Language variation is a big challenge for professional translators. Every language has its own syntactical structures and phonological principles. Every language has ethnic diversions as well. Stylistic variations in language have always been an area of interest for sociolinguists. It has been noticed that each individual has his/her own “stylistic variations” while speaking. The style of speech we adopt has a lot to do with our social upbringing, our environment, our education and our ethnic background etc. We talked to a German translator from The Marketing Analysts Translation Services Company who told us about the stylistically diverse documents they receive for language translation.
Linguists observed different social groups in different social settings and saw an immense stylistic variation among their style of speech. They noticed that the language used between upper class in more formal settings varied a great deal from the speech style of the lower class groups in a casual, relaxed setting. A review of websites of various providers of translation services indicates that translators of any language can translate various types of documents. Each document has its own jargon and its own stylistic variation. Translating a document without affecting its “linguistic style” is an art that requires special training.
Language develops in only those areas in which its speakers take an interest. Therefore, if a nation is research oriented, many technical scientific terms will be a part of their language. Whereas, a nation which is not very interested in research and science will only use loanwords from other languages and will have no proper substitutes for them in their primary language. Observing the activities of San Jose translation services closely, we came to the conclusion that a translator’s job is not easy. Other than satisfying clients, a certified translator will do his/her work professionally, not letting any error happen while translating from the source language to the target language. He/she uses the appropriate devices (thesauruses, specialized glossaries, translation memory and style guides etc). But only a professional translator can make the best use of these devices.
When a document is drafted, its linguistic style depends a lot on the ethnic, social, educational and professional background of the person drafting it. A professional translator comes across different kinds of documents. He sometimes carries out certified transcript translation or certified diploma translation, while at other times he has to translate a legal document. He uses different strategies, tries to contextually match the linguistic style of the source document in the translated version. He has to follow the “speech patterns” as well as the stylistic nuances while translating. The challenges faced by a translator are multitudinous. The experienced professional translator overcomes them deftly while the inexperienced, sloppy translator does not know how to deal with these challenges.
It might be a better idea to contact translation service companies for any translation you need, rather than contacting individual translators, whose professional backgrounds cannot be looked into. A translation service firm always makes sure that all its linguists are professionally trained and accredited by a reputed institution with an experience in the specific area of expertise.
