All translators know that translation is not only a final product, but a process. And in this process, the cooperation of all the parties involved is essential. However, sometimes we are faced with communication issues and, as translators, we have the responsibility of taken them into account to stand on firm ground:

1) Lack of context: sometimes, the translator does not know which is the main purpose of the text he/she is translating and, knowing if it is a marketing ad, a user manual or a product technical sheet can be very useful. Clients not always take into account the relevance of this information, but they are most of the time eager to offer extra resources, if requested. 

2) Reference material: many of the people requesting translations do not take into account the importance of reference documents, even if it is a previous low quality translation. But like in the previous point, they are usually very cooperative when translators request additional information.

3) Lack of specialized terminology: in a technical translation, terminology is one of the most important aspects and one in which translators spend most of their time. If the client does not offer any kind of help regarding specialized terms, we can create our own terminological glossaries and ask him/her to approve it.

4) Asking questions: a good translator always asks questions to the client, but we have to take into account that, sometimes, clients are not patient enough to answer. Without any doubt, keeping good communication between both parties is the best practice.

5) Non-native client: sometimes, clients think they know more than translators and as linguists we have to backup our proposals and choices so, we have to be ready to quote our references.

6) Text that is not the final one: there are times when translators do not work with the final version of the text and, if we do not use translation memories, this can turn out to be a chaotic situation. Therefore, we should try to talk to the Project Manager, if it is a translation company, or to the client him/herself to explain that we need to work with the final version of the document.

María Dolores González
www.quillslanguage.com

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