Translation: literal, literary, and all that is in-between

To think that the act of translating means the act of simply transforming words from one language into words in another language is a big misconception. That would, by definition, mean that a single person who is fluent in two languages could potentially do a translation. Which could be compared to saying that anyone who can put together a complete sentence with a subject, verb and predicate is capable of writing a novel.

A translator is, above all things, a writer. And as writers can –and must- specialize in certain fields of literature, so can translators. As great as it would be to have a single person capable of translating any kind of text out there and producing documents with minimal loss in translation, that is not possible if you are only looking for the best results. That would be the equivalent of having a reporter writing every single section of a newspaper. No, there are different people for different tasks – those who have the speed to write last minute news, those who have the analytic mind to write in-depth articles, or those who have the tact and the literary abilities to write the obituaries.

A translator who is great at translating marketing campaigns might leave something to be desired when it comes to legal documents. A translator who has a gift for translating song lyrics and poetry might not be the best option when the client asks for an instructions manual translation.

Even if the root of both adjectives “literal” and “literary” is the same, when it comes to translation, these two qualities can make a world of difference. Neither of them defines a better or worse translator, they just make them more apt for certain kinds of texts, more adequate for certain target customers.

And a good translation agency must have plenty of both, in as many languages as possible.

inWhatLanguage prides itself in its huge range of exceptionally gifted translators located all over the globe. They provide customer-oriented language translation, transcription and language interpreting services that absolutely blow away what you get from automated translation tools and websites. 

inWhatLanguage's professional, native-speaking language translators are among the most qualified in the translation services industry, boasting years of experience and specific expertise in a variety of content areas, including law, education, healthcare, and more.

inWhatLanguage recognizes the difference between the need for a “literal” translation and a “literary” one, and has an offer big and good enough to deliver high-quality work for both at affordable prices, always listening to what the client has to say.

Because, in our case, the client is, literally, our first priority.