Interestingly, this specific order might not affect translators all that much. Most translators already complete most of their work remotely. Translation does not need to be done in person, so many translators live in their home country, or in a country whose language they translate into.

Interpreters are significantly and directly impacted by the COVID-19 virus and stay-at-home orders. While there are remote interpretation services (such as phone and video interpretation), a majority of interpreters still complete most of their work in person. This is no longer possible for most interpretation jobs. In order to support interpreters, LSPs and the interpreters themselves should work with clients to set up remote services, including video and phone interpretation. There are many online platforms available, which our interpreters are familiar with. They are ready to offer services using these platforms, so that they can still provide necessary interpretations in a safe way.

Of course, this stay-at-home order doesn’t just affect linguists. It affects everyone who works in the companies that provide language services: project managers, vendor managers, localization engineers, sales teams, etc. At Monterey Language Services, we have many years of experience in working from home. While some of our operations do take place in our physical Monterey office, we also have several employees who already work remotely full time.

Working from home presents a major lifestyle change for many people. It does require people to learn how to balance life and work and how to maintain their energy and strive to reach their goals at work. In our experience, when employees are working remotely, it is not important to track employees’ actions and tasks every minute of the day; micromanaging is not an effective strategy. Rather, it is about everyone having a common goal and working toward that common goal comfortably yet effectively. It’s about managing tasks rather than managing people.

Working effectively from home requires various technological resources. We optimize our technology to help us successfully work from home; we use our virtual private network (VPN) to share and access files, we keep open channels of communication via apps on our work phones, and more. We are working hard to remain available to our clients who need our services, and to provide as much support as we can to the translators and interpreters that we work with.

During times like these, staying connected is more important than ever. We need to support language professionals and continue providing translation and interpretation services, so that people can stay informed and connected throughout the world, even if this connection is remote!

1. Read extensively

If you are a book lover, then you are half way there to being a good translator. Reading extensively is useful in that it helps to hone your writing skills and make you more sensitive to the subtle differences between similar words. As a translator in a specialized field (e.g. law, finance, medicine, etc.), reading parallel texts is even more crucial. Parallel texts make you familiarized with terms in a particular field and allow you to familiarize yourself with the field. As a result, your translation won’t look like it’s written by an outsider with no knowledge of the subject. For example, let’s say you’re translating a warranty from Chinese into English. If you find an English-language warranty and compare it with the original text, you’ll see how a warranty is formulated in English and you can use that reference as a guide for your own translation.

2. Write well

Being an excellent writer is essential to success in translation. Writing well means writing clearly, which is as necessary for communicating the source message in a translation as it is for making sense in any kind of written work. Don’t get confused – translation may be an art in its own right, but here writing well doesn’t refer to being a good creative writer; many translators may write impeccably, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have the creativity to write the next great novel from scratch. Writing is also a largely mechanical skill that can be learned. It means, in part, being familiar with the conventions and preferences of the often very different writing styles that are used in various fields – something which the previous tip can help you with.

3. Be patient and pay attention to detail

Unlike interpretation which is done within seconds, translation is an extended process and your finished texts will be there for all to see long after your work is done. Of course, there are both pros and cons to this: one good thing is that translators don’t have to work under quite the same pressure as interpreters, and they can afford to spend time choosing the most suitable word for any given context. One of the negative sides is that your work will likely be subject to greater scrutiny than many interpretations, since, especially in the digital age, a document can essentially exist indefinitely, whereas the average interpretation is gone forever after it’s been completed. In general, translation demands patience and extreme attention to detail. Translators need to be very careful in editing and proofreading their work in order to avoid mistakes before it is published or presented to others.

4. Learn how to do research

As a translator, you’re bound at some point to encounter a word or phrase you don’t know. Be it an idiom, the name of an organization, someone’s title, or even their name, translators need to have the ability to do extensive research using whatever tools are at their disposal. A translator’s research isn’t limited to looking for difficult to render words, either: they should know how and where to look for reference material – those parallel texts that were mentioned before, and other materials that will make translation much easier. Thanks to modern technology, translators today have incredible access to potential sources of research, starting with everyone’s favorite, Google, which can let you quickly check whether or not your translation is idiomatic in the target language. Frequently translators have to go much deeper than just a Google search, though, accessing various corpora, specialized dictionaries, trade publications, and so on. The internet even makes it possible to reach out to the author of a text to ask for clarification or explanation when a translator encounters difficulty understanding the source. As wonderful as the internet is, a translator shouldn’t rely on it to the total exclusion of good old-fashioned books and other printed material. You never know when you’ll be without internet access, and the sheer volume of information on the Web can make it difficult to know what’s correct, whereas a specialized Spanish-English medical dictionary has been compiled by an expert.

5. Use CAT tools

Recent years have witnessed the nearly universal application and rapid development of computer assisted translation tools, such as Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast, etc. These CAT tools have effectively become the industry standard and can help improve translation efficiency and save time and energy. CAT tools can cut down your time spent and simplify any number of situations, for example handling a large translation project that involves multiple languages. While some of these tools are both powerful and fairly user-friendly, it can be difficult to intuitively navigate and manage some CAT programs with all their features and options. Fortunately, there is no shortage of online tutorials and other CAT tool guides available, but whether you decide to make use of them or explore your CAT tool of choice independently, one thing is for sure: the sooner you learn how to use CAT tools effectively, the better.

These are just a few tips to help you become a better translator. There is one other thing which shouldn’t be overlooked: be passionate about translation! Great translators are “doing their job” all the time, always translating (at least mentally) whatever they see and hear around themselves, be it a sign at the park or an advertising slogan on TV. Enjoying what you do and making it into an everyday, fun activity may be the most important key to becoming a better translator.

Monterey Language Services is committed to bridging the world’s languages by providing quality, professional and efficient translation & interpretation services in over 175 languages.

The Athletes in the Spotlight
Thinking back to the London Olympic Games this past summer, the elegant divers and agile gymnasts delivered near-perfect performances in front of the world and left millions in awe. While we appreciate the outstanding performances of these athletes, it is very easy to overlook the thousands of hours and the sheer amount of energy they devoted for their brief moment under the spotlight.

The Translators and Interpreters behind the Scenes
Translators and interpreters are, in many ways, similar to Olympic athletes. In the interpreting booth, conference interpreters work 20-minute segments, performing their “sport.” And behind the clear, informative message generated in this 20 minutes are thousands of hours spent on professional training, developing vocabulary, and public speaking skills. Translators, too, have to spend many years polishing their language and writing skills in order to deliver work of utmost quality.

Quality through the Pursuit of Perfection
While Olympians can enjoy the attention and spotlight, translators and interpreters, more often than not, remain behind the scenes. This, however, does not stop these linguists from perfecting their skills. Many translators and interpreters are on a journey of lifelong learning, continuously and meticulously honing their skills for quality performances. The “mental workout” that these linguists go through can be as strenuous as athletic training. So if the opportunity arises, remember to recognize those seemingly nameless interpreters and commend them for their hard work. Because in way, they are just as amazing as Olympic athletes.

Monterey Language Services strives to provide the highest quality of translation and interpretation services. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

This think quality story brought to you by our team member Ringo Li.