English to French Translation: Practice Makes Perfect

How do you achieve best practice in English to French translation?

“Best practice” was a big management buzzword in the 1980s and 1990s.  It referred to the idea that in any profession or industry, including English to French translation, there is a way of doing things that achieves the desired outcome with the fewest possible problems and the greatest satisfaction to the end user.

A way of trying to achieve best practice in English to French translation is by eliminating bad practice as far as possible, and striving towards good practice.  So what is bad and good practice in translation?

Bad practice

• Failing to meet deadlines.  This seems rather obvious.  But many clients and former clients, both of freelance translators and of translation agencies, put this at the top of their list of complaints.  Obviously, to fail to meet a deadline is inexcusable and highly unprofessional.  Apart from anything else, it can have a serious impact on the client’s business if the translated material is not available when required.  And of course, the notion of “deadline” includes time as well as date!  If the finished product was promised by noon on a certain day, handing it over at office closing time just doesn’t cut it.
• Biting off more than you can chew.  In some ways this follows on from the first point.  If you are asked for an English to French translation, make sure you allow a reasonable time.  Some clients can be very unrealistic and simply do not appreciate the amount of work involved in a translation and how much time it takes.  If you are asked for a translation of a 20,000-word document by tomorrow, just say no.  Even if by some sort of miracle you managed to come up with some sort of translation by then, there’s no way it could be of a decent standard and could only damage your translation business.
• Not recognising your limitations.  Again, this is related to the previous point.  If you are asked for an English to French translation of material that is highly specialised, and you don’t have the relevant expertise, don’t take the job   There is no way you can do it to a decent standard.  If you are a freelance translator, it may be possible to form a network with other freelance translators, so that you can refer jobs to each other according to the expertise required.
• Lack of communication.  Clients will feel completely in the dark if you don’t communicate with them about the progress of the translation, especially if it is a large piece of work.  In particular, if you have agreed a deadline, and then realise the work is going to take longer than you thought, it is very bad practice not to discuss this with the client at the earliest possible opportunity.  In addition, it is very rare that a text for English to French translation will contain no inconsistencies or ambiguities, or any places where the meaning is not clear.  It is essential to get back to the client for clarification.

Good practice

• Editing and proofreading.  If you are going to ensure that your English to French translation is professionally presented, it must be carefully proofread.  You must of course proofread and spell-check your own work, but it is notoriously difficult to spot one’s own mistakes.  And however good a translation you have done, there is always room for improvement, and it usually takes a second pair of eyes to identify where this might be.  Of course this can be difficult if you are a freelance translator working alone, but if necessary you should use an independent editing and proofreading service.
• Knowing when to let go.  Sometimes it can be hard to get to the stage of actually handing over a translation to the client!  Sometimes this can result from a sense of “over-perfectionism”.  This isn’t a bad thing – but it’s a matter of training and discipline to be able to accept when you have done the best possible job.
• Only using your first language.  This is usually taken for granted.  However, clients often assume that if you can do French to English translation, you can also do English to French translation.   If French is not your first language, don’t accept a brief to translate something into French, however good you consider your French to be.  Translate only into your native language.
• Keep up to date in both languages.  New expressions are appearing in languages all the time.  For a long time, for example, many English speakers didn’t know what words like “chav” and “bling” meant!   You need to find ways of keeping up with new vocabulary.  If you do English to French translation, try social marketing networks like MySpace to keep in touch with the British youth culture.  To keep up in French, you could try logging in to French social marketing sites like www.jubii.fr , or reading French youth magazines like TUNZA.
• Keep up with your specialism.  If you are a specialised translator in a field like medicine, science or computer technology, you will know that research and knowledge in these fields are advancing all the time.  You have to make a conscious effort to keep up.