Detour translation
Because of the differences between two languages, a direct word-for-word translation is not always possible, and translators may have to find another way around – make a translation “detour.” For example, the source language may prefer affirmative statements (like “Staff Only” in English) while in the target language it is much more natural to use a negative statement for the same idea (like闲人免进 or “Non-staff not allowed” in Chinese). This sign could of course be translated literally, but the result would be something that is not idiomatic, natural Chinese. In situations like this, translators would use the detour strategy.

Repetition
To avoid misunderstanding and make the meaning clear, translators frequently use repetition as a technique. In English, pronouns such as “he,” “she,” “it,” etc., avoid repetition by referring to things that have already been mentioned. Chinese, however, does the opposite and usually repeats the original words rather than replace them with pronouns. For example, in translating a sentence like “George put his bag on the table, which is in the middle of the room,” a translator working into Chinese would repeat the word “table” where English replaces it with “which.” Repetition can also be crucial to preserve the style of a source text in which the author repeats specific words to create a certain effect.

Addition
To make a translation acceptable in the target language, translators may need to add more information. For example, when translating “ease the tension between the two countries” into Chinese, translators need to add the word “situation” (i.e. tense situation) to make the translation complete. A proper translation is “缓解两国之间的紧张局势.” Addition is important when translating culture-specific words or expressions because additional explanation is needed to help readers who aren’t familiar with the source culture. In a case like this, a translator may even need to provide a footnote to provide additional information without cluttering up the main text.

The ultimate goal for a translator is to translate the source text’s meaning simply and clearly. The above strategies and techniques can help produce more idiomatic translations, and are a required part of every translator’s toolkit.

Terminology
When translating any document, it’s important to compile a glossary first (or read an existing glossary carefully if there already is one). Translation of terminology in a document should be consistent; specialized vocabulary, including titles and field-specific terms – things like, for example: spirit beings, supernatural other being, invisible other – should be rendered clearly and identically throughout the translation.

When dealing with pronouns, translators usually translate word by word. But if this approach results in an awkward translation, translators need to add, delete or replace words in order to make it sound natural in the target language.

Context
It’s important to refer to context, as this may give some clues as to how to translate, and which translation strategy should be adopted. Translators need to not only retain the meaning of the original text, but also the tone of the source.

Take this sentence, for example: “in very limited circumstances, it may be acceptable to pay for travel and lodging expenses.” “In very limited circumstances” and “it may be acceptable” are two key parts in this sentence. These two elements have certain tonal implications, and translators should highlight these two parts accordingly in the translation in order to stress the tone.

Long Sentences
Documents with very long sentences require translators to recreate the meaning of the original and write in a way that is concise and easy to follow. The solution is to identify the appropriate target-language sentence structure first, and then add the different necessary elements in it. Also, translators, of course, need to repeat what’s been said in the source text in order to avoid meaning shifts or mistranslations.

Here’s an example of a long sentence where we can use this strategy: “No employee, subcontractor, or joint venture partner is authorized to provide payment in any form, or to agree to provide payment in any form, for such expenses without the prior written approval of the Company’s legal counsel for the region within which such payment would be made.”
This is a very long sentence, and a very important one. The first thing to do is to set the sentence structure in our target language (in this case, Chinese), which is “……如果没有……，无权……。” Also, while frequent repetition of the same word or words is sometimes thought to be bad style, it may be necessary in serious legal or other specialized documents which uses standardized language.

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