pg.

I
 Acknowledgement

I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude’s to all the re-
spected instructors of the English Department for their instructive guidance and
valuable instructions, especially to my respected advisor, Mr. Samsoor "Sahak"
whose valuable suggestions and productive guidance helped me in writing, or-
ganizing and completing of this monograph. His advices and suggestions in
writing this monograph are greatly appreciated. I would like to thank all friends
especially my best friend Zahid “Zahin”, who helped me in editing, preparing
relevant materials for this monograph, and whose suggestions in collecting in-
formation from strong references also helped me a lot.
In addition, I am thankful to all classmates who encouraged me to com-
plete this monograph. I would also like to thank all my family members espe-
cially my respected parents for providing me the facilities to get higher educa-
tion in my favorite field, and there were many economical and financial prob-
lems. Nevertheless, they made me achieve B.A Degree.

Thanks!

Sirajuddin “Salarzai”

pg. II
 Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................1
Practical Guide for Translators............................................................................2
What is Translation?............................................................................................2
Goals of a good Translation................................................................................3
Why Translation is Important?............................................................................3
Language of Translation......................................................................................4
Components of Translation..................................................................................5
Methods of Translation........................................................................................5
What is a Translator?...........................................................................................6
Requirements of a Translator...............................................................................6
Role of a Translator.............................................................................................7
How to become a translator?...............................................................................7
External Knowledge: the user's view.................................................................8
Internal Knowledge: the translator's view..........................................................9
Who are Translators?...........................................................................................9
Involvement in the Profession...........................................................................11
The Translator as Learner..................................................................................12
The Translator as Intelligence...........................................................................12
The Translator's Memory...................................................................................14
Experience.........................................................................................................14
Languages..........................................................................................................16
Social Networks.................................................................................................17
Bilingualism- the maths and the Truths.............................................................18
Target Language and Source Language............................................................19
Running a Translator Business..........................................................................20
The Translator at work and the tool of the Trade..............................................22
Arranging your Equipment................................................................................23
Source of Reference...........................................................................................25

pg. III
Dicionaries.........................................................................................................25
Standards...........................................................................................................25
Trade association Libraries................................................................................26
Quality Control and Accountability...................................................................27
Professional Organization for Translators.........................................................29
Conclusion.........................................................................................................31
Reference...........................................................................................................32

pg. IV
 Introduction

This is the general rule of ministry of higher education that whenever a

student is being graduating or getting a diploma in specific profession at
university, he/she needs to write or accumulate a monograph about related
topic to their studies, which they have done at their faculty in four years.

We are the students of English Literature therefore we have to have enough in-
formation about Practical Guide for Translators and this monograph has been pre-
pared about Practical Guide for Translators, having felt the need of students left
me with a firm commitment, to prepare a monograph, which provides all neces-
sary information for Afghan youth newly stepped in the world of translation.

The monograph is written for new learner keeping in view their tremendous of
a small monograph on Practical Guide for Translators. I have tried my best to
make it easy and comprehensible. It is hoped that the monograph will serve the
purpose of the students and provides guidelines for those who are keen to learn
translation, especially those who are interested to become a translator.

pg. 1
 Practical Guide for Translators

Before coming to the main point that is Practical Guide for Translators, I
think it is necessary to talk about translation and its importance.

What is Translation?

Translation has countless definitions that I will discuss those ones that are easy
and comprehensible.

 Translation: is the process in which a written communication of a text

in a first language is produced as the written communication or text in
the second language interpreting the same meaning or the conversion of
text from one human language to another is called translation.
 Translation: to change the meaning of the words of a language to an-
other is called translation.

 Translation: is an art by which we can bring information from a lan-

guage to another.
 Translation: is the way of changing of the words from language to an-
other by different functional phrases.
 Translation: translation may be stated as decoding the meaning of the
source text, and re-encoding this meaning in the target language.
 Translation: is the interpreting of the meaning of a text in one lan-
guage, and the production, in another language of an equivalent text that
communication the same message.

pg. 2
 Goals of a good Translation

The basic purpose of translation is to reproduce various types of texts, com-

prising literary, religious, scientific, philosophical texts etc. in another language
and thus making them available to wider readers, to a greater number of target
audience, and to bring the world closer. Or we can say the purpose of transla-
tion is to transfer the meaning of written text in one language into a written text
in another language, while preserving the meaning, style, effects of the source
text. And at the same time respecting the sentence syntactic (structure), lexical
(vocabulary), and semantic (meaning) values of the target language. A high
quality translation should have three goals reliability, fluency, and appropriate-
ness. Specific requirements of these three goals are as follow: Reliability means
the message in the source text is accurately transferred into the target text. It in-
cludes the following three aspects: Semantic equivalence: Meaning(s) and mes-
sage(s) of the source text are accurately conveyed into the target text.
Technical accuracy: The translation has the functional equivalence of the
source text. Textual completeness: The translation is a complete text, not omit-
ting anything important and not adding anything unimportant. It should be free
of spelling or grammatical errors.
A translation should be readable, clear and intelligible in the target language.
Have a natural and easy form of expression in the target language conform to
the grammar and discourse conventions in the target language. A translation
should be stylistically appropriate the style and manner if writing should be
similar to that of the source text. Translation should be culturally acceptable:
the translation should convey the source text in culturally appropriate expres-
sion for the target population, even though the form of expression may be dif-
ferent.
Have the same communicative effect: the translation should produce a similar
response from the target population as the source text.

pg. 3
 Why translation is important?

