29 Jul How to make a medical translator angry

A medical translator does a great job for society, but there are some typical sentences that he/she does not like. Medical translators are nice people, but they dislike their work to be underestimated. Here are some phrases or ideas that you should not say to a medical translator… unless you want to make him/her angry.

Tell that Google Translate will replace any medical translator in the future

Google Translate can be useful in some situations… (we are not doubting about that) but a machine can not be as perfect as a human. And it will never be. Double senses, misunderstandings or tricky translations are just a few examples of what Google Translate can do badly.

Disrupt a medical translator for asking random words

Many people think that a translator is a human dictionary. So that is why they decide to ask a medical translator for the meaning or the translation of any word. A medical translator may know more words than the average, but he/she is not supposed to know all the existing words in a language – even being the best medical translator ever.

Criticize the translation of titles for films

Even if such films are related to medicine or not, you should not say that the translator is responsible of a bad translation for a film title. Why? Because the translator is not the one who chooses the title of films, it is the film distribution company instead. And it does that because of marketing purposes, regardless the translator.

Boast about you can also translate

Well, if you are a professional translator with an official university degree in Translation and Interpreting and years of experience… you may be right. Otherwise, if you only speak a bit of a foreign language do not boast about your translation skills in front of a medical translator.

Ask for a free medical translation

Translation is a highly professional service that must be recognised. You might ask for a special price if you are a friend or a relative, but never ask for a free translation. Otherwise, would you do the same with other specialists? For example a free plumbing, a free house or a free public notary documents. No, we bet you wouldn’t.