I used to assume that translating a technical document such as a user's manual for an oscilloscope would always be easier than translating a well-written novel. The reason for this is that while every word in a literary masterpiece may be packed with meaning and nuance, an instruction manual tends to be more straightforward.
But after further thought and experience, I've concluded that one of the special challenges of technical writing is that the translator must always be clear. When a master novelist writes an unclear sentence, we can assume that he intends for the sentence to be unclear, thus the job of the translator is to write a similarly ambiguous sentence, but when an engineer writes an unclear sentence in an instruction manual, we can usually just assume that he had a hard time expressing the concept that he was trying to convey, and then it's up to the translator to figure out what the engineer was really trying to say.
This can be a trying process. I've pointed out countless mistakes to clients in my less than one year working as a full-time translator. This helps the client to know that you understand the material, and it is probably good for business in the long run, but it also takes up a good deal of time. Recognizing that a sentence is unclear usually only takes an instant, but then I have to explain to the client why the sentence is unclear and ask them how they would like to clarify it. This is time I could be spending translating something else and making more money. I'm hoping though that in the long run, the time I invest into this process of improving upon the clarity of the original document will not only be good for business, but will also make my own writing lucid enough to make even most novelists jealous.
But after further thought and experience, I've concluded that one of the special challenges of technical writing is that the translator must always be clear. When a master novelist writes an unclear sentence, we can assume that he intends for the sentence to be unclear, thus the job of the translator is to write a similarly ambiguous sentence, but when an engineer writes an unclear sentence in an instruction manual, we can usually just assume that he had a hard time expressing the concept that he was trying to convey, and then it's up to the translator to figure out what the engineer was really trying to say.
This can be a trying process. I've pointed out countless mistakes to clients in my less than one year working as a full-time translator. This helps the client to know that you understand the material, and it is probably good for business in the long run, but it also takes up a good deal of time. Recognizing that a sentence is unclear usually only takes an instant, but then I have to explain to the client why the sentence is unclear and ask them how they would like to clarify it. This is time I could be spending translating something else and making more money. I'm hoping though that in the long run, the time I invest into this process of improving upon the clarity of the original document will not only be good for business, but will also make my own writing lucid enough to make even most novelists jealous.
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