 We do translation in order to aware about other people's opinions or

ideas.

 To the development of science especially in communication we need to

know about these developments.

 To have better relationship between two cultures, we need to translate

cultures to each other.

 To have political relationship between two countries, we need to do

translation

Languages of Translation

There are two languages in translation

 SL (source language)

 TL (target language)

Source language: is a language, which we are going to translate.

Target language: is a language, which we are going to translate in.
The translation may be classified into two major classes.
1. Machine Translation
2. Human Translation

Machine Translation: sometimes referred to by the abbreviation (MT) is the

sub-field of computational linguistics that investigates the use of computer soft-
ware to translate text or speech from one natural language to another.

pg. 4
Human Translation: a translation, which is performed by a real human trans-
lator, as opposed to translation performed by a machine or a computer is known
as human translator.

Component of Translation
 First: Basic knowledge of grammar.
1. Knowledge of tenses and speech.
2. Position of words in a sentence.
3. Skills for glossaries, vocabularies and idioms.

 Second: Knowing the types of translation

1. According to structure: it means translation word by word.
2. According to the meaning: it means translation as whole.

Methods of Translation
 Word- for- word Translation: here the source language word is trans-
lated into another langrage by their most common meaning, which can
also be out of content at times, especially in idioms and proverbs.
 Literal Translation: Here the source language grammatical construc-
tions are translated to their nearest target language. However, the lexical
words are translated singly, out of context.
 Faithful Translation: here the translation interprets the exact contextual
meaning of the original within the constraints of the grammatical struc-
tures of the target langrage.
 Semantic Translation: semantic translation refers to the type of transla-
tion, which takes into account the aesthetic value of the source language
text.

pg. 5
  Adaptation: adaption refers to that type of translation, which is used
mainly for plays and poems. The text is rewritten considering the source
language cultures, which are converted to the target language culture
where the characters, themes, plot, are usually preserved.
 Free Translation: this method of translation produces the translated text
without the style , form or content of the original text.
 Idiomatic Translation: it translates the message of the original text, but
tends to distort the original meaning at time by preferring colloquialism
and idioms.
 Communicative Translation: the method displays the exact contextual
meaning of the original text in a manner where both content and lan-
guage are easily acceptable and comprehensible to the readers.

What is a Translator?
A translator converts text or documents from one language into another. A
person who does the translator job is called translator. In the popular mind, a
translator is someone who has a good knowledge of the both languages he/she
translate from, and the language he/she translates into.

Requirements of a translator

Translators needs a variety of skills and traits to be successful in their art we as-
sume that a good translator will by definition be bilingual but not necessarily
true in the opposite case. A bilingual person needs certain others skills ane per-
sonality traits to be a good translator. Certain requirements to be a good transla-
tor are as follow:

pg. 6
  A translator must be fluent in two languages and cultures
 A translator must have a good general education besides prerequisite
language skills.
 A translator also has to cultivate knowledge of the areas he works in.
 A translator must have excellent computer skills. He must be willing to
learn new technology.
 A translator must have good business skills, which includes negotiation,
pricing, marketing and time management.
 A translator must get along well with others.
 A translator should have a deep interest to the language he works with.
 And most important of all , a translator must know his or her limitations
in all of the areas mentioned above.

Role of a Translator
The role of a translation is not only to translate from one language to another,
it is also the responsibilities of the translator to make his text move across the
barriers behind which cultures have evolved specific linguistic ways of think-
ing and seeing, of encoding and protecting their cultures. In most countries
there are professional associations for translators. These associations are
formed to give advice on contracts and other matters to embrace different
kinds of translators belonging to different region etc. professional translators
are language professionals, while doing translation jobs, a translator has to as-
sume various roles. It is said that translators take the role of competent writer,
a diplomat, a linguist and an educated amateur while doing his job.

pg. 7
  A competent writer: Like writers, the translator have to work long hours
on a subject, which interests few people and in a language that few peo-
ple around them know.
 A diplomat: Like diplomats, they have to be sensitive to the social, cul-
tural differences, which exist in their language. They must be capable of
addressing these issues when translating.
 A linguist: like linguist, translator have to handle new developments in
their language, have to get into the intricacies of their text, they have to
be capable of discerning subtleties a nuances in their language, re-
searching terminologies and colloquialisms.
 An educated amateur: And like educated amateurs, translators have to
know the basics and some of the details about the subjects they deal
with.

How to Become a Translator?

pg. 8
 To become a good translator, we have to learn the user's view, the translator's
view, and the experience. Learning foreign languages and cultures, and paying atten-
tion to how people use language. The following articles will come with more details
in order to become a good translator.

External knowledge: the user's view

Translation can be perceived from the outside, from the user’s point of view.
It is different things for different groups of people. For people who are not
translators, it is primarily a text, and for people who are, it is primarily an
activity or a non-translator who directly or indirectly pays for the
translation. He/she thinks and talks about translation from outside process,
not knowing how it is done. Translator must consider these three aspects of
translation which perceived from the outside translation users' desire to have
a text translated reliably, rapidly, and cheaply.

