- Understanding the source text is the first thing you would want to do: You would think translation would be straightforward – just change one set of words for the corresponding ones in another language and you are on your way. But translation is more than just the words; it is about context, tone, and aim. Effective translation will convey the full meaning of a text, staying true to the intentions of the original writer. Here are some tips for you to avoid getting “lost in translation”. It might sound obvious, but one of the main causes of poor translation is a lack of understanding of the text in question. Many mistranslations come down to a lack of proficiency in the source language and an inability to make sense of complex source text. Being bilingual does not necessarily mean you can translate the source text effectively.
- Mastering the target language: Just as they would in the source language, translators should know all the characteristics of the target language, including the semantic (aphorisms, standardized terms, etc.) and cultural (idioms, proverbs, puns) difficulties of the translation. Each field of study and topic has its own expert translator as medical, technical, cultural, etc.
To put it in nutshell, the best way to avoid lost in translation, just keep the soul, content, and feeling in the target text as same as the source text, especially about translating poems.
