Working with documents requires appropriate translator qualification, knowledge of office work and international standards. Errors and inaccuracies are not permissible in such texts, because these are official documents used by migration services, departments, government and commercial organizations. There are standards that help the linguists to figure out how to translate documents correctly.
Basic rules of translation
There are many rules and nuances of the documents translation. Detailed standards give an opportunity to do a single format work, providing a competent and clear presentation of the text, taking into account the minute details.
Basic recommendations on how to translate the documents properly:
- The translation should be complete; all parts of the document should be reproduced. All elements are translated from the original, including the emblem, headers and footers, seals, and signatures.
- The consistency of terminology is respected within one document. Interpretation or use of several translation variants is unacceptable.
- Compliance with numerical designations, including fractions, should be ensured.
- Transliteration is used to translate addresses and residential places; in some cases, historically established spellings can be used.
- Names and surnames are translated according to transliteration, if personal documents are translated; the spelling is checked against the data in an international passport.
Clients may have a question: how to arrange the translation of documents if a notarized copy is provided. This is performed, as is the case with the original. In this case, the translation contains the data of the notary who certified the copy.
If documents are translated, as a rule, they must be notarized. In some cases, the signature of the translator and the seal of the agency are enough. Most authorities accept notarized translations. That kind of form confirms the linguist’s qualifications and personality.
The most popular service is translation into English. It is considered an international language, and in a number of countries and official bodies, such a translation is sufficient. An example of the translation of official documents into English is a visa application package.
Document translation formatting
Except for the basic recommendations for the text of the document, there are formatting requirements, how to arrange the translation properly. The translator mostly works in a text editor MS Word, following the classic rules:
- Using Times New Roman or Arial fonts;
- Font size is 12.
The translated document should correspond to the original as much as possible. The division into paragraphs, subsections, chapters, methods of highlighting a part of the text should be definitely preserved. Numbers and names should not be separated by a line; spaces are used without data separation.
Portrait or landscape orientation is maintained. Punctuation in lists and other formatting methods is preserved in accordance with the rules of Ukrainian or other language.
