (USCIS) purposes or you need your legal document translated for Court. The translations agency or translator needs to clearly understand the purpose for which your document will be used and to be able to recognize the legal language style of the entity where your documents will be presented. Stylistic differences should be respected. Once that is established, the translator will be able to formulate and reflect the styles of the appropriate legal system.
- 2. The translations agency or translator must have previous experience with translating your type of document and subject matter.
- 3. Check the companies glossaries to ensure that similar and industry specific terminology will be used. Consistency in terminology and style is a must in all court related and legal corporate translations. If the document is translated into a foreign language, the translator needs to understand which country it will be used in; if it is Spanish for Spain or Argentina, for example.
- 4. Do some research and be open with the client, ask questions or obtain necessary reference materials either from the client -if any- or from available resources to familiarize with the subject matter.
- 5. Reading the document thought several times in order for the translator to be able to structure the translation stylistically and plan the translation by highlighting specific industry terminology that is unclear or needs more understanding or clarification.
- 6. Translate and produce a first translation draft.
- 7. A professional skilled translator should not translate verbatim, rather focus on the meaning and style of the original document. Consistency of the translation style of the translation should be a key.
- 8. Proofread the first translated draft. Corrections and errors in grammar, spelling, or style should be made making sure that the flow of the text is flowing and coherent.
- 9. Compare the corrected draft with the original source document. The formatting of the translation should match the original document’s layout that requires additional step.
- 10. Having the corrected translation draft reviewed by a second translator and an editor/reviewer. It is imperative that a second language professional will proofread the document at least twice to recommend edits, changes to ensure that the clients received the most accurate translation.
