Appealing Sagas

For a translator, translating a technical document from German to English involves not just having a very strong grip on the German and English language, but also a good understanding of the area (or areas) that the technical subject covers. For example, if it’s the technical translation (Fachübersetzung) of user documentation that explains the ins and outs of using ColdFusion or Java, then as talented, thorough and professional a translator may be, if they have little or no knowledge of those programming languages, then it’ll be a bit of a stab in the dark to attempt to translate it at all. In this case, the real language barriers to a thorough translation are the technical demands required of the translator.

Bearing the above in mind, there are suitably qualified translators out there who are very capable of taking on these types of translation projects. Again, using the above example, some translators might be ex-programmers who have branched out into technical writing and added technical translating to their repertoire – while others might have previously studied programming at university and worked their way up to being the specialist translators they are now. Regardless of how they might have gotten there, suitably qualified translators for different levels and areas of technical subjects are out there – qualified to translate documentation on Testing, Networking, Programming, Databases and every other technical topic in-between.

Every translator must also have excellent proof reading skills, particularly if they’ve been entrusted by a customer whose German or English isn’t that great. Looking at a completed translated document, the customer may be none the wiser when going through a badly proof read technical document.

In hiring a specialist translator (or the services of a translation company) for translation German English (uebersetzungdeutschenglisch.com), it might be useful to ask for references and get in touch with the referees to find out how useful they found their previous work to be. It’s such a specialist area that it’s more than likely that when a translator says they’re genuine, they probably are. Or not, as the case may be. The point is to put in plenty of research both online and offline to find a suitable candidate. Maybe get in touch with other companies in the same technical field as the subject matter and ask if they can recommend a suitable translator (if any).

Most specialist translators do have years of professional experience under their belt, are certified and can provide excellent references. However, the danger of not doing a thorough background check or choosing not to hire a reputable professional company/individual can be a nightmare – a costly one too. For example, the makers of Colgate toothpaste aren’t immune from commercial hiccups. They once put out a toothpaste product on the French market called Cue without realising it was the name of an infamous porno mag. How’s that for a big corporate boo-boo?!

A very good translator would have been able to pick up on that.