What should we do when we first start engaging in medical translation?
Release time:
2020-01-16
The translation of professional medical terminology must pay attention to standards. To achieve this, we need to continuously accumulate relevant medical knowledge and translation experience
ProfessionalMedical TranslationIt is important to pay attention to the standardization of terminology, and to achieve this, we need to continuously accumulate relevant medical knowledge and translation experience. In the early stages, when our knowledge reserve is insufficient, we can use two methods to compensate:
First, effectively use dictionaries and search engines;
Second, consult parallel texts. However, these two methods are merely auxiliary techniques; ultimately, the standardization of terminology relies on knowledge background and experience.
1. Effectively use dictionaries and search engines
In the absence of relevant knowledge background, it is impossible to directly determine whether certain words belong to terminology or have standardized translations, so it is necessary to maintain a certain sensitivity during translation. Some words may be everyday language, but if they appear repeatedly in medical literature, they are likely to be professional terms or have standardized translations, and verification is essential. For example, the term "Progression" often appears in medical literature and is commonly used with "disease"; thus, one should consider whether "disease progression" is a professional term and whether there is a standardized translation in medicine. Here is a tip: do not look up each word individually; instead, look up the phrase directly. If it is a term, the dictionary will definitely have annotations.
For some relatively new medical terms, they may not be found in dictionaries, and at this point, it is necessary to rely on search engines for assistance. For example, the term "IPAH" cannot be found in the dictionary, so you can search for it on Google. Here is another tip: it is best to search using the format "English + Chinese," where "Chinese" refers to the translation of the term that you are fairly certain will appear. For the term "IPAH," you are certain that "pulmonary arterial hypertension" will appear, so you can use the keywords "IPAH + pulmonary arterial hypertension" for your search. Similarly, for "disease progression," you can use "disease progression + disease" to search.
You need to make a judgment on the results of the verification, mainly because the inclusiveness of online information is large, and much of the information is not authoritative. In fact, many online dictionary annotations are also not standardized, and some words may have more than one translation found, so it is important to judge the verification results. The main methods are: check whether the source of the explanation is authoritative; see which translation appears more frequently.
To summarize, the basic steps are: 1. Doubt - maintain sensitivity to certain words, such as frequently appearing words or words whose literal meanings are not understood, and suspect whether they have professional translations; 2. Verification - verify through dictionaries or search engines. 3. Make a judgment - determine which translation is more standardized.
2. Consult parallel texts
Parallel texts refer to other articles that belong to the same field and type as the translated article, generally consulting the target language text (for example, when translating from English to Chinese, consult Chinese parallel texts). The purpose of consulting parallel texts is twofold: first, to understand the relevant background knowledge of the field and the commonly used terms in that field; second, to imitate the linguistic style of that type of article.
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