What is a specialised translation?

When it comes to specialised (or specialist) translation, it’s all about precision and the accuracy of terminology.

Specialised texts tend to be written for specialised audiences or experts in a particular field. As a result, these highly competent readers can spot translation errors in a heartbeat.

Specialised translations: a definition

Specialised translation is the translation of technical texts and all the terminology and sector-based jargon that comes with it.

The best way to go about a specialised translation is to rely on sector-specific glossaries, which contain correct, up-to-date terms for specific fields, e.g., the medical or scientific sectors.

In addition, specialised translations must be unambiguous. Each specialised term must be translated with the corresponding term in the target language.

Who does specialised translations?

Considering the above, we wouldn't blame you for thinking that machine translation and a good glossary would be able to create a fairly decent specialised translation, but this is not the case at all.

Since specialised texts also occasionally contain slang expressions that are only known and understood by a narrow subset of people, you may also require a transcreation service, i.e., the creative translation of an expression that does not exist in the target language or is replaced by a completely different expression.

As a result, a top-class specialised translation service such as the one provided by EuroTrad can only be performed by translators who are experts in their field, i.e., who have specialised academic expertise, as well as the required language skills. These skills put them in the best possible position to produce translations that are free from conceptual errors caused by a lack of understanding of the subject area.

Which fields require specialised translations?

EuroTrad offers a specialised translation service for companies and professionals working in specialised sectors, such as:

• the pharmaceutical sector: just think of pharmaceutical companies that need to translate packaging insert into a number of different languages for new drugs they are bringing to market.
• the scientific sector: think of a physics professor who needs to distribute copies of his or her quantum physics paper to a foreign audience;
• or other sectors such as websites, advertising, finance, and the arts, etc.

In all of these extremely different cases, specialised translation services are often required.

Finally, it is important to be aware that the cost of specialised translations varies depending on numerous factors, including the specialist field, the scope of the translation project, and the turnaround time.