The most common misconceptions about translation
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The most common misconceptions about translation
#03
A misconception is incorrect knowledge that can usually be recognised by the fact that no counterevidence of any quality or quantity can override it. For example, a common misconceptions is that the Great Wall of China is visible from space (not true), that Einstein failed in mathematics (not true), that Attila the Hun was buried in a triple coffin in the river Tisza (not true), or that teachers spend three months of every summer relaxing (not true). What they have in common is that with the internet-connected computer (smartphone) in most people's pockets, it takes about a minute to find credible refutations for each of them, yet for some mysterious reason, these misconceptions persist. Similar misconceptions exist in almost every profession, including translation and technical translation, so we have collected a few of them.
1. Anyone who speaks a foreign language can also translate it
Speaking a foreign language can be a good foundation for becoming a translator, but it is by no means enough. The spoken and the written language differ greatly, so those who have no experience in writing may not be able to "speak" as fluently in writing as they do verbally. Producing a high-quality translation is a lot of work and requires a great deal of knowledge that can only be acquired through many years of studying. It is no coincidence that most translators specialise in certain areas that they are familiar with in both languages. Translation agencies primarily entrust legal translations to lawyers, while medical texts are handled by translators with medical degrees.
2. The translator speaks both languages, so basically, all they have to do is copy it
It is impossible to know a language perfectly. No one knows every word in a given language, so it is no exaggeration to say that learning a language is a lifelong process. Furthermore, language is not an exact science, so there is never just one correct answer they way there is in mathematics. The same ideas can be expressed in many different ways. Good examples of this are retranslations of classical texts. The original text remains unchanged, but the new and old translations often differ in such a way that neither contains mistranslations, yet the two texts are not identical.
3. Google and other translation programs translate for free, so there is no need for translators
Though it is true that Google, DeepL, and other freeAI-based translation programs are becoming increasingly intelligent, their capabilities are often overestimated. They help with the approximate understanding of unknown languages and the translation of simple sentences, but they are not yet advanced enough to be able to reliably translate complex texts from one language to another. Texts also carry cultural context, which a translation program cannot yet recognise. Furthermore, as mentioned above, language is not always unambiguous, and since the program cannot always distinguish between the different meanings of the same word, the risk of mistranslation is quite high.
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