Accurate medical translation involves a team of translation experts with specialized knowledge and skills.
The term “translation” refers to the activity of carrying the meaning of a text (source text) from one language into another language (target language). To complete this process accurately, the original text must be written clearly, interpreted correctly, and the translated text must communicate the same message as the original text within the linguistic (i.e. context, rules of grammar, idioms) and cultural confines of the target language.
First-rate language translators strive to provide translations of high fidelity and transparency. Fidelity refers to how accurately a translation renders the meaning of the source text, and transparency pertains to the extent the translation appears to have previously been written in the object language; in other words, an inborn speaker of the aim language would not think “that does not sound right”.
Translation is not a precise science. A “word-for-word translation” or “literal” translation of high dependability and clearness is impossible, because in any given language, most words carry more than one meaning. In addition, languages are dynamic and evolve over time so some words or symbols that exist in one language may not even exist yet in another language. New words are continuously introduced within different languages and at different rates as the result of scientific, technological, and social developments. Translation, as a result, is burdened by the unique characteristics and evolution of the languages involved, and the knowledge the translator has of those languages. For this reason, high quality translations are usually prepared by a team of translation specialists instead of only one individual.
For practical reasons one may classify translations as Simple, Standard, and Critical according to their intended use. Simple translations can be used in casual day to day conversation (inaccuracy in translation is common because it involves an ongoing casual communication process) and the user may not require the help of an editor or copyeditor. The exercise of computer assisted translation, machine translation, or a simple dictionary may suffice in this case. Hundreds of people around the world are familiar with free online translation services such as Google Translate or Babel Fish and use it to attempt to communicate in another language in a casual manner. In many instances translations using these free services are humorously inaccurate.
Standard business translations, reflecting on the seriousness of the business should be of high quality, and thus require a team of professionals to translate, proofread, and edit the translated text. There are hundreds of on-line services that provide translations into a myriad of languages, but the task of finding a high quality and reliable translation service provider can be a daunting affair.
Critical translations are characterized by highly specialized language, and thus, require the use of translators with specialized knowledge of the subject matter, not mere generalists in translation. Medical and Life Sciences translations are always critical translations because:
• They use highly specialized language and proficiency that can only be achieved through advanced education or experience.
• A mistake in the translation may result in a life threatening situation (human life or product life).
• Medical and scientific communications can vary substantially according to the group of individuals they address (i.e. scientist vs. general public) and understanding of proper terminology to use with each group (target population) is of utmost importance to properly communicate a message.
At Translateit.pk (www.translateit.pk), our goal is excellence in medical and life sciences translation. Translation, like many other disciplines, works exactly as athletic performance: in order to achieve excellence an athlete must choose one sport and practice it over and over (i.e. to improve her tennis game Venus Williams practices playing tennis instead of racquetball time after time). Only through focus and practice excellence is achieved. We focus on recruiting teams of medical translators or life science translators with specialized knowledge and experience in the subject matter relevant to each translation. If you are a serious Medical or Life Science business looking for consistent high quality medical translations, please contact us so that we can discuss how we can serve you. Also, feel free to browse through our examples section to review our medical translation work.
