Backtranslation: his ally

If you often order translations into languages not dominating, it is possible, many times, have doubts about the quality of the product that are giving. Is it a good translation? It really reflected what the original text says? Does it have the same style? A good way to find out is to check with someone who knows the language. But if you don't know anyone, there is something that can help you: the inverse translation.

A reverse translation or back-translation, is to pass a text translated into your language. Suppose that you send to translate into Chinese (the target language) a text that is written in English (original language); a reverse translation is to translate the Chinese text into English. Then the two English texts are compared to verify that the content is the same.

It is important to note that, just as it is impossible to get two exactly the same of the same text translations, get an exactly equal to the original reverse translation is truly unlikely. The idea is to ensure that the message, style and terminology are respected. That way, you can have the peace of mind that the translation received is a quality product.

However, there are certain texts for which the inverse translation does not work. For example, most literary texts, as an advertising text or the script of a film. During the translation process, the documents of this type often undergo several modifications in order to adapt them to the conventions of the target language so that they achieve the desired effect. For this reason, the reverse translation, is generally not a good point of comparison.

Of course, this is an extra step that has a cost. But it is not necessary to do so with each project; perhaps enough to do a reverse translation every now and then to make sure that your translator continues to be trusted. Or you can do it the first time working with a professional or a translation company to verify the quality of the product delivered.

The next time you have doubts about a translation job, remember that the inverse translation can be a good partner