EDITING GERMAN TRANSLATIONS
Editing non-fictional texts translated into German? Why, you might ask? After all, we live in the 21st century, in the age of artificial intelligence and machine translation. Admittedly: What these tools can do by now is remarkable. And they are getting better and better. But they have not yet replaced humans. Especially when it comes to technical jargon. And when it comes to establishing correct references to content. Who hasn’t despaired when faced with a bunglingly translated instruction manual?
You don’t have to have every factual text checked. But you do have to check texts that are meant to sell. As a rule, technical translators know the language of the industry. Nevertheless, you should definitely double-check. Because your in-house language usage may differ.
It is therefore important to know the correct technical terms to be able to deliver a precise translation. In such cases, I therefore take a close look at the technical language of your industry (and your company, if applicable) to find the correct German equivalent.
SMALL STUMBLING BLOCKS
Proofreading and editing translations also means using the right idioms. Thanks to the media, Germans have already internalized many Anglicisms. The little word “in” before the year now seems just as normal to us as things that “make sense” (“Sinn machen” in German). We also often “realize” where we should actually “become aware” of something. (“Realisieren” in German actually means “to do” or “to put into practise”.)
The author may want to shine with as many anglicisms as possible. Or it may be an unintentional carelessness. Surely, readers will still understand the content of the text. But ambiguous terms or mismatching images lead to misunderstandings, impede the flow of reading and prevent your message from getting across.
