Revision

Here at LinguaSpirit, we revise a wide variety of documents in addition to our bread and butter (translation). Some of them are written for a readership in the same language, while others have already been translated for a variety of linguistic and cultural audiences. Our clients want to ensure that the work that's been done meets their standard and represents a high-quality product before it's submitted for publication, posted on a website, or sent in an official correspondence. English, British or American; French, European or Canadian; European Spanish; Russian; German and Wolof are the possibilities I see just today while looking around the office. Some of our daily laughs actually come from the back and forth concerning language choices and dialectical differences (concubinage elicited a smile today from an Anglophone in house).

If you're practised at revision, it can be done quickly and efficiently. Like that of editor and author, the relationship between translator and reviser can be prickly. But as long as each professional is confident in their craft and the work they do, they contribute to the same process and work to make the final product something the client will be happy with.

Revising a translated document is a bit of a juggling act though. There are some layers to work through, each with several factors.

First of all, there's the 'translation' layer (let it be noted now that any language used to identify layers, levels, stages or gauges are completely arbitrary - potentially fictional and hopefully neological in nature). This is when the source document needs to be seen and understood, then juxtaposed with the translation that has already been thought out, researched and completed. When analyzing these two documents the reviser is responsible for identifying any mistranslations, as well as any additions or omissions that detract or change what is interpreted to be the original intent of the source document's message.

How about adapting it to for the target audience/readership? Should the table of contents be at the front or the back? If the target text is in Spanish, should vocabulary or terminology be adapted for Guatemala or Andalucía?

On another level, the reviser needs to be able to pick up any errors in the grammar, syntax, punctuation, typography etc.

And when looking at all these factors, the reviser has to be sure not to retranslate (a hard skill to master); that is to say, they need to ask themselves if the existing translation meets the standard expected by the client, even if some of the choices made by the translator wouldn't have been the reviser's own. If they meet that standard, leave them alone!

So all of this comes together in what can sometimes be an afterthought for many clients. They might not see the need to revise a document they've already paid to have translated. I mean, the translator is a professional right? Yes, and so is an engineer, but a building inspector is still going to come through at some point and make sure everything is up to snuff.

After working through hundreds or thousands of words, a second pair of eyes is definitely a good idea to ensure quality is met, the message is clear, sentences aren't running on, Ts are crossed and lower case Js dotted. Your client will thank you.