How can you know
you are working with a professional?

 

Due to current social and economic changes in Armenia too many people have changed their occupation and are doing things that help them sustain themselves, rather than things they have been taught to do. In this respect, many people, who speak some foreign language but do not have any linguistic background offer translations. Some of them really consider themselves pros, as they think that knowing a foreign language is enough to be a translator. As a result, very often we see texts which have nothing to do with Armenian, they contain Armenian words, but are stylistically and grammatically incorrect; sometimes there are whole pages of senseless strings of Armenian words meaning nothing to the reader. Armenian being a rather rare language, clients sometimes cannot check the quality of the translation. Many of them do not contact the target audience directly, so they never know how the translated text is accepted by the readers.

Below are some steps that may help you avoid this:

 

WHAT DOES NOT REALLY MATTER

  1. Check the background. A translator should be a linguist
    Even if you are having a technical, medical, legal, etc. text translated, it should be first linguistically correct, otherwise you'll get a technically correct string of Armenian words meaning nothing to the reader. Please note, written Armenian is different from spoken Armenian and not everyone who speaks Armenian can write correctly. This is not only a matter of orthography or grammar. Building correct Armenian sentences is no easy task. The seemingly free and flexible word order contains a lot of pitfalls for the writer. Changing the place of one word can change the meaning of the whole sentence. Writers may not notice this but readers will get a wrong message. Usually in case of technical texts a professional translator would suggest post-translation editing by a specialist in the field. Most professionals have their editors for different subjects.
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  2. How many languages can one single translator offer
    If a translator offers more than one target language, than you should be careful. Such phrases as "translations from and into Armenian, Russian, English, French and Greek" should make you think twice before hiring the translator. Please remember, most Armenians, especially those living in Armenia, speak at least two languages. Russian is the second mother tongue for most of them. Many are very fluent in Russian, however when it comes to translating you can hardly rely on them for both languages equally. Those who have so called "Russian education", i.e., those who have finished Russian biased schools, can hardly be trusted for translations into Armenian, and visa-versa. Of course there may be exceptions, however if a translator says he/she can provide equally high quality translations into both languages, this probably means that he/she cannot provide high quality translations into any of the languages.
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  3. Fields
    You can hardly find a translator who is experienced in all subject areas. Normally a professional translator can offer three or four related subjects, say literature-philosophy-philology-poetry, or physics-chemistry-electronics-computer hardware. For the rest of the fields professional translators rely on experienced specialists for post-translation editing.
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  4. Is the translator a full-time translator now?
    If the translator is a full-time freelancer or works in an agency as a translator, than this can serve as a good reason to trust him/her your translation. If the translator does some other job, even if it is related to translation, than you'd better be careful.
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  5. How long has the translator worked as a full-time translator?
    If someone has been a junior researcher in the institute of Physics for 10 years and now is offering translations, you can hardly trust that person alone a translation, even in the filed of physics. He/she can probably be a good editor for a technical text already translated by another translator.
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  6. Can the translator provide samples of previous jobs?
    Most professional translators can provide you samples from previous jobs.
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  7. Daily output
    An experienced translator certainly knows how many words he/she can translate per day and will give you a realistic daily output.
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  8. What other services does the translator offer
    Most translators offer other services related to translation and interpreting. For example, some of them are rather experienced in some popular software, others can offer tourism, etc. However if the other services offered by the translator are very extensive or are not related to translation, you'd better be careful with such translators. For example, if the translator offers programming or services in highly sophisticated graphical programs, than probably translation is a secondary service for that translator.
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  9. Publications
    Does the translator have published works? It is likely that experienced translators have published books, booklets, etc.
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  10. Eastern vs Western Armenian
    Never have a Western Armenian editor proofread, edit or evaluate an Eastern Armenian text unless he/she is a linguist specializing in Eastern Armenian and visa-versa. These are two different languages.
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  11. Rates
    The translation market is not finally shaped in Armenia and it is possible that you may find a good translator offering low rates. However in most cases people offering too low rates are not professionals. A good translator who has invested in a good computer, printer, expensive dictionaries etc, who depends on translation as his/her main source of income can hardly agree to translate at very low rates.
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WHAT DOES NOT REALLY MATTER
  1. Membership in professional organizations
    Most translators in Armenia do not belong to any of the internationally recognized professional organizations. Living in Armenia does not allow them to use the advantages of such membership. Besides applying often requires travel to other countries or international money transfer, which is not very realistic for people living in Armenia.
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  2. References
    Anyone can find one or two people who can write a good reference letter for them. Don't rely too much on references. If the translator has a published book, booklet, user's guide, etc., this can serve the best reference.
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  3. Payment method
    In many countries having an account in a bank is something like having a birth certificate. This is not the case in Armenia. Most Armenians, including many professionals and well-off businessmen, even members of the parliament do not have their personal accounts in any bank. Let this not serve as a criteria for you to turn down a translator's services. Instead, most professionals can suggest you a well set-up method of payment, which may be different from what you are used to practice. For example, many may ask you to send checks payable to one of their friends living in a Western country. You may think that this way they are trying to avoid paying taxes but it is not true. This is just the only way of receiving especially small amounts safely and without considerable losses. Wire transfers into Armenia are very costly, checks are too hard to cash, as for the new payment methods, like PayPal, etc, they do not work in Armenia.
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