Translating Chemistry: Poor translation is costly
Demand for specialized translations of Russian patent documents (mostly chemical patents) has been growing steadily during the last few years. As we already mentioned, portfolio of Russian chemical patents translated into English is available via PatentsFromRU site.
At the end of 2007, our colleague collaborated with two other chemically-oriented translators to write a letter to the editor of C&EN (Chemical and Engineering News, a journal for members of the American Chemical Society). An article had appeared in the Nov. 12, 2007, issue (p 17ff) of this trade-zine as the cover story, entitled “Championing Translation”, which had absolutely nothing to do with our kind of translation. Our colleague felt the need to explain to the chemical community that there is another kind of translation that is also important to them.
The letter has now appeared in print, in the latest issue. Our colleague grabbed the full text
which appears below.
—
Chemical & Engineering News
January 14, 2008
Volume 86, Number 2
Letters
Translating Chemistry
The interesting cover story “Championing Translation” (C&EN, Nov. 12,
2007, page 17) had an unexpected twist for us: Although we aren’t
directly involved in drug development, we provide an equally essential
service to chemists around the world by translating chemical texts from
foreign languages into English. Our work is critical to the scientific
community, and yet remains largely invisible and poorly understood.
From individual scientists to multinational corporations, clients
routinely need materials translated into many languages for information,
publication, or patent filings. Machine translation can’t handle such
complex material except for crude “gisting,” often with incomprehensible
results in our fields. Poor translation is costly. Errors compromise
safety, intellectual property, and image as well as the bottom line.
Incorrect terminology in translation makes research disappear in keyword
searches. Therefore choosing the right translator can ultimately save
money and grief.
Being bilingual is no guarantee of written fluency or translation skill,
and highly technical material requires highly developed subject area
knowledge. If you don’t know an alkane from an alkene – let alone
understand a reaction scheme or patent abstract – chances are you can’t
translate it.
To choose the right translator, look for high-level mastery of both
source and target languages, subject area expertise, and solid training
or experience in the field of translation. And be sure to budget
appropriately: you’ll get what you pay for.
Highly specialized translators like us combine both chemistry background
and language skills to get chemists past the language barrier and meet a
growing need in an increasingly competitive market.
[ Portfolio of Russian chemical patents translated into English ]
Karen Tkaczyk
Gardnerville, Nev.
Matthew Schlecht
Newark, Del.
Cathy Flick
Richmond, Ind.
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