“Elements_of_Good_Practice_in_Community_Translation”

Community Translators are expected to abide by a Code of Conduct (sometimes referred to as Code of Practice or Code of Ethics) setting a framework for translating in the public services. The objective of the Code of Conduct is to make sure that members of a professional association can be relied upon to behave according to rules that protect and respect the interests of their commissioners (clients) as well as those of their fellow members. Also it states that communication across language and culture is carried out consistently, competently, impartially and that all those involved in the process are clear about what may be expected from them. Through my essay, I am going to explore the significance of main elements of good practice for community translation. First of all I’d like to evaluate the element, which in general, is considered the most important in the translating industry, accuracy or interpreted as competence. Community translators shall take all reasonable care to be accurate. This means that they should be translating their work completely and truly. Furthermore, they shall not alter, make additions to, or omit anything from their assigned work. For example: Translators are often required to translate important medical letters regarding their client’s health and the treatments required. If this letter is translated inaccurately, omitting or changing critical facts, it could be fatal for the client’s health or drastically decrease their quality of life. The second essential element of good practice in translating is reliability. Once professionals agreed to undertake the translating task, they should complete their work on time (meeting deadlines), should be competent in their language and not accept the jobs beyond their ability. In the case of emergency when they’re not able to complete certain task on time, the translator should contact the agency/commissioner immediately. Also it is expected from translators that they make the necessary preparation for a translating task, conduct a lot of research, have a strong knowledge of Public Service terminology, have a good command of both languages, including current idioms and dialects and they shall continue to develop their professional knowledge and skills. A further important issue in the translating occupation is the need for confidentiality. Any information gained during the course of translating documents should be strictly confidential. Here, the same as in any other profession, keeping certain information in secret and protecting someone’s privacy is acting according to British law (e.g. Data Protection Act, 1998). Breaking the confidentiality law is not only illegal but may disadvantage the commissioner. For example, a translator may be required to translate a letter from court addressed to the witness of a highly publicised crime. The translator may be exposed to confidential information that if shared, could lead to placing the life of the witness in danger. Also they could get too many people involved in this case, which certainly isn’t their job. Apart from disadvantages to others they put themselves at risk of losing their job. If we, as translators, come across documents which we might find very useful and profitable, we should never use it for our own interest. A good community translator should maintain impartiality at all times when translating texts belonging to someone else. Translators, who get offered to work with documents containing materials against someone’s beliefs, they should withdraw from doing this work. It is essential that translators stay objective in their assignments to avoid writing their own opinion in these documents, as they cannot add any irrelevant information, like I mentioned before. Once a translator completes their translation, they should put effort into producing a high standard of presentation. Our work should be tidy, organized and proof-read. We should keep the same layout of translated documents and keep the same style as original. For example, if it is a formal letter, we need to write in formal style as well. At times we might find that reproducing exactly the same layout of document is not feasible. In this case we should try to be as close to original as possible. We should do our best to present these documents in the way we would like them to be addressed to ourselves, with respect and professional approach. In conclusion, if a translator possesses these five essential elements, they will be a reliable and effective asset to any organisation. A free-lance translator of this quality will hopefully experience a steady flow of work due to their reputation as a trustworthy professional.