Challenges of Translation: Improving Proofreading Skills for Accurate Details

 

As written previously, professionals skilled in languages and the certified translation of documents in Singapore must also concern themselves with other skills to be successful at their work, in particular the skill of proofreading. A translator may do it for their own work or someone else could be assigned to check the quality of a freelancer’s conversion of a document’s language, but whatever the reason, a thorough proofreading is an essential step in the translation process. Hence, it is necessary for any who wish to enter the translation industry to also know how to proofread and how to improve their ability to proofread.

Arranging for document translation services via a professional translator or a certified translation company in Singapore already means that the document is important enough to spend significant money on it, especially if it is a notarized translation that requires the services and certifications of a notary public. Following that logic, the person(s) the document is from will then expect the final product to be as accurate as possible and as flawless as possible. For the former, this usually means that in addition to providing the usual translation services, one should also be ensuring that the personal details in the document are correct, and that specific terms are used in the correct context.

Regarding how one can ensure the accuracy of a document’s contents, that requires attention to detail, a quality that can be earned with time and experience. However, one can also learn certain tricks or techniques to speed up the process. For instance, suppose that in the process of a PR application translation, a translator must work with a birth certificate, translating the text of the document while ensuring that names, dates, and places are accurately transferred. Instead of going back and forth from one full-screen document to another, one can have windows for both documents open simultaneously with each filling half a screen. Thus, the translator (or someone else who is proofreading) can make easier comparisons and more easily produce a document that is completely accurate in its details.

The above example also demonstrates the necessity that a certified translation professional in Singapore have some awareness of how various programs like Microsoft Word work, as well as what functions they are capable of. The “Arrange All” option in the View menu of Microsoft Word can be selected to show all open Microsoft Word documents at once. Imagine a different circumstance where a translator is providing a legal translation service and must then translate a multi-page document with several instances of the name “Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff”. It would be quite difficult to remember such a long and complicated name, as well as ensuring that it is correct every time it appears. However, by using Word’s “Find” function, one can simply search for a small part of the name that they are sure is correct for everywhere in the document (such as “Wolf”) and then be provided with an organized list of all its instances where it is easier to compare them against each other.

Currently, there is no quick, easy, and inexpensive way to fully review a document for fully correct details. Automated processes may still overlook key items and human error is always a possibility. In the end, translators (or the proofreaders who work with them) must rely on care and experience to ensure a document’s contents are completely accurate.