MEDICAL TRANSLATION PITFALLS by Shel Stein M.A.

Localized versus Neutral Spanish

At CIS we advocate a ‘Neutral Spanish’, that can be universally
understood by both laymen and professionals. This offers the
advantage where the translation works across national boundaries
and regions. In different fields of expertise, such as law, medicine,
business, entertainment, sports, and technology you have special
terminology and usage. In high tech endeavors you have new
terminology and the evolution of language on a continuing basis.

Machine Translation
Artificial intelligence and machine translation can only take you so far.
We have not yet addressed the art of writing, eloquence, style, and
refinement of expression. These have to be added in to have a
translation read like an original document.

Custom Translation Agencies Versus Large Organizations

Large organizations often work with teams of translators, who

collaborate with specialized software. Here the central issue is price
and timing versus quality, style, and artistry. How many chefs do you
want working on your favorite dish or how many artists do you want
to work on your portrait? How do you assure continuity of style and
literary quality across a group of different translators with varying
skills and backgrounds working on the same language, without a
tradeoff ?
Research and Editing, Going Beyond Glossaries and
Specialized Dictionaries

Aside from translation, even more important is research and editing,

whereby a document reads well, and gets the author’s point and style
across to the target audience. Often translators focus on volume
output, and may not put in the necessary research that goes beyond
the use of specialized glossaries and dictionaries. Research and
quality editing is often the differentiator that determines excellence in
translation.

We invite inquires at:

www.cistranslations.com
shel@cistranslations.com