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Document Translation Help: Tips & Techniques Page 3

Establish a translation workflow that accounts for realistic performance limits.

Many translators are also intellectuals, and as intellectuals too often they believe that they have the quickness of mind and intellectual endurance to complete highly complex projects by sitting in front of a marathon project. Knowing your limits as a translator can make the difference between enjoying your profession and struggling with your energy levels and, for some, self-recrimination.

Avoid working as a tuckered-out translator. Much like a student studying for an exam, it is often a good idea to step away from your translation work every 50 minutes to give your brain some time to relax. In general, 10 minutes away from translating can revitalize your mind. So, for every hour, translate for 50 minutes and take 10 minutes to relax. During your 10 minute break, try not to obsess about the translation of a word or phrase that didn't come to you immediately.

Be aware of the intellectual fatigue of a language learner. If you lived in a country where your native language was not spoken, did you feel enervated by the end of the day? This is the experience of many language learners. Expert linguists are often the first point out that they are life-long language learners. And working as a translator is a constant learning and perfecting experience.

Translating can exhaust you physically - so realize that no matter how intellectual you are, your brain is part of your physical body. The Cartesian notion that the mind and body are separate is not a notion that a translator should live by. For translators, the "Fall of the Subjectivity Paradigm" can be a friend that helps you complete your translation work while learning and enjoying the process.

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