Specialized translation

Specialized translation is a term and concept used in the translation business and in translation schools. A text to be translated is specialized if translating it calls for knowledge in some field that would not normally be part of a translator's or translation student's general knowledge.

Professional translators who are able to work in one or more specialties (such as law, finance, medicine or environmental sciences) can usually command higher prices for their work. Some translators are 'specialists': they work exclusively in just one or a couple of specialties. Others translate both specialized and non-specialized texts.

In order to understand the specialized text that is to be translated, and write the translation, the translator must have or acquire somewhat advanced or even highly advanced concepts of the relevant field.However, the level of understanding required to be a specialized translator is considerably less than the level possessed by practitioners of the field in question. Sometimes even experienced specialized translators must consult practitioners when their knowledge falls short.

Understanding is necessary because translation is not a matter of replacing words in one language with words in another. Translators have to be able to guarantee that their translations have more or less the same meaning as the text in the original language, but if they do not have a fairly good understanding of what the writer of that text was trying to say about the subject matter, then no such guarantee can be given.

Some translation businesses make a three-way distinction between 'general' texts (calling only for general knowledge of a field), 'specialized' texts (calling for advanced knowledge of a field) and 'highly specialized' texts (calling for detailed knowledge of a subject, such as jet engines or commercial law). The price charged per word will then vary with the degree of specialization. Many texts have parts which are general and parts which are specialized or highly specialized.

Aside from the concepts of a field, specialized translators must know or discover the related terms in both languages.

It is often said that such translators must also master the typical writing styles used in each of the specialized genres in which they work (for example, a legal translator might handle contracts, court decisions, transcripts of court proceedings and so on). And they must tailor their writing style to the future readers of the translation. It is important for translators of specialized texts to have a clear idea of who those future readers will be. Some specialized texts are written by experts for other experts, some by experts for non-experts, some by people who are not experts but have more knowledge than the intended readers (for example, science journalists writing for the general public). Some texts may address more than one kind of reader; for example, a study for the refurbishment of a bridge may have a section addressed to transportation managers, a section addressed to finance specialists, and a section addressed to engineers. The different sections will require different styles.

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