Why You Should Only Trust Native Translators.
Have you ever heard of the Native Speaker Principle?
Why is it so important when hiring a translator, and why does it matter to you?
If you follow me in this article, I will clarify these as well as other additional doubts.
Let me introduce myself:
I am Antonino, I am an Italian video translator and I help companies to reach their Italian-speaking customers by translating English videos.
It’s also known as the mother-tongue principle, and it’s a key quality standard in the world of translation, stating that translators can only translate into their native language.
Thus, for example, a British translator who is fluent in German will only translate from German into English and not vice versa.
In other words, a translator’s mother tongue is the language into which he or she translates, that is, the target language.
Every good translator, of course, needs to be fluent in both of the languages in which they work. Professional translators will only translate into their native language.
Translators who can translate back and forth seamlessly in the same language combination would be extremely rare.
Though, there are plenty of translators who actually do so and claim to produce work of equal quality in both languages.
Translation is not just about conveying the meaning of the source text – it is about producing a text that can actually stand alone in its own right, it should read like a text that has been created in the language in which it is written.
There are two main reasons why the Native Speaker Principle is important:
Grammar and Culture.
The translator must not only have absolute mastery of the language of the target audience, but also an intimate understanding of the culture of that audience.
For this to happen, the prevailing wisdom is that the translator should ideally have been born and raised in the target language and culture.
And on the other hand, Native speakers know all of this grammar instinctively.
Native speakers know how to write in their own languages – they have been doing it their whole lives!
Many clients also mistakenly assume that all translators are capable of translating in both directions.
And translators who do so often get away with it precisely because their clients don’t know any better and often are not strong enough in the target language themselves to spot the inevitable errors.
But why do some translators translate from their native language to a foreign language?
The practice of “translating both ways” is a result of the interplay of market supply and demand.
In other words, there is much demand for translation into the foreign language and simply not enough native speakers to do it all.
So, now let’s do a recap!
- A translator’s mother tongue is the language into which he or she translates, i.e., the target language.
- A translator who can actually translate both ways is extremely rare.
- The two main reasons why the Native Speaker Principle is important: Grammar and Culture.
I hope I helped you clarify those doubts, now I want to talk to you about what I can do for you.
If you are an entrepreneur, a filmmaker, a manager, or you are dealing with videos, and you are looking for a translator specializing in translating videos from English to Italian, have a look at this page to show me your project.
See you soon, bye!
I’m a passionate translator & subtitler based in Italy. I specialize in Marketing and Audiovisual, translating from English and Chinese into Italian. ????????
I am a strong advocate for lifelong learning, meticulous about deadlines, and committed to creating powerful written and visual content that conveys the original meaning and converts.