Translation as a Profession (Benjamins Translation Library)

Chapter 1. An overview 17○5.Preparing the raw materials (terminology, phraseology, models and templates)Translation service provision means transforming raw materials into an endproduct– the translation.The raw materials include the ‘source’ material, the translator’s knowledge(and competences) plus terminology, phraseology, sentence structure templatesor even existing content or elements that have already been used, either in aprevious version of the same document (in the case of product documentation) orin other documents produced for the same work provider or in prior (upstream)translations. And this is where the contents of existing translation memories comein handy.As a matter of fact, the need to have the raw materials ready before translationstarts has become obvious with the increasing use of various automata: if atranslation aid system, translation memory system, automatic dictionary or translationengine is being used, it becomes imperative to set up all the terminology,phraseology, templates, and ‘memory components’ in advance. It must be emphasizedthat, whenever such materials are readily available, they may still need to beupdated and validated. And this holds true of human translation too.○6.Setting up the version for translation in the appropriate environmentUnless this is taken care of by the specific computer-assisted-translation tools orlocalisation tools, the translator may also need to:– Set up a version for translation (or retranslation).The version for translation or retranslation may be a version of the documentcontaining only text (and excluding all tables, graphs, illustrations, etc.) oronly subtitles or software menus. This version will also have undergone all thenecessary formatting processes (i.e. tag freezing, style sheet consolidation, etc.)and will include all the relevant flags and any translation resources available.As a matter of fact, the version for translation is the material to be effectivelytranslated or retranslated. This means it excludes anything not for translationbut includes any segments or portions previously translated but not qualified.– Set up the necessary environment.The translator may also need to assemble and prepare specific equipment andsoftware for the job, as well as any technical support element needed to carryout the translation.○7.TransferOnce the translator has checked the material and got it ready for translation,defined all the translation options, acquired the knowledge needed to get a perfectunderstanding of the material for translation, compiled and possibly integrated