Clarifying General Misconceptions About Translation – Part I

Translation is one of the oldest professions and has shaped global co-existence for millennia. Our world would be vastly different without it, and today, in our globalised lives, most of us encounter translated content daily. Despite its long-standing importance, there are still major misunderstandings and general misconceptions translation faces. If you’re planning to localise content or your role involves international communication or regional marketing, this blog will help you grasp key concepts and clear up common myths.

It is NOT true that every bilingual person can be a good translator

Many companies assign translation tasks to bilingual employees or even friends and relatives. They assume bilingualism is enough. But this is one of the common misconceptions. Professional work requires far more than just knowing two languages. Expert translators often specialise in fields like legal or financial translation. This ensures they fully understand the source text. They also use translation tools and produce natural, error-free content in their native language.

Above all, professional translators need years of experience and daily practice to master their craft.

In short: A professional company must rely on a professional translation service provider. There’s no substitute.

Misconceptions: Translation Is NOT Fast

Most people severely underestimate the time it takes to produce a good translation. It might surprise you to read that even very experienced linguists normally just manage to translate a maximum of a few pages per day. And while many texts contain long passages that can be translated swiftly, most translators will confirm that it is often just a couple of short bits that require an intense amount of time to work on. One example: It might be possible to translate 10 sentences without any problem, but then the 11^th sentence can easily take 30 minutes (or longer)to work on. This might be because the linguist will have to do research on highly specific terminology, because it is hard to find any good equivalent in the target language, because the original is not 100% clear, etc.

While a good translation does require a lot of time, it is clear that many translation projects are urgent. Good news is that there are certain things that professional language service providers can do to increase turnaround-time, for example applying CAT tools.

There is NOT only one right translation

Especially clients who order language services for the first time often assume that “accurate translation” means every word and phrase in the source language has a precise equivalent in the target language. This is one of the common misconceptions. In reality, most words and phrases have multiple valid renderings. If you give the same source paragraph to 10 professional linguists, you’ll likely receive 10 different versions. That’s because language is subjective, and each individual has personal preferences. However, this doesn’t mean “anything goes.” There are clear standards that define what is correct or incorrect, and what qualifies as high or low quality.

Machine translation will NOT make human translators superfluous

Advances in machine-based language processing should not be denied. These tools can handle certain grammatical structures, phrases, and terms in specific language combinations reasonably well. While they’re sometimes useful for grasping the general meaning of foreign texts, they’re not reliable for critical information.

In most cases, the output includes grammatical errors, awkward phrasing, or outright mistakes. In more serious situations, these inaccuracies can lead to undesirable consequences. No machine truly “knows” or “understands” the text it processes, this is one of the key misconceptions. That’s why professional enterprises won’t rely on such tools anytime soon (you can find out more here).

… and that’s still not all!

We know many outsiders hold incorrect assumptions about this field, and we’re eager to clarify them. Stay tuned, Part II of this blog is coming soon.

elionetwork has been providing language services for around two decades. We’re proud to have many loyal clients who return to us year after year. At the same time, we’re always excited to welcome new customers—especially those placing their first order. We understand that first-time clients often need guidance, especially when navigating common misconceptions about the process, and we’re more than happy to support them throughout the process. Contact us now if you have any questions or would like to request a free quote.