2.4 Conclusion

In this lesson we’ve provided some basic guidelines to help you maintain professional standards and produce high-quality translations. In our exploration of topics related to letters we highlighted the importance of translating greetings and closings in a way that sounds natural in the source language, including the correct date, maintaining the level of formality of the ST in the TT, organizing sentences and punctuation in a way that is natural in the TL, and translating the message into the TL with correct spelling and grammar regardless of errors present in the ST. In translating phone messages or forms - while the message will likely be shorter - the same guidelines ought to be followed as in translating letters. We should include any greetings or closings and the correct date, maintain the same level of formality, and refrain from translating errors. Whether we are translating a letter, a form, or a phone message, the objective is always to transfer the complete message into correct and easy-to-understand language in the TL.