Translator or Dictionary?

Recently, I have been asked to translate the English word “potluck” into Polish. My response was that I do not know such word, which is basically true. The asker was authentically amazed. “How come? You’re a translator, aren’t you?”. Well, I am a translator, but that does not mean that I am a walking dictionary. […]

On Proofreading

Every professional translator is also a proofreader, as he or she must verify any text before sending it back to the customer. Such proofreading is quite demanding at the beginning, especially when you proofread your own texts. It’s not easy to re-read the finished text and spot all flaws, as you simply don’t see them. […]

The biggest pitfall of translators

“You think you know but you have no idea…” I have been wondering this for a long time: what’s the biggest pitfall of translators? The first and most obvious answer that immediately comes to mind is “ignorance.” But is that really the case? I don’t think so. If you know that you don’t know something you […]

Machine LQA

Quite often, customers treat translations of their materials with neglect, as a “necessary evil”. They realise that it is needed, but they don’t think of it as something worth their time. As a result, they commission this to translation agencies, and the number one priority is the price. This in turn results in a situation […]

Proofreading vs Copyediting vs Markup – what’s the difference?

“Proofreading” is a catch-all term used by most non-translators, including the clients of translators, to describe all actions aimed at improving the quality of a text. This term is often used incorrectly. In a nutshell, preparation of a document’s final version (post-translation) can be divided into three* stages: copyediting, proofreading, and markup. How do they […]

GUI Translation

In translations, context is the king. It seems obvious, but oftentimes the reality is quite different. Sometimes customers think that providing a source material for translation should be enough for the translator to do the job. In this short text, I’ll try to explain why this is rarely the case.   Ambiguity Language is alive, […]