Essay About Robinson Douglas And Accurate Translation

The Most Desired Characteristics a Translator Must Have in Order to Deliver an Accurate Translation According to Students of B.A. in English
Abstract
The current research paper is based on an investigation of the most desired characteristics a
translator must have in order to deliver and accurate translation according to senior graduates in
BA in English and BA in English Teaching at the University of Costa Rica. The data collected
consisted of samples from the two groups of Intercultural Communication, which students take
throughout the second semester of fourth year of the major. At this level, most of these students
can give their opinion about such topic due to their experience with translation tasks during the
major. Some of main results of this study were the importance of language knowledge and
experience as key elements in a translation processes.
Introduction
When referring to translators, people from all spheres discuss about the qualities such
professionals must have in order to deliver and accurate translation independently of the field they
are dealing with. Thus, many authors have given their opinions based on thorough studies of the
many variables the translation tasks may present, and the way in which translators approach these
documents. Many of these researchers claim that the translation process is always affected by the
personal experience and worldview of the translator, and this is reflected in the final product.
Robinson Douglas, for example, states, “since I [the translator] am choosing the target-language
words, everything I write has to be filtered through my experience, my interpretations” (p. 3). Like
Douglas, many other authors believe that the translation may be biased by the translator
environment, and this is one of the key factors that determine if a translation is accurate or not.
That is, the more aware the translator is about his own biases (and, consequently, tries to reduce
them) the most exact translation he will deliver.
Moreover, Cristina Schäffner (1998) argues that, “A ‘good’ translation is thus no longer a
correct rendering of the ST, in the sense of reproducing the ST meanings of micro-level units. It is
rather a TT which effectively fulfils its