Revision and proofreading are essential skills for translators. In fact, proofreading is an essential skill for anyone who writes anything that anyone else will read. Translations strewn with errors demonstrate a lack of respect for the writer of the source document, your client and yourself. Despite this, during my academic career, even during my MA in Translation, only very basic, general guidance was given on revision strategies.
Of course, I always aim to produce translations that are accurate, readable, stylistically appropriate and free from errors. My previous quality control process involved multiple revision and checking stages. However, I have never developed a specific system for revision and proofreading within these stages.
My original process:
1. Leave the text for a while to distance myself from it.
2. Read the document aloud to check readability, style and syntax.
3. Carefully compare source and target documents for the revision stage.
4. Slowly read each word for the proofreading stage.
5. Check formatting and layout.
6. Repeat until happy with the text or for as long as time will allow.
Despite this process, if I am honest, errors did occasionally slip through - usually when I was checking work when tired or when working to a tight deadline. I have spent, and continue to spend, a significant amount of time, effort and resources on improving my knowledge of my specialist areas (law, human rights and development); however, I recently decided that it was time to work on my proofreading and revision skills. Keeping skills sharp is a never-ending process.
My makeshift standing workspace.
Various guides, courses and advice on proofreading are available online. I was careful to avoid those that focus on learning and using proofreading symbols, as they are not relevant to my work. In the end, I chose to work with a book, Don’t Trust Your Spell Check by Dean Evans, a ProZ webinar, How to Become an Efficient Proofreader by Francesca Airaghi, and various online proofreading tests (reviews soon).
Similar strategies were advocated by both the book and the webinar, and I have been able to develop a more mature revision/proofreading strategy as a result. I practised using online tests, tests provided with the book and my old blog posts. The new process breaks the revision and proofreading stages into smaller chunks so that I can focus on one or two types of error at a time. I take regular breaks between the stages to keep my mind fresh and focused.
My new process:
1. Leave the text for a while to distance myself from it. (Unchanged)
- If time is limited, do an activity that distracts me from the work.
2. Change the font, size and colour of the text to make it less familiar.
3. Read the document aloud to check readability, style and syntax
- Even better, use text-to-speech software to more easily identify errors.
4. Carefully compare source and target documents for the revision stage.
- Read each sentence/clause (aloud if possible) in both the source and target texts, focusing on accurate translation of the meaning. .
- Read again, focusing on tenses and negatives.
- Read again, focusing on terms and consistent terminology.
5. Slowly read each word for the proofreading stage.
- Place the cursor on each word as I read.
- First check spelling, especially homonyms.
- Second check grammar (tenses, contractions, concordance, etc.).
- Third check punctuation and common errors (6 > six).
6. Change the formatting back and check formatting and layout.
Previously, I would simply read the text slowly, over and over, lacking a specific strategy. This new process is clearly more systematic and has more defined stages. Nevertheless, I do not believe it will take significantly longer and it will certainly yield results.
A few other important tips:
- Work when you are at your most alert if possible.
- No distractions. Get comfortable, make sure you have a drink and turn off notifications.
- Have dictionaries, terminology databases, glossaries, style guides, etc. open and ready to use.
- As always, only work in your areas of specialisation, and keep your specialisms up to date.
- Don’t rely on spell checkers.
- Don’t rush. Think of the aim, an error free text.
NO DISTRACTIONS. Every time you look at your phone,
check your email or browse social media, you not only lose time, but you lose focus.
I am in the process of preparing reviews of both Don’t Trust Your Spell Check by Dean Evans and How to Become an Efficient Proofreader by Francesca Airaghi.
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