What does having a keen eye for detail mean to you? Spotting the tiny error without nitpicking, here is part of our mission as translators and reviewer. In order to deliver top-notch quality, we need to be particularly meticulous. Perfect spelling, checking that we understood the subtleties of a text, are part of our daily work. And we also pay attention to typographic rules. As we say, the devil is in the details and we’re here to avoid you costly errors that could ruin your brand image.
Read the article to discover the kind of Sherlock Holmes we are.
1 The eye for detail about the form
- Right spelling is the bare minimum
- Typos hunt
- Typography
2 The eye for detail about the meaning
- Checking that the meaning subtleties are understood
- Informing about errors in the original text
- Consulting and suggesting about a cultural point of view
1 The eye for detail about the form
A correct spelling is the bare minimum
As a linguist, I know that spelling is paramount. Honestly, do you like reading content full of spelling mistakes and errors ? A wrong spelling not only affects the brand image but also the writer and the proofreader.
A whole team has its reputation ruined when its content is stuffed with spelling mistakes.
This keen eye for detail usually arises during the translation studies, when we know how much costs the error. We also have the habit of reading a lot, writing and proofreading ourselves. Grammar and spelling are key criteria of quality when it comes to content. When I was a student at ISIT translation school, each error was synonym of losing several points in the final score. A copy containing to many errors could be thrown in the bin and not even read until the end.
Typo hunting
Spelling, grammar typos… We are errors trackers; we flush out defects.
A typing error, a missing word, a misplaced letter, an inadequate quote… these are typographical errors that need to be spotted before a delivery or in pre-print step. Usually, printing a first draft enables to spot these faster than on screen.
As I’m used to write, translate, proofreading and reviewing my work so as other linguists work, I’m well trained to quickly spot spelling mistakes often at first sight. It’s as if I had an error radar on my glasses when I read.
Thanks to these skills, I helped a Swiss publishing house for pre-print proofreading tasks. My mission was to proofread already reviewed texts before they were printed. I was one of the final eyes before launching the printing step. And here again, I could spot errors that reviewers had missed. Which means that several pairs of eyes used to the exercise are not unnecessary in the quality control process. If you have not read my article about it (content in French) have a read.
It’s normal to miss some errors, once you’re biased. Our eyes get used to the content and the minds too. If a word is missing in a sentence, the brain can invent it to follow logic, even if the word has not been written. So the brain thinks it’s here although it’s not.
Typography
To make reading easier for your audience means following writing standards. Applying good typography increases credibility of your content. And it’s almost an art. How many websites, newsletters and marketing communications have I read that were omitting these standards. A line starting with a question mark, another ending with a rate without currency or worse, figures, names, on two different lines. The reader has to jump to the following line so as the specific information is complete and makes sense.
In typography the French word for space is feminine. It refers to blades placed in between lead characters. We pay attention to using the right type of space where needed. Hair space, non-breaking space or a regular space.
To go deeper, read this article on Antidote website, the software I use to quality assess all the content I work on.
2 To be detail-oriented about the substance
Checking subtleties are adequately conveyed
In some cases, the detail-oriented linguist will see several possible meanings in the same source sentence. She or he will obviously ask the client what is the true meaning as his/her goal is to render the exact meaning of the source or the closest one. Professionalism leads to meticulousness.
A seasoned translator will suggest two possible meanings. Often, the questions I ask leads the author to rewrite the texts as he/she realizes it was ambiguous, or contained errors. Sometimes it’s unclear and needs to be turned in other way, with different words or it does not have to be translated. Some clients even tell me that my questions help them taking distance from their content and to express their idea more clearly.
Informing about errors in the source text
The translator does not only care about the translation she or he’s creating. As she/he reads the source text, she has to study it in depth. When errors are found, the translator notifies it to the client.
Although it’s not part of the work scope, the quality of the final source text as important as the quality the translation will provide. A meticulous linguist won’t leave unnoticed an error that has slipped into the source text. She/he will notify the client so it can be updated.
Informing and suggesting on the cultural point of view
Translator’s expertise and constant eye for detail will lead her to spot ambiguities and inconsistencies. Indeed, the linguist has a deep knowledge of the culture related to the languages she works with. I will be able to spot cultural elements that cannot be transposed from one language to another. The translator will be able to suggest other, or ways to change the perspective.
Here is an example. I translated for an agency content for tourists who visit London. The English text was referring to how easy it was to go to Paris by the Eurostar for a shopping session. Obviously, as the project was to communicate with a French audience, this remark was not relevant. Indeed, the French tourist normally travels from France to visit England. The departure city might even be Paris, so it would not be logical to translate the sentence as such. I had to choose between omitting this detail and mentioning another city that worthed a visit.
Only the human translator can have this reasoning and keen eye for detail. Online translation tools and AI would have translated the sentence as such, without thinking about its relevance, without asking questions. Only the human linguist is able to spot these inconsistencies and to think culturally and to suggest another solution.
3. Work with a linguist who has a keen eye for detail
An experienced and detail-oriented translator grows during translation studies and fine-tune with experience. In all the content, the linguist will check meticulously in order to leave no imperfection. Thinking, asking questions, reasoning and analyzing. From spelling to typography, every aspect of the content is considered. Even the source one, so that the whole result is error free for the brand reputation’s sake. If you want to know more about my process, if you want to have a chat about your translation and content writing projects, get in touch.
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