: How do I judge the quality of a translation? I'm advising a translation project, translating some short stories from a foreign language to English. What I'm advising about isn't the translations

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Ask someone native to the target language to read the translation without telling them it's a translation. See if they can notice anything that doesn't make sense, grammar mistake, or just plain strange.

While translation should strive to preserve the meaning of the original source, sometimes the translator is unable find appropriate translation, especially if there's a cultural difference. In this case, dropping the problem phrase or changing the meaning entirely is acceptable (or better, translator notes).

For example, a manga may have a pun/play on word that only makes sense in Japanese, and not when translated literally. I've seen some English manga translated from Japanese with entirely different word play, with a translator note at the end explaining the original play)

So, in short:

Accurate
Natural

Which one will be prioritized depends on what is being translated. In your case, natural-ness should be the priority.

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