Nowadays, the demands in the field of translation also require technical expertize. For decades, translators have had just one task to fulfill, namely to translate. This applies especially in the case of paper projects. Nowadays, technical documents, marketing materials or other types of documents are delivered to translators and, once translated, the project is completed.
But the digitalization process taking place in most industries has determined an increasing demand for translators capable to handle effortlessly the new translation technology or the specific online environment (WORDPRESS, HTML, Java, .NET). As companies are increasingly becoming aware of their actual needs, so do translators who, in turn, make efforts to keep abreast of the new technology.
The most successful translators have become digital natives, experts in employing the latest translation technology in their work. We have all purchased products whose original user instructions in various languages had evidently been translated by a translator. But lately, the major international manufacturers of high-technology products recommend users to visit their site or to go through their video instructions library for technical support.
Digital natives have been on familiar ground ever since a translator’s job is no longer just to run through documents. Within the translation process, they achieve an important additional step, namely to upload the translated document onto the company’s site using various technologies. The Copy-Paste method has been surpassed by the translator’s expertize in blending translation with technology. For example, digital native translators also deserve credit for WORDPRESS localization. It is also the way to do away with the automatic translation of large documents. If you have ever used Google Translate, you already know that this method can create serious problems: grammar or the sense of words become a problem. One example in this respect is when critics complained that the Spanish version of the state medical insurance site was partly an automatic translation. Automatic translations can have a negative impact on brands because they may create confusion among consumers and show lack of respect for the local market on the part of the company trying to sell its product.
A digital native is usually someone who has grown up together with the Internet and is unaware of the world before the on-line. When a company manages to find a team of digital native translators who are as good with technology as they are in translating, it will have found the most efficient way to make sure that its translation projects will be successful. This is the future of translation!
