A translator is a tool to move a text from one language to another, so what input does the translator get to offer during the process? Almost nothing, as far as content is concerned. The translator should feel free to point out errors in spelling and grammar, if a good working relationship exists. (Do it at your own peril if it might upset the author.) And there should be an open channel of communication between author and translator, to clarify ambiguities and intentions. Beyond that, there is little a translator can do with a document except translate it. There are, however, circumstances where the translator can add input to texts before they are written, including possibly improving the translatability.
I worked for a time as an apprentice in an in-house translation office for a large, multinational corporation. Occasionally there were opportunities to talk to the people who wrote the newsletters and news releases to advise them on how to make their text more international in tone and flavor before it was sent to us. That is, their output was made more global (less American) in its sound and impact. We advised the removal of idioms, sports references, and odd grammatical structures, and the insertion of explanatory and introductory phrases for persons who might not be as well known outside the immediate reach of Headquarters. That's what is now called "localization", though at the time (1980) such a practice wasn't the routine duty of the translators.
It makes me wonder, when did localization come into use as an industry title and service?
.jpg)
Comment Preview