Many people think that a person who is fluent in a foreign language is destined to become a translator. Like other erroneous opinions, this is just as far from the truth. After graduation, some translators practically do not encounter a foreign language, which they work with, so they often make mistakes in writing and in speech. On the other hand, there are people who speak one or even several foreign languages as well as native speakers, but at the same time they can't cope with translation of the most simple texts.
For translators, active use of a foreign language is not an immutable requirement, and yet, even passively fluent in a foreign language, the translator must be aware of all the nuances. The misinterpretation of the meaning of the source text and the omission of an important detail is unforgivable for the translator. He/she must correctly rank the language layers, understand and correctly translate colloquial expressions, dialect words, as well as historical terms. Those who can't deal with the translation on their own use professional services to translate from German into English as well as vice versa.
A Good or A Bad Translator: How to Identify?
The language of one or another people is not a certain static and isolated phenomenon. The language is deeply embedded in historical and cultural ties. Therefore, a perfect understanding of all these connections is one of the basic requirements for a translator. He/she should have an idea about all cultural realities, way of thinking and historical events on the basis of which modern language is based.
All the same should be applied to the native language, however, here passive understanding changes to active ownership. A person who aspires to become a good translator must speak his native language perfectly. A mediocre or bad translator is easy to expose: his main mistake is that he cannot escape from the structure of the original sentence. When translating, such a specialist uses language that he would never have applied, making the text in his native language. In addition, it is difficult to call a good translator who deviates from the classical rules of reading and pronunciation, relying on errors that are common in modern media.
That is, a good translator should ideally know his native language, whatever aspects it may concern: grammar in the narrow and broad sense, vocabulary, spoken language, language levels, etc. In other words, the translator must understand the “organism” of the language. And of course, it is necessary to freely navigate the culture in which the native language develops, and in the appropriate language environment. In any case, comprehensive extralinguistic knowledge is a mandatory requirement for every translator.