Reliability
Translation users need to be able to rely on translation. They need to be
able to use the translation as a reliable basis for action, or they need to be able
to trust the translator to act in reliable ways, delivering reliable translations by
delaines, getting whatever help is needed to meet those deadlines, and being
flexible and versatile in serving the user's needs.

Timeliness
It is not enough for the user of a translation that both it and its creator be reliable;
it must also be timely. Timeliness is most flexible in the case of literary or Quran
translations.
Cost

pg. 9
Reliably, rapidly; Cost controls virtually all translation. A translation that the
client considers too expensive will not be done. A translation that the transla-
tor considers too cheap may not get done either, so a translator must keep in
mind both the user and himself.

Who should you get to translate?

The principal criteria applied to the selection of a translator are:

1. Use only a translator who translates into his mother tongue. Ideally, the
translator should have formal training as a translator and be qualified as
member of a recognized professional association such as the institute of
translation.
2. Use only a translator who has experience of your product or service seg-
ment. It is inappropriate to ask a translator with experience of, say, only
electronic engineering to translate a text on proper management.

Internal knowledge the translator's view

While translators must meet the needs of translation users in order to

make a living, in the larger context of professional pride; seeing the timeliness
users want in terms of enhanced income, requiring speed but also connected
to project management and raising the status of the profession; and insisting
on the importance of actually enjoying the work.

Who are translators?

What does it take to be a translator? Is it just a person who sits at a
computer and turning words and phrases in one language into words and
phrases in another? No a translator must be a profession. Translators are

pg. 10
those who are hungry for real-world experience and travel, living abroad for
extended periods, learning foreign languages and cultures, and above all paying
attention to how people use language all around them the plumber, the kid’s
teachers, the convenience store clerk, the doctor, the bartender, friends and col-
leagues from this or that region or social class, and so on.

A good translator is reliable and fast, and will work for the going rate
from an internal point of view, however, the expectations for translation are
rather different than they look from the outside. For the translator, reliability
is important mainly as a source of professional pride, which also includes
elements that are of little or no significance to translation users; speed is im-
portant mainly as a source of increased income, which can be enhanced through
other channels as well; and it is extremely important, perhaps even most impor-
tant of all, that the translator enjoy the work, a factor that is of little signifi-
cance to outsiders. Let's consider these three "internal" requirements in order:
professional pride, income, enjoyment.

pg. 11
Professional pride
From the user's point of view, it is essential to be able to rely on translation —
not only on the text, but on the translator as well and generally on the entire
translation process. Because this is important to the people who pay the
bills, it will be important to the translator as well; the pragmatic consid-
erations of keeping your job or continuing to get offered jobs will man-
date a willingness to satisfy an employer's or client's needs. For the
translator a higher consideration than money or continued employability
is professional pride, professional integrity, and professional self-esteem. We
all want to feel that the job we are doing is important, that we do it well, and
that the people we do it for appreciate our work. The areas in and through
which translators typically take professional pride are reliability, involvement in
the profession, and ethics.

Reliability

pg. 12
 Reliability in translation is largely a matter of meeting the user's needs:
translating the texts the user needs translated, in the way the user wants them
translated, by the user's deadline. The demands placed on the translator by
the attempt to be reliable from the user's point of view are
sometimes impossible; sometimes disruptive to the translator's private life;
sometimes morally repugnant; often physically and mentally exhausting. If the
demands are at all possible, however, in many or even most cases the transla-
tor's desire to take professional pride in reliability will override these
other considerations, and s /he will stay up all night doing a rush
job, cancel a pleasant evening outing with a friend, or translate a text
reliably that s /he finds morally or politically loathsome. Professional pride in
reliability is the main reason we will spend hours hunting down a single term.
What is our pay for that time? Virtually nothing, but it feels enormously
important to get it right: to find exactly the right term, the right spelling, the
right phrasing, the right register. Not just because the client expects it also
because if you didn't do it right, your professional pride and job satisfaction
would be diminished.

Involvement in the profession

pg. 13
 It is a matter of little or no concern to translation users, but of great im-
portance to translators, what translator associations or unions we be-
long to, what translator conferences we go to, what courses we take in the
field, how we network with other translators in our region and language
pair(s).These "involvements" sometimes help translators translate better,
which is important for users and thus for the pride. Involvement in the transla-
tion profession may even give us the intellectual tools and professional
courage to stand up to unreasonable demands, to educate clients and
employers rather than submit meekly and seethe inwardly. Involvement in the
profession helps us realize that translation users need us as much as we need
them: they have the money we need; we have the skills they need. And we will
sell those skills to them, not abjectly, submissively, and wholly on their terms,
but from a position of professional confidence and strength.

Income

Professionals do their work because they enjoy it, because they take pride in it
and also of course, to earn a living. Professional translators translate for money.
And most professional translators feel that they do not make enough money, and
would like to make more. There are at least three ways to do this, two of them
short-term strategies, the third long-term: translate faster, and create your own
agency and translation jobs out to other freelancers, and (the long-term strategy)
work to educate clients and the general public about the importance of translation,
so that money managers will be more willing to pay premium fees for translation.

