A Guide to Different Types of Translation

You may be surprised with how many types and methods of translations there are out there. Almost everyone is familiar with literary translation, but nobody thinks about other translations until they happen to need them.

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You will need to have an understanding of the requirements for the type of translation you are interested in, so you can choose the right service. The tone of voice and style of the text will differ depending on whether you need a business-related translation or the one for personal purposes. If you want to learn more about it, keep reading:

Literary Translation

It is the type of translation you need when dealing with foreign literature like novels, poems, short stories, etc. In literary translation, it is crucial to preserve the form, content, structure, and aesthetic impact of the original text.

Translators frequently have to work with idioms that will reflect the text’s meaning when translated literally. It is necessary to find equivalents in the language of translation. The translator must comply with the style of a particular era of translated work and make sure it corresponds to cultural characteristics.

Often, the translated text’s accuracy is not as important as the feelings that remain with the reader after reading the text. It is why only a translator with writing skills can do a real literary translation.

Medical Translation

Translation of the medical texts covers medical publications as well as individual medical records of a particular person. Like legal translations, this type requires a literal accuracy of the translated information, excluding the ambiguity of definitions and private information confidentiality. You can visit the website of one of the services to see a variety of translations.

It would be best to choose a translator in this field with the same meticulousness as when looking for a doctor to treat a rare disease.

Legal Translation

Legal translation is based on translating legal documents from birth certificates to wills, work contracts, and divorce papers. It is recognized to be the most complex area in the translation industry. 

You need to find a specialist for performing this kind of translation, better with an education in the field of law. Some translation services provide legal advice from lawyers in double-checking the translated text to avoid any possible mistakes that might lead to lawsuits or financial damage. You can ask for a notarial certificate that will confirm the legal validity of the translation.

Judicial translations may be considered part of legal translations, but they mostly deal with court documents like judgments, interviews, witnesses’ testimonies, etc. The terminology used here must be strictly abided.

Technical Translation

Technical translators have to combine an excellent knowledge of languages and a detailed understanding of the topic they are working on in order to get a quality translation. A technical translator usually works on texts like manuals, catalogs, mechanism descriptions, scientific publications, etc.

It is essential to pay attention to the terminology, abbreviations, measure units, symbols and diagrams, images and graphs, and their right adaptation into another language. A high-quality technical literature translation is an equivalent text that conveys the information contained in the original text most accurately.

Software Localization

Every business has its website now (otherwise, it is considered non-existing), but having only an English version is not enough when expanding your brand internationally.

Internationalization allows you to adapt your website into the target language with all the social and cultural differences taken into consideration. Specialists will provide you with user interface translation and adaptation of everything from date and time format to the requirements of state agencies to the software.

This kind of translation is very detail-based on national standards and mentality differences, and the website is just the tip of the iceberg. For example, The Witcher is played worldwide with all the original jokes saved but adapted to ensure that everyone who plays it will get the initially intended mood. And it is possible thanks to software localization.

Conclusion

The translation industry is in a constant state of development. It can expand in all directions whenever there is a request. As a result, there are many different types of translation, and some even have their own branches!

When looking for a specialized translation, you need to make sure that your request is clear and understandable, so there will be no further confusion in the translation process. Every translation type has its requirements that need to be followed to get a high-quality text. They can be your check-list to examine the work you received.

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