Things people should know about professional translation (but probably don't)

Translation is a hidden profession: it often goes unnoticed, but without it, good luck understanding your coffee machine manual or enjoying a foreign TV series. It's all around us, in apps, TV shows, booklets, menus... yet somehow, we forget it's even there.

Translating isn't just about juggling words: it's a skill, an art practised by unsung professionals — translators — who transform raw texts into clear, natural and perfectly adapted messages.

Behind the scenes of a successful translation

Before it even lands in your inbox, a translation goes through several stages:

• translation,
• terminological research (finding THE right word),
• post-editing,
• proofreading,
• revision,
• formatting,
• delivery.

Translators use CAT tools (Trados Studio, MemoQ, SmartCat...) that segment texts, store translation memories, and suggest terminology. While these tools are useful, nothing can substitute for a translator's trained eye.

A team effort

Contrary to the cliché, translators don't live alone in a cabin with a dictionary and a cat (well... not all of them anyway).

A quality translation often involves:

• a specialised translator,
• a proofreader who prevents misunderstandings and mistakes (hypoglycaemia ≠ hyperglycaemia, a very different diagnosis),
• a post-editor who corrects machine-translation errors (an idiomatic expression that has been translated literally, for example, leading to a nonsense translation),
• sometimes a graphic designer to put the text in the right format,
• and a project manager to coordinate the whole process.

Artificial intelligence: friend or foe?

AI can produce a draft quickly, but without a human eye the result may be clumsy, awkwardly phrased, or even incomprehensible. AI is a bit like a bright but clumsy intern: useful, but needs supervision.

Localisation: more than just translation

Localisation is about adapting a text for a specific culture. Talking to someone in the UK isn't quite the same as talking to someone in the US, even though they share a common language.

Example:
In the UK: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
In the US: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The same logic applies to advertisements, slogans, or manuals: avoiding awkward phrasing or cultural faux pas is key.

It's all in good fun!

Localising a humorous text is one of the biggest challenges in translation. A joke that sends Londoners into fits of laughter might leave people in New York raising an eyebrow. Idiomatic expressions require creativity: take the British phrase "Bob's your uncle", for example. Most people in the UK will recognise this idiom, but many in the US have probably never even heard of it. So, spare a thought for translators tasked with localising cultural references!

When localisation saves the day

Sometimes, a literal translation can turn something perfectly normal into pure nonsense. That's where localisation comes in to save the day!

• Take signage, for example. A warning in China meant to say "Be careful of slipping and falling" ended up as "Slip and fall down carefully", leaving readers scratching their heads!
• Or consider cultural references: in English, cats are said to have nine lives, but in Spanish they have seven and in Arabic only six. Translators have to make sure these details are correct to prevent things getting lost in translation!

In summary

Professional translation is all about getting the message across without losing its meaning, while respecting tone, context, and culture.

It requires precision, flair, and creativity... as well as teamwork supported by technology but guided by human expertise. The next time you read a clear, natural text, remember the translators, proofreaders, terminologists, and project managers who pulled their hair out to make it all look effortless… and idiomatically correct.