Over the past few years, as mobility and migration to other countries have increased, there has been a substantial increase in the need for legal translations. On the other hand, given that more people are visiting foreign countries, they increasingly require translators who can work within legal and medical sectors – hence the reason why globalization is fast becoming an aspect of legal practice.
What is a legal translator?
Legal translation is multilingual communication because it enables the individuals, companies, government and legal agencies to communicate across different languages and cultures within the state and across state borders. Translators are responsible for translating written documents from one language into another.
Legal translators must possess basic knowledge regarding law concepts and terminologies as well as those applying to particular regions. They are supposed to be familiar with special terms employed in law documents and linguistic conventions.
Which is the fundamental point to check when looking for translator
Do you want a legal translator and don’t know what makes a good one? Since it is such a specialized area, people without expertise in this industry cannot do it. Therefore, there are few things that must be considered as follows:
Competence Translating Skills
Be familiar with various languages Systems Knowledge Linguistic conventions Professional standards for linguistic abilities.
Higher level of language command
They should have the skill- set specific to a particular language, have full mastery of their mother tongue as well as possess an equal level of competence in other languages too. More so, they understand meanings differences and tones changes and can even use their source language at advanced levels.
Great writing skills
Their writing should be persuasive and tailored to meet the legal requirement they are conversant with thus it is expected that they will always write clearly and grammatically correct legal content.
Legal knowledge
They must have sound understanding of more than two countries’ legal matters and legal systems; specialist knowledge on some branches like federal system, civil law or criminal law. Therefore, they should also have an ability to scrutinize legalese text and ensuring none meaning loss during translation process into another language.
Able to keep the content intact while translating
This means consider accuracy and completeness during transfer from one language to another. Similarly, the wording of questions or legal aspects in content must be reproduced verbatim when spoken. Some translators are often more proficient in this aspect than others who take some time learning certain languages.
Familiarity with the judicial system plus years spent practicing law
An added advantage of having worked as a translator within the jurisdiction of a court for many years can be gained by someone operating here. It equips them with practical working knowledge about the law itself concerning given proceedings hence are able to cope up even with demanding situations or those which might make inexperienced individuals uncomfortable due to lacking past exposure.
Thorough cultural knowledge
The deep understanding of source and target cultures is crucial. Sometimes, the degree to which you have an understanding of culture affects how well you translate a document.
