An Overview of the Main Issues of Translation

This chapter discusses technical translation in terms of the thoughts and internal cognitive processes of the translator during activity and within the language and translation industry. After exemplifying certain technical translation problems and common strategies for solutions, the discussion focuses on the quality of the translated text in terms of its evaluation against different parameters. The success of a technical translation depends on two core factors: 1) The ability to produce target (i.e., translated) texts as usable as original texts written in the source language (i.e., original language), and 2) The quality of the source text used for translation in terms of clarity of the information provided as needed to produce quality translated texts. By addressing such factors, technical communicators can more effectively prepare documents for and partner with translators.