Speed

pg. 14
 Speed and income are not directly related for all translators. They are for free-
lancers. The situation is somewhat more complex than this, but basically the faster
a freelancer translates, the more money s /he makes. (Obviously, this requires a
large volume of incoming jobs; if, having done a job quickly, you have no other
work to do, translating faster will not increase your income.); a number of factors
controls a translator's translating speed:

1. Typing speed

2. The level of text difficulty

3. Familiarities with this sort of text

4. Translation memory software

5. Personal preferences or style

6. Job stress, general mental state

Enjoyment
One would think that burn out rates would be high among translators. The job
is not only underpaid and undervalued by the society; it involves long hours spent
alone with uninspiring texts working under the stress of short
deadlines. One would think in fact, that most translators would burn out on the
job after about three weeks. And may be some do. That most do not, that one
meets freelance translators who are still content in their jobs after thirty
years. Say something the operation of the greatest motivator of all: they enjoy
their work. They must—for what else would sustain them? Not the fame and for-
tune; not the immortal brilliance of the texts they translate. It must be
that somehow they find sustaining pleasure in the work itself.

The translator as learner

pg. 15
 translation is intelligent activity involving complex processes of conscious
and unconscious learning; we all learn in different ways, and institutional learn-
ing should therefore be as flexible and as complex and rich as possible, so as to ac-
tivate the channels through which each student learns best.

The translator's intelligence

How can the translator maximize speed and enjoyment while not minimizing
(indeed if possible while enhancing) reliability? How can the translator translate
faster and have more fun doing it, while gaining and maintaining deserved repu-
tation as a good translator?

At first glance the desires to translate faster and to translate reliably might seem
to be at odds with one another. One commonsensical assumption says that
the faster you do something, the more likely you are to make mistakes;
the more slowly you work, the more likely that work is to be
reliable. The reliable translator shouldn't make (major) mistakes, so s /he
shouldn't try to translate fast. But increased speed, at least up to a point,
really only damages reliability when you are doing something new or
unfamiliar, something that requires concentration, which always takes time.
"Old" and "familiar" actions, especially habitual actions, can be performed
both quickly and reliably because habit takes over. You're late in the morning,
so you brush your teeth, tie your shoes, throw on your coat, grab your keys and
wallet or purse and run for the door, start the car and get on the road, all in
about two minutes — and you don't forget anything, you don't mistier your shoes,
you don't grab a fork and a spoon instead of your keys, because you’ve done all
these things so many times before that your body knows what to do, and does it.

pg. 16
 And there are important parallels between this "bodily memory" and
translation. Experienced translators are fast because they have translated so
much that it often seems as if their "brain" isn't doing the translating — their fin-
gers are. They recognize a familiar source-language structure and they barely
pause before their fingers are racing across the keyboard, rendering it into a
well-worn target-language structural equivalent, fitted with lexical items that
seem to come to them automatically, without conscious thought or logical
analysis. Simultaneous interpreters don't seem to be thinking at all — who, the as-
tonished observer wonders, could possibly think that fast? No, it is impossi-
ble; the words must be coming to the interpreter from somewhere else,
some subliminal or even mystical part of the brain that ordinary people lack.

The translator’s memory

Translation is an intelligent activity, requiring creative problem-solving

in novel textual, social, and cultural conditions. As we have seen, this in-
telligent activity is sometimes very conscious; most of the time it is
subconscious, "beneath" our conscious awareness. It is no less intelligent when
we are not aware of it — no less creative, and no less analytical. This is not a
"mystical" model of translation. The sublimated intelligence that makes it pos-
sible for us to translate rapidly, reliably, and enjoyably is the product of learning
— which is to say, of experience stored in memory in ways that enable its
effective recall and flexible and versatile use. This does not mean that good trans-
lators must memorize vast quantities of linguistic and cultural knowledge; in fact,
insofar as we take "memorization" to mean the conscious, determined, and
rote or mechanical stuffing of facts into our brains, it is quite the opposite.
Translators must be good at storing experiences in memory and at retrieving
those whenever needed to solve complex translation problems; but they do
not do this by memorizing things.

pg. 17
Memory as learning works differently. Learning is what happens when you're do-
ing something else especially something enjoyable, but even something un-
pleasant, if your experience leaves a strong enough impression on you

Experience

While it is true that "experience" is the best teacher, experience comes in

many shapes and sizes, including wild or educated guesses when faced within
parentally insoluble problem (abduction), exposure to a variety of cases over
a long period of time, which is what we generally call "practical experience"
(induction), and theoretical teaching or training based on laws or general princi-
ples (deduction).

What experience?

Experience of the world sometimes confirms the translator's

habits. There are regularities to social life that make some
aspects of our existence predictable. A visit to a city we've
visited many times before will confirm many of our memories
about that city: a favorite hotel, a favorite restaurant or cafe, a favorite park, ar-
eas to avoid, etc. Every attempt to communicate in a foreign language that
we know well will similarly confirm many of our memories of that lan-
guage: familiar words mean more or less the same things that we remem-
ber them meaning before, syntactic structures work the same, and common
phrases are used in situations similar to the ones in which we've encountered
them before.
People

pg. 18
A person-centered approach to any text, language, or culture will always be
more productive and effective than a focus on abstract linguistic strutures or
cultural conventions.

