The skills of a good translator

Are you looking for a professional translator to produce multilingual content that is accessible to a wide range of clients? There are many translators on the market to choose from, and you need to be able to recognise what makes a good translator. Here you can discover all the essential skills needed by a professional translator.

1. Translation in their mother tongue

The first essential criterion for a good translation is that the translator's mother tongue must be the same as the target language. This is the only way to ensure the highest quality translation.

A good translator who translates into their native language has a much wider range of linguistic knowledge and skills, and possesses an extensive vocabulary. The margin of error is also much smaller with this type of service provider than with a translator who does not translate into their native language. In this case, the translation is likely to contain errors and inconsistencies that could greatly affect the meaning.

2. Sector expertise

A good translator is usually a specialist in the area of the document to be translated (medical translations, financial translations, website translations, advertising translations...)

The translator’s specialist knowledge will guarantee a perfect translation of the terminology specific to the sector, and any norms and standards that need to be applied.

It is therefore highly recommended that you use a translator who specialises in your sector of activity. They will be able to deliver a smooth result, faithful to the original content and adapted to the target audience and the specificities of the sector in the target country.

This is even more important in certain sectors (such as medical, financial and legal sectors) because translation errors can have very serious consequences..

3. Knowledge of the local culture

In addition to a perfect command of the language and the sector, the translator must have an excellent knowledge of the local culture to adapt the text to the cultural norms of the audience.

Indeed, a large part of the translation process consists of providing an accurate translation that also respects local cultural idiosyncrasies for example, in the marketing sector, where the translator will have to translate slogans, and idioms etc., carefully, to reflect the original message.

A good translator must therefore have a very good knowledge of the socio-cultural context of the target country of the translation.

4. Care, punctuality, and discretion

Thoroughness, punctuality and discretion are important skills of any good professional translator.

A good translator will translate each word accurately and carefully to produce a translation that is faithful to the original version of the text and is free of errors.

A skilled translator must also deliver the translation on time and respect the confidentiality of the information provided by the client.

Finally, a good translator will not hesitate to ask questions, and to share any concerns with the client, to ensure that their expectations are fully managed.

5. A smooth and natural result

With their strong language skills, an experienced professional translator should be able to provide a smooth translation, which is in line with the original, but is not word-for-word.

The translator must also retain the original message, as well as the tone and level of language used, while adapting the text to the linguistic and cultural specificities of the target country.

The final document must therefore be fluent and be able to be read without any difficulty.