Not every document is intended for translation when it’s issued. Take the numerous certificates and statements produced every single day by register offices, banks, hospitals, universities and other official organisations.
There are occasions, however, when documents are put together with an intention of having them translated into another language. These may be proposals, guidances, brochures, presentations and other files aimed at a foreign-speaking reader.
Having translated hundreds of documents written by our clients with the knowledge that they would be translated, we’ve come up with a few suggestions to take into account at the very beginning.
The first thing to consider is your audience. Will the document be read by someone who works in your industry and knows all specific terminology you’ll be using? Or is it aimed at someone who only has a general understanding of the subject?
Either way, it’s better to use simpler sentence structures to avoid lack of clarity. I recall translating a title deed document drafted in the 1950s with sentences stretching over numerous lines with sparse punctuation and plenty of ambiguity. A colleague joked that perhaps this was intentional on the lawyers’ part: to obfuscate and make arguments in court if needed.
Even if your intended reader is well-versed in the topic, spare a thought for a translator when using jargon or acronyms. Various abbreviations may mean different things in various contexts so either decipher them in the text or in a comment or initial instruction to the translator.
If you have made notes in a PowerPoint presentation, let the translator know if these notes are only for you as you will be delivering this presentation verbally, or if they are for your audience who will receive it in a translated written format.
Something else to remember when designing slides and other complex documents is content will take up more space when translated into some languages. Russian text, for instance, takes up to 25% more space. This is due to Cyrillic characters being wider so your translator may need to spend some time adjusting the layout to make sure everything fits in.
If you have embedded graphs in your document, please tell the translator if you expect them to be left in the original language or provide them in an editable format so they can be overwritten in another language.
One of the clear features of legal documents is legal doublets: two or more synonyms usually connected by "and". These are terms and conditions, null and void, fit and proper, for all intents and purposes, for and on behalf of – to name a few. There’s interesting history to this: at the time of William the Conqueror thousands of French words were borrowed by the English language, and lawyers of the time felt they had to use words of both French and Germanic English origin to ensure documents would be understood and respected by both the nobility and the working class.
Fascinating as this insight sounds, there is hardly any need to use excess phrasing where it can be easily avoided.
Culture-specific expressions should also be saved for another audience. Courses for horses, ahead of the curve, a long shot may or may not have equivalents in other languages in which case they will have to be rephrased. Why use them and not generic phrases in the first place?
And finally, sort out your document versions and make sure you send the translator the correct one. You wouldn’t want to have the translation redone midway through or afterwards!
[Any questions? Email us at enquiry@talkrussian.com]
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