The meaning of a word

Translation is often thought to be primarily about words and their mean-

ings: what the words in the source text mean, and what words in the target
language will best capture or convey that meaning. We usually learn words and
their meanings from people and as a function of our complex relationships with
people. The only reliable way to learn a new word, in fact, is in context, as used
by someone else in a real situation, whether spoken or written. Only then does
the new word carry with it some of the human emotional charge given it by the
person, who used it; only then does it feel alive, real, fully human. A word
learned in a dictionary or a thesaurus will most often feel stiff, stilted, awkward,
even if its dictionary "meaning" is "correct"; other people who know the word will
feel somewhat uncomfortable with it.

Experiencing people

pg. 19
 One implication of this for the training or professional growth of a transla-
tor is that, beginning ideally in childhood and continuing throughout life, a
translator should be interested in people, all kinds of people — and should
take every opportunity to learn about how different people act. Friends,
colleagues, relatives that goes without saying, But also shopkeepers,
salespersons, electricians and plumbers, the mail carrier, servers in
restaurants, bank tellers all the people with whom we come in contact in our
everyday lives. And what do we notice? What do we pay attention to? Man-
nerisms, nervous habits, posture and gestures, facial expressions, a style of
walking and talking Word

Languages

A useful way of thinking about translation and language is that translator's do

not translate words; they translate what people do with words.

What could that be? (Abduction)

Understanding someone else's utterance or written message is far more compli-

cated than we tend to think. Common sense says that if we hear or read a text
in a language we know well, and the text is syntactically and semantically well
formed, we will understand it. Indeed, offhand it is difficult to imagine a case
in which that under standing might not immediately and automatically follows.

pg. 20
 But there are plenty of such cases. The most common is when you expect
to be addressed in one language, say, a foreign or B language, and are addressed
in another, say, your native or A language: until you adjust your expectations
and really "hear" the utterance as an A-language text, it may sound like B-
language gibberish. This is especially true when you are in a foreign country
where you do not expect any one to speak your language; if someone does
address you in your native tongue, even with perfect pronunciation and
grammar, your expectations may well block understanding. Even after three
or four repetitions, you may finally have to ask, "I'm sorry, what language
are you speaking?" When you are told that it is your native tongue, all of a
sudden the random phonemes leap into coherent order and the utterance makes
sense.

Doing things with words (induction)

If the hunt for the right word or the right phrase is painfully slow
and therefore lamentably underpaid, it can also be one of the
translator's greatest professional joys. Reading in books and articles
one would never ordinarily read, learning things one would never
ordinarily learn, talking to people on the phone about their area of
expertise: this can all be drudgery, of course, but it can also be exciting
and emotionally and intellectually rewarding. The translator who takes
pleasure in this underpaid hunt, it should go without saying, is less likely
to burn out in the job than one who hates it and only does it out of a
sense of professional ethics or duty. Unpleasant duties quickly become
straitjackets.

The translator and speech-act theory (deduction)

pg. 21
 If, then, our inductive reasoning leads us to the principle that
translators do things with words, and we decide this is a discovery
worth passing on to others, we end up with a deductive conception
of translation grounded in speech-act theory. This becomes our new
linguistic precept, by which we order our perceptions of the field: transla-
tors do things with words. One of the things translators do with words, obvi-
ously, is to strive for equivalence. Clients usually demand it, and translators
usually have to strive to do what clients demand.

Social networks
Translation involves far more than finding target-language equivalents for
source-language words and phrases; it also involves dealing with clients,
agencies, employers; networking, research, use of technology; and
generally an awareness of the roles translation plays in society and society
plays in translation.

The translator as social being

It should go without saying: not only translators are social beings just by
virtue of being human; their social existence is crucial to their professional
lives. Without a social network, they would never have learned any language
at all, let alone one or two or three or more. Without a social network, they
would never have kept up with the changes in the languages they speak. With-
out a social network they would never get jobs, would find it difficult to re-
search those jobs, would have no idea of what readers might be looking for in
a translation, would have no place to send the finished translation, and could
not get paid for it.

pg. 22
 All this is so obvious as to seem to require no elaboration. Every-
one knows that translators are social beings, and depend for their livelihood on
their social connections with other human beings.

Cultures

Cultures, and the intercultural competence and awareness that arise out of ex-
perience of cultures, are far more complex phenomena than it may seem to the
translator who needs to know how to say "wrap-around text" in German, and
the more aware the translator can become of these complexities, including
power differentials between cultures and genders, the better a translator s /he will
be.

Bilingualism-the math’s and the truths

Bilingual service providers are people who possess two sets of skills lan-
guage and professional skills, so that they can give the same standard of
service in the context of two languages and cultures. In order to provide an
equal standard of service to all clients, the people provide the service should
have adequate standards of training and qualifications in both sets of skills.
For example allowing people to give medical advice or gather information
upon which medical decisions are made when they are not qualified solely on
the grounds that they happen to speak French and Urdu as bad as giving
good medical advice which cannot be understood.

