Translation is more about common sense than your sense about the languages involved in the project. Anyone with a good understanding of the languages might not be a good translator. Translation might seem easy to some people, it requires more of your dedication than your confidence, because the more easy you think it is, the more mistakes you would make.
Translation = 51% Common Sense + 49% Language Sense
Know Your Job Description
- What is your target language and dialect?
- Should I strictly maintain the formatting of the file?
- Should I make the translation easy to read or should I maintain a formal tome with complicated sentences?
- Can I break down larger sentences into 2 or 3 smaller sentences in the target language?
- What is the purpose of this project or how/where the translation would be used?
- What are the other guidelines I need to follow for this project?
Whenever a project comes in, check the job description carefully and take notes accordingly. You might need to recheck the job description multiple times if its a long project. If you don’t see any job description, please don’t forget to ask the client or the project manager to provide you more details. Don’t start translating without knowing any details about the project. You may ask specific question like:
Be Honest
Never use Google Translate, under any circumstances or any excuse. Just think – everyone including the client have access to Google Translation. So why would they pay you for the sentences they could translate using the online tool? Most importantly, Google Translate is unable to provide you accurate translation for your Bengali translation project even in 2024. A client or project manager would appreciate your effort on a low-quality translation than machine translation. No matter how much you try to edit a Google-translated sentence, a trace of your misdeed will always remain in the translated version.
Understand the Text
Read the whole text and understand the content and the context. For example, words like Outstanding, virus will convey different meanings depending on the content. So don’t translate literally. If you have a clear idea about the context, it would be helpful for you to translate individual sentences.
Use AI to Understand a Sentence
You may ask ChatGPT or Gemini to simplify any complex sentence. Understand the meaning and go back to the source. Don’t translate the version of AI directly. In this way, the sentence structure might get changed or any part of the original sentence might be missed. Most importantly, you can ask AI for the meaning of any particular word or phrase where the usual transltion of that word/pharse might not be accurate.
Use Google
Using Google Translate for any Bengali or Sylheti translation is prohibited but you can always use Google smartly. For example, if you search any word in Google, you will show you all the possible meanings of that word or phrase. Similarly, you can always use Google Translate as a dictionary. However, never translate any complete sentence or paragraph using Google Translate or similar tools.
Use Your Linguistic Skills
Preferably, you should always make the translation easy to read. However, remember to ask the client or Project Manager how much linguistic freedom you can have on any project. In this case, be aware of your target audience as well. Additionally, you can break larger English sentences into 2 or 3 smaller Bengali sentences. However, don’t miss out on any information in the process. Always try to use commonly spoken words in order to make the translation easy to understand. Transliterate commonly spoken English words when the literall might not be understood by the target audience.
Ask the Client of Project Manager
Please go back and forth to the client or project manager to seek clarification regarding anything. Trust me, they will never get tired answering your question. Rather they would appreciate your dedication and professionalism. Seek clarification about anything, no matter how silly the question might seem. You can also translate a paragraph or page and ask the client to PM to review the quality or give you feedback.
Revise Your Translation
The best tips for you to revise your own translation is, you forget what you have read in the source file. Go through your translation and think carefully whether your translation has a stand-alone meaning. Try to comprehend whether your translated sentences will be understood by the target audience or not because they won’t get the source like you to check anything. Lastly, read the source and compere the translated version with it.
Spell Check
You can always use Avro spell checker for Bengali translation project. However, not every suggestion found there is correct, so you need to think twice before making any change. You can search on Google for the correct spelling of any Bengali word as well. In addition, you can follow the website of Facebook pages of groups like শুবাচ or Banan Andolon. On the other hand, if its a Bengali to English translation project, use other tools like Grammerly to check and improve your sentence quality. Unfortunately, there is not spell checking tools for Sylheti language.
Formatting and Backup
Maintain the formatting of the source file unless the clients told you that you don’t need to worry about it. If the formation of the file has been distorted, your translation might go in vain! For any project, you should always keep a backup of your translated version. You can keep your files in your laptop while keeping another online backup is clever! It might be helpful for you in the future in scenarios like when the client comes back for revision of lost the file.
Delivery
Lastly, deliver the file in the required format. It is an MS word version most of the times. So it is always a good idea to attach a PDF even if the client didn’t ask for it. It might help the client to see how the font should appear. Always leave a good message for the client so that he feels like coming back to you for future projects!