Challenges in Technical Translations

Abstract

As human beings are social animals, people have the instinct to communicate with others, to share their feelings and thoughts and as a result translations have become popular among people in order to make communication more effective. Translations can be simply explained as translating a text from a source language to a target language. Translations can be categorized into various varieties such as literary, legal, scientific, technical and religious/sacred translations. This paper will discuss existing issues such as lack of a clear theoretical home for technical translations which remains problematic for researchers, translators and students alike. A number of key challenges for technical translations still remain and it will be found beyond the traditional confines of translation studies. Technical translation is a type of specialized translation involving the translation of circulars, reports, official documents, manuals, user guiders, advertisements etc. Many translators find it a challenging task to translate specialized features such as technical words, terms, jargon, phrases which are unique to its own subject area. Thus technical translations cover the translation of many kinds of specialized texts and require a high level of subject knowledge and mastery of the relevant terminology and writing conventions. Data has been gathered through personal experience, practice, secondary sources, observations and interviews. This research would provide an insight into recognizing and overcoming problems in technical translations enabling one to produce a successful outcome.