Target language and source language

These convenient terms and are really self-explanatory. The source language
is the language you are working from whereas the target language is the lan-
guage you are working into. Most people charge according to the number of
words in the source language since this is what is supplied by the clients.

pg. 23
Target language and deprivation

There is a risk of becoming linguistically schizophrenic. Because your brain is so

fluent in both languages, it is fooled into thinking that the structure you have put to-
gether in the target language is correct merely because it is correct in the source lan-
guage.

Target language deprivation is one of the problems experienced by translators

working in their adopting country. They become so totally immersed in the language
and culture that they loss their linguistic edge.

Retaining a sharp tongue

To understand a language properly and to translate it successfully you

must keep up with cultural change. This is why the best translations
are made by native speaker who is resident in the country where the target
language is spoken A language undergoes continuous change and devel-
opment.

Stereotypes

In no country, will there be universal agreement about ideas that underlie that coun-
try’s culture. There will be people who hold culture values strongly and those who
hold them not at all. The attribution of culture traits to individuals from a given cul-
ture is called Stereotyping. The world has negative connotations but you should be
aware that stereotyping is not necessarily bad. In fact, it is the natural consequence
of the ways in which we communicate.

Running a translation business

pg. 24
Starting a business
Running a business can be a dangerous activity for yourself and
others. It is estimated that one in three businesses cease trading with
their first three years of life, and two in three within their first ten
years. And yet, although you need a license to drive a car or ply a
plane, you need nothing but reckless nerve and first client to start a
business.

Make sure you understand the implication and responsibilities of

running a business before you commit yourself. And make sure that
you have written terms and conditions of doing business that you can apply. How-
ever, it is not enough to make unilateral declaration of your terms and condi-
tions they have to be accepted in writing by your client to be valid.

Counting words

The most common method applied for charging is per thousand words
—usually source rather than target words, but some translators are in favor of
charging according to target language words. There is
a good argument for this since you can get computer program to do a word count
for you. And some other methods are applied to charging. These include per
line or per page. The difficulty is however deciding ‘what is a standard line?’
or ‘what is a standard page?’

Holidays

pg. 25
 Holidays are not merely intended as a pleasure, they are an absolute
necessity. If you get too engrossed in your work, you can become
dangerously tired without realizing it. You need to recharge your
batteries, get away from your work and relax. If you spend too much
time in your office you will get very tired of the place.And Advice
your clients in advance when you are going on holiday, they will
respect the fact that you need to take break and, if you have
established a good work relationship, they will contract you again
after your holiday.

Dealing with salesmen

The salesmen have a job to do and that is selling consumables,

services and commodities to people who have a perceived need. If a
salesman is attempting to sale you something, you do not want, be
firm but polite and say ‘No’ as soon as you can. You do not have to justify any
reason for saying ‘No’ just stand your ground even the sales pitch may so con-
vincing. Probably the most insistent people are sellers of stationery and advertis-
ing space. You need stationery and, if you shop around, you can get reasonable
discounts. Most major suppliers provide comprehensive catalogues, which all
seem to be about the same. Good discounts are usually offered on frequently
—used items such as paper, fox rolls, computer disks, and envelopes. Deliveries
are usually prompt when you make an order. Check whether the supplier makes a
delivery charge for an order

E-commerce

pg. 26
 The use of email and website has significantly changed and will
continue to change the way profession works. A translator’s budget
for traditional postal services often referred as ‘snail mail is declining
in favor of email. The translator can now send most of his
translations by email—exceptions are where a translation needs to be
certified and original documents sent or returned the client.

Try not to put all your eggs in basket

While a major contract may be very attractive, it is dangerous to
over-extend yourself by putting all your resource into satisfying a
single client endeavor to plan and cultivate a number of clients
that leave you with choices. Consider what could happen if work for
a single client for several weeks or more then have trouble in
getting paid. You will have turned down other assignment in
meantime and you become financial vulnerable. A reasonable adage
is not to allow single client to represent more than 25% of your
turnover. it is worth remembering that once you have submitted an
invoice , it will be consider an asset and your balance sheet and you
will be taxed on it even though invoice is not yet paid. Ideally you should be
cultivating new clients so that you can try, at least, no maintain a steady
workload. Experience will show which assignments and clients are most
profitable.

The translator at work and the tools of the trade

Your working environment

pg. 27
Normal physical work requires alternate tensioning and relaxation of muscles for
blood circulation to function satisfactorily. Long term loading without relaxation, the
muscle is tense and circulation is hampered thus causing tiredness. The greater load,
the quicker tiredness occurs. To prevent muscular tiredness, your work environment
should be arranged in such a manner that you can work comfortably at different as-
pects of translation work.

Arranging your equipment

It is worth getting a proper desk with sufficient desktop area for your
PC, reference books and other accoutrements. Get the best chair you can
possibly afford otherwise your work will literally become a pain in the
neck or back. There are certain fundamentals that will make matter
easier:

1. Make sure your computer is in comfortable position and correctly adjusted so that
there is no glare from the screen or reflections on the screen that make reading
difficult.
2. Adjust your chair to the most ergonomic height and make sure you have proper
lighting.

pg. 28
3. A document holder will facilitate reading to the text to be translated.
Alternate the position of your document holder from left to right at regular in-
tervals. This will prevent you from turning your head in the same direction when
you switch between documents and screen.
4. Your screen should be arranged so that your line of sight at right angles to the
screen and at the angle of 20 below the horizontal. The distance between your
eyes and the screen should allow you to read the characters with ease. A suitable
distance is 70 cm.

