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, […]

Useful excercises for translators

As we all know, practice makes perfect. I personally believe that you can’t be a good translator until you translate a few million of words. This creates certain habits, gives you the chance to stumble across “critical” situations and forces you to find a solution, or makes you go through a fair amount of different […]

Five necessary skills of translators

When thinking about a career in translations, many people have to answer the question of what skills are required to succeed. Is language proficiency enough? Or is there something else? Below, I briefly describe skills that in my opinion every professional translator needs to master. Critical thinking This skill is needed in numerous professions, but […]

Flexibility in translation

There’s a popular saying among translators, which reads “Dictionaries are like watches – even the best one is not entirely correct, but the worst one is better than none”. If dictionaries were enough to successfully translate texts, translators would have absolutely nothing to do. Machine translation mechanisms would complete the raw process, and you don’t […]

Pięć umiejętności niezbędnych tłumaczom

Wiele osób zastanawiających się nad wyborem zawodu tłumacza musi odpowiedzieć sobie na pytanie, jakie umiejętności są niezbędne do odniesienia sukcesu. Czy sama znajomość języka wystarczy? Czy konieczne jest coś jeszcze? Poniżej krótko opisuję umiejętności, które moim zdaniem musi posiadać każdy zawodowy tłumacz. Krytyczne myślenie To umiejętność niezbędna w większości zawodów, ale w tłumaczeniach wszelkie braki […]