Compliance with Translation Instructions: Text Source, Purpose, Audience, and Medium
Professional translation begins with instructions. This domain tests whether you can identify and honor the constraints that define a usable deliverable: what the text is, why it is being translated, who will read it, and how it will be used.
Concepts to master
- Source specification: which text, which version, and which portions are in scope. Note exclusions.
- Skopos (purpose): the translation's function may differ from the source's function. A legal notice translated for information may need a translator's note; a marketing text translated for a new market may need adaptation.
- Audience: expertise level, cultural expectations, and reading context shape word choice and explanation of culture-specific items.
- Medium: print, web, subtitles, or forms impose constraints such as space limits, character counts, or reading speed.
- Instruction hierarchy: explicit client instructions override default conventions; note conflicts rather than silently resolving them.
- Deliverable conventions: formatting, file structure, and any required notes.
Traps in exam questions
- Ignoring a stated audience and producing an overly technical or overly simple text.
- Overlooking medium constraints such as field length or subtitle timing.
- Adding explanations the instructions forbid, or omitting required notes.
- Treating the source's purpose as automatically the target's purpose.
- Failing to preserve formatting elements the instructions require.
Worked example
Instruction: "Translate this patient information leaflet for a general public audience; keep headings; do not add footnotes."
A candidate who renders technical jargon literally and appends explanatory footnotes violates two instructions. A compliant version uses plain-language equivalents, preserves headings, and integrates any necessary clarification into the running text without footnotes.
Rule of thumb
Before drafting, write a one-line brief: text type, purpose, audience, medium, and special constraints. Check your final draft against that brief.