Eye problems

Eye problems can occur when looking at the same object for long periods. In the
case of prolonged and intensive work on screen, it is a good idea to have some
other object in the vicinity, such as a picture or poster, so that you can direct your
eyes elsewhere occasionally so they can relax.

Simple eye exercise

Allow your eyes to relax now and again. Relax them by changing focus and di-
recting your gaze toward a distant object. Change what you are doing if you can so
that you do not spend long periods in front of screen. Close your eyes tightly while
taking one or two deep breaths.

If you wear glasses, consult your optician to see whether you need special lenses
when working at your terminal. It helps your eyes if the screen has dark characters_
against a light background.

Buying equipment

The equipment that a translator needs in work are:

pg. 29
1. Computer
2. Printer
3. Software to produce your work and manage your business 4 Photocopier
5. Fax
6. Modem

Computer

Translation companies use PCs and Macintosh machines since the company’s clients
used both systems. One of a former head of a translation company indicates that ap-
proximately 90% of translations were produced on PCs and the rest on Macintosh
machines. The latter ran programs favored by publishers and printers. This would
indicate that the safer bet is to invest in a PC. A translator should suggest the fol-
lowing computer specification:

1. 20GB hard disk

2. 256 MB RAM
3. CD-ROM
4. A processor 1 GHz

Printer

The printer you buy will depend on the level of presentation either you or your
clients demanding many cases you may send a translation to your client by modem
thereby obviating the need to deliver a physical document. It is however difficult, if
not impossible, to manage without a printer. Even though you can see your text pre-
sented on screen, it is difficult to proof-read without having a printer.

pg. 30
Source of reference

The sources of reference available on the internet are incredible. For

example if you go to WWW.google.com, one of the popular search
engines it will give you access to more than 2 billion pages! Just image
what would be in terms of books. While you will be ask to translate a
range of subjects, and you have all this information at your fingertips,
you must accept that you have limitation. But having have authoritative
references available your work will be made a lot easier.

Dictionaries

You will probably be familiar with the standard bilingual dictionaries in

your chosen language(s).It is possible to spend a lot of money on
dictionaries that are of no real help. Having said that, there are excellent
dictionaries that provide terminology in specialist subjects, the best
advice I can offer with regard to what dictionaries you should acquire is
to talk to experienced translators or the librarian of the institute of
linguists. As technology advances, you can also use on-line dictionaries
or encyclopedia.

Standards

pg. 31
 An extremely useful source of terminology is found in standards. By standards, I
mean documents produced bodies such as the British Standard Institution (BSI), the
international standard organization (ISO) and others. These bodies issue standards
on a whole range of subjects— usually technical. There is a hierarchy of standard
with ISO and other international bodies at the top. National standard are usually
harmonized with international standard and form the next level. Large companies
often publish their own standards, which, in turn, tend to be in harmony
with national standard.

Trade Association Libraries

Assume that you have a translation on building services. Obviously a useful

source of information would be the library of the appropriate research association—
the Building Service Research and Information Association in the case. Normally
their services are available only to members but some help is offered to none—
members.

Past translation

It would be ideal if you could save all past hard-copy translations and reference
material. There is however a limit to how much of this material you can physically
store. Likewise, you will need an efficient retrieval system if it is going to be of any
use. Your translation can be stored on disk rather than as hard copy. The amount of
text that can be stored on magnetic media is considerable. It can also be retrieved
rapidly when the need arises if you are disciplined in cataloguing your computer
files.

pg. 32
Product literature

Product literature in the target language is useful source of terminology.

The dilemma is deciding what to collect, how to store it and, not least,
how to retrieve it when you need it. Since time is always at a premium, it
is hardly ever practical to try and get hold of additional reference
literature from outside sources when have a translation in progress. It is
probably best to store your reference material according to subject
matter. You can store your glossaries in the same place. if you work for a limited
number of clients.

Quality control and accountability

Your reputation as translator will be determined by the quality of

the translations you produce. The question is who or what determines an
acceptable level of quality? The quality of a tangible object such as a
metal bolt can be checked against a well-defined standard and such
assessment can be fairly objective. A translation is, however, intangible
entity and quality can be very subjective in many cases and control is a
mechanical process. The subject knowledge is essential. A client is
not likely to be happy if you accept an assignment and then produce a
poor quality translation--even though you may done your level best with
the resources you have available. Ideally, you should have work checked
by a colleague.

pg. 33
Source text difficulties

Source text difficulties are many but the two most common are linguistic content
and its layout. As translator, you need to understand the source text—this is a funda-
mental requirement. But what happens if the source text is poorly written, ambigu-
ous or contains words that are used inappropriately? my attitude may appear arro-
gant but there are cases where I have sent back a source text and asked for it to be
revised so it make sense—not because I do not understand the language I am trans-
lating from but because the way it is written makes it impossible to translate with
confidence.

