At the beginning of a translation project it is customary to put on eagle’s eyes and examine the text for possible pitfalls. And when translators find errors in source texts (which happens more often than you might think), there are three possible courses of action: 1) simply copy the source text error into the target language, 2) query the client and ask for correction or clarification, and 3) correct the error in the translation.
Option 1 would be taking the easy way out without thinking about the possible repercussions. Just imagine if we translate a text for an advertisement and the error gets published. No reputable translator would do that. Option 2 is what we usually do in such a case; after all, it’s the client who should be in control of the text and also make decisions if anything about the text has to be changed.
Although option 3 is the exception, experienced human translators can sometimes simply correct minor errors or improve oddly phrased sentences. This is true for simple typos or grammar errors, especially if they would make the text ambiguous and we could easily avoid that in the translated text. However, it is also true for what we call syntax or semantic errors. Here are a few examples from recent projects where I have taken the liberty to “improve” the text:
“To get you started, here are some quick links to key resources for a smooth transition to your new role.”
At first sight, the average reader might not notice that there is something wrong with the phrase “quick links.” But strictly speaking it is kind of illogical to describe a link as quick. Sure, a link can be short or easy to follow, but this sentence could be written better. In this instance, I decided to simply omit the word “quick”, which also made the sentence easier to read in German:
“Nachfolgend finden Sie mehrere Links zu wichtigen Ressourcen, die Ihnen bei der Einarbeitung in Ihre neuen Rolle behilflich sein werden.”
Here is another example:
“The COVID-19 outbreak is a rapidly evolving situation requiring great flexibility and attention.”
In this sentence, the challenge is the word “evolving.” Evolution stems from biology and refers to a change that happens extremely slowly, over the course of many generations, so calling it rapid would be contradictory. Granted, the word “evolving” is used a lot in English marketing texts, but given that the average German reader has a rather logical approach to comprehending a text, there is a good change that the target audience might stumble over the phrase “rapidly evolving.” In this instance, I decided to replace “evolving” with “developing” in the German translation:
„Der Ausbruch von COVID-19 beschert uns mit einer sich rasant entwickelnde Lage, auf die sehr flexibel und gezielt reagiert werden muss.”
Here is another example of an illogical sentence in the source text:
Survey question: “How worried are you that you or someone in your family will be infected with the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)?”
The person who wrote this text might not have been familiar enough with this very new terminology. Strictly speaking, it would be one of two options: One could get infected with the virus (which is called Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 or Covid-19 virus) or one could have or suffer from the disease (which is called COVID-19).
From the context, I surmised that the emphasis should be on infection. Therefore, I rephrased the source text and translated as follows:
“How worried are you that you or someone in your family will be infected with the Coronavirus?”
“Wie besorgt sind Sie, dass Sie oder jemand in Ihrer Familie sich mit dem Coronavirus infiziert?”