Do you know what proofreading is? Have you ever needed this service for your company? In this article we will explain what it consists in, the role of proofreading in the translation of your website, the translation of your e-commerce site or any other type of project and when it is most necessary.
What is proofreading?
Proofreading is a service offered by translation agencies, which is much more than just revising a translated text.
Proofreading is the monolingual correction of the translated text, without comparing it to the original text. The purpose is finding the most appropriate style in order to guarantee that its content can be read fluently and naturally by a native audience.
It’s important to distinguish between proofreading and text revision. The revision of translated texts ensures the translation does not have any spelling or grammatical mistakes and that it maintains the coherence of the original text.
However, a proofreading service is the analytical reading of the texts to avoid typos and confirm the text can be read clearly by the target audience, in such a way that they will not lose interest and understand what is being explained in a natural way.
When is it necessary to proofread translations?
A proofreading service is highly recommended in any type of situation, although there are circumstances in which it is especially necessary. These are some of the most common:
- Translation works with a high volume of texts to be translated, in which there are several professional translators.
- Literary translation.
- Journalistic translation.
- Old translations or translations that have already been carried out and you want to make sure they are reliable.
- Extremely complex translations that need a specialized translation.
- Translated texts that need to have a high quality.
Advantages of counting on a professional proofreader
Counting on a professional proofreading service grants the translated texts an added value. A professional proofreader provides a fresh and objective vision that complements the translator’s work.
This way, the proofreader detects errors that could have gone unnoticed, since, as is normal, this is always possible in any human activity.
There are many advantages to this type of text revision:
- The proofreader ensures the text fits in the linguistic, social and cultural context of the place where it will be read, that may be considerably different from the place of the source language.
- They confirm the truthfulness of the translation regarding the direction and meaning of the original text.
- They guarantee the translated text has the required style and complies with the objectives established for the original text.
- They take into account the design and layout of the target format the translated text is addressed to, which many times varies regarding the original one in terms of word and character count.
Now you know what proofreading is. If you think the translation of your projects need this service or you have any doubts about it, please contact us. As an expert company in multilingual communication, Linguaserve has a team of professional translators and proofreaders with extensive experience.
