The Importance of Proofreading in Translation

Translating, editing and proofreading are entirely separate processes. However, most often people tend to forget about which is which and some just do not care. Some professional translators and authors consider two things only in writing; translating and the second one is to publish. In addition, others think, since editing and proofreading their materials is their typical routine, these vital processes do not have to be seriously taken into account.It is quite possible to believe that proofreading is the most essential part in the translation process. Most often, translating without proofreading may lead to wrong grammar, wrong spelling, and wrong usage of words and thus the result is a poor translation. It is true that some people may possess a good skill and ability in translation, but it is not always a reliable guarantee that the finished materials are perfect without proofreading.As globalization makes the world go round nowadays, translation and translation needs are reaching the mainstream. Today, there are some modern technologies that are available for the translation process. However, machine translation cannot meet the quality of human professional translator. Hence, the entire translation that includes editing and proofreading does not simply work like that. The translation process does not only involve one single translator, materials are not ready to publish without reviewing, revising and correcting by others.The fact is that there is no perfect translator on the planet, that there is a high tendency that translated materials will be lost in translation and may be sometimes a joke to the rest of the world and the  talk of town. So what is the best solution then? Of course, the solution involves proofreading.  But who are these qualified proofreaders?Every word in translated materials means everything for the entire quality of work of a translation. Thus, proofreading is just very important as your credibility as a translator. Proofreading should be performed by a native speaker of the target language. However, native speakers of the target language who are not considered good linguists as well, can affect the entire translation. Translators believe that proofreaders who are nonnative speakers of the target language often overestimate their linguistic skills and thus this can affect and may ruin the translation performed by a professional and credible translator.Translators believe that proofreading which includes revising and editing should be done by native speakers. Translation without proofreading often results in an unwittingly funny finished product. In addition, sometimes it may result in bad business as well. Clients would not take your products or your business seriously if they found a poor translation in your documents.I guess translation companies are always the safer place in terms of translation processes, which include proofreading, revising and editing. The bottom line here is that qualified proofreaders are qualified translators as well. To avoid good proofreading to be impotent in the shadows of weak translation, translation companies can help to sort things out for you accurately, because they have professional translators and proofreaders on their books.