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Who are our translators?
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| Our translators are all experienced, qualified professionals. When tallking about translation we use the terms "source language" (the language we are translating from) and "target language" (the language we are translating to). In order for a translator to be approved A2ZTranslate, we require the following. |
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Translator must be native speaker of the target language
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All translators are native speakers of the target language. A native speaker is a person who has been raised using the language as their first language or mother tongue. The target language is the language we are translating to.
It is rare to find a person who is a non-native speaker but truly fluent. Fluency demands a full understanding of nuance and style, as well as an understanding of the underlying logic that accompanies every language. |
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Translator must live in their respective country
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It is important that a translator lives in the target language country. Language and culture evolve, sometimes rapidly. A good example is Japan, where "loan words" (words imported from English or other languages) appear and disappear in the vernacular with astonishing speed. Translators who live away from their mother tongue country can lose currency with their native language quite quickly.
The one exception to this rule is for legal or certified translations (such as documents for immigration purposes), where the requirement of the authority is that the translator is certified within the jurisdiction that the translation is to be presented. In this situation we will use a translator who fits the profile as requested by the authority. |
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Translators are Masters level or better qualified
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| All translators are postgraduate qualified in translation and their technical speciality. While many people will see translation as the transposition of one word for another, it is anything but. Translation is both an art and a science; an art because it requires craftsmanship with words, and a science in that it requires an ability to logically and methodically deal with difficult and challenging technical questions. For technical translations the level of jargon or specialised vocabulary required can rarely be achieved without specialist training in the field. As an example, few English-speaking laypeople can fully comprehend a real estate sales and purchase agreement in English due to the vocabulary and unique grammar of a legal document. It is important that a technical translator is also trained in the field within which they are translating, not just translation. |
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Translators must work in the appropriate file type
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| We always translate within the source code of the final required document. This means if the client requires a website translated, we translate within the source HTML code. We do not transpose from one document format to another. This is because the risk of operator error is too high; we do not want a cut and paste to miss a character or edit into the wrong place. Part of the process of selecting a translator is identifying the file types to be worked with and the matching competencies of the translator. |
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