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On the “Nature of Translation” page of this Web site I introduce the concept of the Translation Time Bomb—a poorly translated document that eventually and inevitably explodes, costing a company time, money and aggravation. Let me explain a bit more about this concept.
I believe a translation becomes a time bomb for basically one reason: guesswork. Yet how does this come about? Let’s begin by discussing translators.
A professional translator is either a generalist or specialist. A generalist accepts jobs covering a wide range of subjects, enabling a steady supply of work. A specialist focuses on one or several fields. By excelling, he or she will be in demand and can charge a higher rate.
While translating, both types encounter content they don’t understand—generalists by their very nature, and specialists because they know less than professionals working in the field.
In addition, both types struggle with unclear writing.
Ideally, the translator will research problematic passages. In reality, time restraints, overconfidence, or ingrained work habits often preclude research. Instead, the translator—with all good intentions—opts for making an educated guess.
This is not a problem if the guess is correct. But if it’s not, the bomb starts ticking.
Translators fall back on guesswork for a number of reasons. Here are a few specific examples showing why.
Documents written by engineers for engineers
Engineers write to each other in specialized and abbreviated language. Unless the translator has the same level of knowledge as the engineers, guesswork may be necessary.
Cultural differences in communication
Take Japanese as an example. A lot of Japanese communication is purposely vague to avoid the appearance of a direct order or to maintain a respectful attitude.
In translation, vagueness makes guesswork inevitable.
When improperly translated, such documents fail to convey the intentions of the author. Suggestions may appear to be instructions, or vice versa.
I’ve seen it happen. In one case, the result was two days of meetings, two days of travel, and airfare and hotel expenses. Not to mention the irritation of all the parties involved.
Correspondence in direct and precise English could have prevented this.
Linguistic differences
For example, most Japanese nouns do not have a plural form. A phrase such as
ねじを締める
(neji o shimeru) can mean either “tighten the screw” or “tighten the screws.” Context does not always make this clear, leading to guesswork.
Can you hear the bomb start ticking?
Ambiguity
Ambiguous sentence constructions lend themselves to more than one interpretation.
For example, the first and second parts of Japanese compound sentences are sometimes connected by し (a formal abbreviation of して, the gerund of the Japanese verb する meaning “to do”).
The sentence " A し、 B 。 " can mean in English either “A and B” (the literal translation) or “B as a result of A.” Even veteran translators often cannot determine which is appropriate, so they opt for the safest choice: the literal translation.
The result is imprecise language that may require extensive background knowledge to correctly interpret.
Company-specific language
In-house documents may refer to information not normally known outside the company, and are often written in shorthand indecipherable to outsiders.
The translator, an outsider, is left guessing.
Many Japanese companies have a well-established internal vocabulary that is virtually incomprehensible to anyone else.
This is so common it even has a special name: 社内用語 (shanai yougo, or “in-house terminology”).
By the way, 社内用語 words are not in the dictionary.
Ironically, most of the above factors can contribute to efficient communication. Shanai yougo allows engineers to abbreviate. Ambiguity gives language flexibility.
Once submitted to the translation process, however, these factors hinder precise communication. Because technical documents require precision, I cannot tolerate guesswork in my work.
That’s why I developed Green Leaf’s unique 5-step translation process, which minimizes or eliminates guesswork and assures a high-quality translation the first time. To read about this process, click here.