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International Translators is an international network of professional translators operated by the Austria based translation and tourism office City Tours Europe. Relying upon a large network of freelance translators across Europe, we provide translation service for various language combinations including translations from most european languages to English and from English to many languages as well as bi-directional translations between foreign languages.
To translate is to turn the language of a text (source) into another (target), while taking great care not to change the meaning in the slightest. Ideally, the reader of a translation should not be aware that the text he/she is reading is not the original but was actually written in a foreign language.
The difficulties inherent to translation are many, to name just a few, grammar, culture and context. Most languages share the same common "ancestor", however they do not all have the same recent roots which means that their structures can vary widely from one to the other making one grammar totally impossible to render into the other language without first a serious syntax and structural rearrangement. The differences in cultures and social, historical, or geographical contexts are non negligible aspects of translation; indeed, would a "fish-and-chips", "the Big Apple", or "the city that never sleeps" ring a bell, once translated, to anyone not accustomed to the appropriate culture?
This difficulty leads to the obligation for a good translator to have a good command of both languages but also a thorough knowledge of both cultures, making it increasingly difficult for someone to translate from a great variety of languages, because the culture is something which takes a long time to acquire. Yet, this problem has been greatly smoothed by the Internet, which allows for quick and reliable research, thus avoiding the translators mistakes in interpretation.
In general, translating a document, whatever its nature goes through three distinct phases:
Translations are generally divided into two categories, literary and technical. Even though both require language skills, they are not similar in that a technical translation will rely more on a word for word technique, with less attention paid to style and grammar. Technical texts are not meant to entertain and captivate people, but to inform them. On the contrary, literary texts are an entertainment in themselves and so require a much more elegant phrasing and structure, in order for the readers to forget or, even better, not to realise they are reading a translation. Both technical and literary translations can be divided further into several subtypes, and some translations do also represent a mixed challenge with literary and technical elements. To learn more about the various types of translation proposed by International Translators, please visit our "types of translation" page.
Nowadays, with ever present computers, one cannot ignore the presence of electronic translators, however unless they start developing feelings and a sense of humour, they will never manage to render the human thoughts and subtleties of language. A computer software, however powerful and advanced does not question itself, nor does it understand sarcasms or irony. It will use its database to translate a word for a word, even if this leads to a complete nonsense. Hence, if you wish to obtain an understandable result fulfilling the actual expectations of your readers, it isn't a good idea to rely upon a translation software. Instead, you should place a transation order with a professional translator in order to guarantee an optimal translation result.
To order a translation from a given original language into a desired target language, please send us the original text to . Also, please don't forget to let us know for what purpose you need the translation, as the translation price greatly depends upon the technique and care we shall apply to the translation of your text. To learn more about the information we need in order to prepare you a tailor-made offer for your translation, please visit our "How to order a translation" page, providing information about the requirements for an accurate translation quote.
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