The layout of the source text often causes problems particularly is the person
who keyed in the text does not make use of style sheets and used the spacebar to
format a document.

Localization

The quality of your translation may be perfectly adequate, but the style and pre-
sentation may not suit the intended market. The best results we achieve are pro-
duced by working together with client’s offices abroad so that they add their com-
ments on the translation before the final version is submitted to the client.

This can be very useful since that working in the country where the language is
spoken are aware of current language usage and any appropriate jargon. This is par-
ticularly important in marketing. A brand name that is perfectly acceptable in one
country may sound ridiculous in another.

pg. 34
Be honest with the client

It is always tempting to accept an assignment even if you are short of time. It is

up translators try, educates clients, and gets them to accept that good, accurate
translation takes time. When faced with unrealistic or even impossible deadlines,
we decline the work—and explain why. We would rather turn down work than pro-
duce poor quality translation that could damage our reputation. There are times, of
course, when you need to work to an absolute deadline. This is usually the result of
poor planning by the clients.

Quality takes time and cost money

What you can charge for translation depends on the level of quality you produce.
Some clients are unaware of the need for independent checking and localization.
This is why it is so important to ask the client what the translation is going to be
used for. It is unreasonable for the client to demand the unrealistic or the impossible.

Clients must be educated to understand the amount of time it takes to

produce a translation. It is not just a case of reading the source text and letting the
words of target language flow from our fingers. We may to do additional research,
pick the brains of colleagues, or even spend a significant amount of time formatting
the text to suit the clients’ requirements.

Pre-emptive measures

There are fundamental questions you must ask before accepting a translation assign-
ment:

1. What is the subject? Do I feel confident with my knowledge of this Subject?

2. What is the volume of work and when it is required by?
3. What is the translation going to be used for? Information, publication or

pg. 35
 legal purposes.
4. Are previous translations or reference material available?
5. Is anybody available to answer any queries?

Deadlines

It is unfortunate that, in many cases, it is the client who dictates or attempts to

impose a deadline. It is up the translation profession to Endeavour to educate clients
by stating that adequate time is necessary to do a good job. Of course, this attitude
must be tempered by commercial considerations. If you cannot do the job in the
time, then there is somebody else willing to sacrifice leisure time to meet the clients’
demands.

Professional organizations for translators

Federation international des traducers (FIT)

As the title suggested, FIT is the international organization which elects organi-
zation for membership. The FIT was founded in Paris in 1953 and has member asso-
ciations in over 50 countries worldwide. Through its full member associations, FIT
represents the interests of over 100,000 translators. FIT is strictly non-political orga-
nization which enjoys category A status with UNESCO. It plays a vital role in over-
coming language barriers and promoting worldwide understanding.

Professional organizations for translators in the

United Kingdom

pg. 36
 There are three professional organizations for translators in the United Kingdom.
Two of them, the Institute of Linguists and Institute of Translation and Interpret
ward recognized professional qualifications after careful assessments or examina-
tion. This allows suitable-qualified people to use designations such as Dipterans,
MIL or MITI to denote a level of achievement.

pg. 37
 Conclusion
To conclude this monograph I must say that, if a person wants to be-
come professional translator, he/she must know the goal, methods, requirements,
role,
internal and external knowledge, and he/she must have proficiency in both source
languages and target language. For the business of translation, the translator re-
quires all the tools of the trade and when a translator is doing a translation, he/
she must use the source of reference in order to do a reliable translation. It is
hoped that this monograph will be an effective source in the field of
translation.
we know that, the Practical Guide for Translation is necessary for
everyone to be learnt because transition is a very necessary skill in all over the
World. It seems from the cover of the monograph that the subject is (Practical
Guide for Translators). I have described here all methods of translation In addi-
tion; translation is important and plays a vital role in language learning, so I
supposed to write in my monograph guide for translators with details. Further-
more, if a second language learner wants to learn language, he/she follow the
guides of translation which is basically based for learning. If a person follows
these guides for translation grantee, they will never have mistakes in the writ-
ing field.
Although I have done my best to provide enough information for trans-
lators as a guide yet the translators need to find more information in
other sources of translation studies. The benefits that may be obtained from par-
ticipation in translation are many and varied. But I will mention here one exam-
ple; that most people who have been involved in translation are aware that the
benefits to be received from a translation program depend not only on one’s
personal goals but also on the goals set for the others.

pg. 38
 References:

1. Basil, H. (2001). Introducing Translation Studies. New York: Longman.

2. Bogucki, L. (2010) Teaching Translation and Interpreting. New York:

Cambridge university press.

3. Basil, H., & Jeremy, M. (2004).Translation an advanced resource book.

New York: Routledge.

4. Thomson, S. B. (2001). A newcomer's guide to Translation and

Interpretation. U.S.A: American Translators Association.

5. Robinson, D. (2003). Becoming a translator. New York: Routledge.

6. Paul. G. (2009).Translation in Practice. Dalkey: Archive Press

7. Baker, M. (1992). A Course on Translation. London: Routledge.

8. Roger, T. (1991).Translation and translating. London: Longman.

pg. 39