Both combine to produce the perfect text
Proofreading and linguistic reviewing are the final dashes in the whole translation process, before the final text is sent to the client.
Sure, they are necessary only when the client has explicitly asked for them, because they are important cogs in the whole translation budgeting process.
If the text includes information from a specific technical field or a literary work, it’s necessary for it to go through both processes. In general, they are expected to be accomplished for the simple reason that it isn’t clear if the translator has had previous experience in the text’s technical field or not, and how he has used certain important terms and interpretations.
In fact, proofreading and linguistic review have a lot in common, but at the same time are completely different, making it necessary to use both of them for a successful translation.
Let us examine what the two processes that assist in making the translated text more precise in fact are, and discover the differences between them.
Proofreading
The usual professional approach: the translation has to be proofread by a person, who hasn’t worked on it.
During the process, the content is accentuated from a lexical standpoint. Grammatical and spelling errors are removed as well.
At best, a proofread is made by a professional translator who is a native speaker. It is no accident that proofreading a text is accepted as the final еditting step before the finalization of the translation.
Proofreading a text is an important step in translation, according to professional standards, translation associations and certifying organizations.
It is good to know what the better the translator is, the less the editor’s work will be.
Our professional advice is: Never underestimate proofreading! Never leave a text without a final check, no matter if it’s tied to a specific industry or not.
Linguistic Review
The linguistic review can be perceived as a subprocess of text revision, but in the field of professional translation, it is accepted as a separate one – including evaluation from a professional linguist.
The linguist focuses on the separate words in the text, their meaning and their contextual use – in other words: syntax.
A review includes a check and evaluation of the used words, in accordance with the context and its specifics.
The review is treated as a final revision of the text’s integrity in comparison to the original and the provided guidelines. It includes copy editing, reevaluation and change of the whole text structure, if necessary.
The process of text editing and linguistic evaluation require more time, because they comprise not only of a spell-, a stylistic and a grammar check, but also a thorough check of both the source and target texts.
On the other hand, the two processes contribute to a more precise translation, which means that they cost extra in most translation agencies.
It doesn’t matter if you’re going to examine the proofreading and linguistic review separately or as a single process. They still remain important steps towards the preparation of the perfect translation.
According to the quality control requirements included as a standard in Mitra Translations, each translation is proofread before delivery.
With more specific texts and after additional agreements with our clients, the translations go though a linguistic review and evaluation.
