Creating any written text inevitably involves checking and correcting not just the words but also the sentences and paragraphs, along with editing everything to achieve a text that is smooth and easy to read. Proofreading can fix everything in terms of spelling, style, grammar, and punctuation.
Proofreading a translated text is carried out by a native speaker, someone for whom the language is their native tongue. Now a native speaker of English is someone who comes from a country where that language is the official language, such as the UK or America.
Here at Skrivanek we work with native speakers from more than 100 languages around the world, specialists who can ensure not only the linguistic correctness of a given text, but also an appropriate style and cultural context.
HOW DOES it WORK IN PRACTICE?
Proofreading involves the careful and thorough reading of the content of any document, by word and by context, to find any type of error and correct them all so that the text as a whole becomes both relevant and reader friendly.
The proofreader pays attention to the spelling of every word and the use of the correct sentence style, ensuring the relevance of the grammar and the punctuation within the specifics of the language and the style.
TYPES OF ERRORS THAT we deal with:
PUNCTUATION
The text is checked and corrected regarding punctuation, including the correct use of commas, speech marks or hyphens, depending on their function in the sentence, and the adaptation of the nature of punctuation to the specific characteristics of the particular target language.
SPELLING
This concerns how we spell individual words, especially as languages sometimes comes in different varieties. When we are proofreading in English, for example, we must be sure whether we are checking a text for the US or the UK market, as well as keeping an eye out for common errors, like ‘cant’ instead of ‘can’t.’
LEXICAL
This includes the misapplication of words resulting from a lack of understanding of the meaning of the words, including the use of similar words like ‘example’ and ‘exemplary’.
Phonetic errors resulting from the misuse of words is also a common issue, especially when we deal with words having completely different meanings that are similar in sound.
We also check the correctness of the use of all phraseological compounds.
SYNTAX
This involves paying attention to the correct construction of the sentences as well as eliminating errors in word order. This is a significant problem when translating Polish into English, because while we vary the nouns in Polish, in English the meaning is locked into specific nouns and marked with articles: ‘I have a cat and the cat is black.’
Syntax is of particular importance during proofreading, as it determines the correct understanding of the content conveyed in the text. This is particularly relevant, as errors here can result from copying the sentence structure from one language into another. This is why our proofreaders pay particular attention to syntax when proofreading a translation.
VARIATION
These are also known as inflectional errors, as they involve the poor selection of appropriate words. If a language is inflectional, it means that most of its components are distinct parts of speech. In translating into English we can note a variety of errors like: ‘I cans’, ‘he swim’ or ‘they loves’.
TYPOGRAPHIC
These include editorial faults and issues relating to the composition of documents: leaving conjunctions at the ends of lines and lone lines at the beginning or end of a page. These are generally issues that relate to the layout of text on a page.
A useful service is ‘brush-up’ proofreading, which aims to prepare texts for publication on the Internet or for print. This involves checking the text after typesetting to eliminate editorial errors related to breaking up the text, creating columns, adding graphics, etc.
ENGLISH, GERMAN, POLISH AND MANY OTHER LANGUAGES
Checking texts for stylistic correctness, maintaining the proper spelling, and eliminating common errors are all part of the task that native speakers perform. A natural speaker of a language typically has spoken it since birth or at least early adolescence, ensuring that they know the language inside out. Proofreader smooths the translated text, making it more pleasant to read, light and natural. This is especially important if we want to publish our text, whether on paper or on the Internet.
WHEN IS proofreading USEFUL?
A check by a native speaker is an essential step in the process of creating content for publication. If we were creating a multilingual website, we could do this in two ways: writing the content in one language and then making a translation into selected foreign languages, or to use AI technology to generate texts in several languages at once. Whichever method we choose, proofreading by a native speaker is an essential process.
It is also a good idea to polish any translation intended for publication to ensure that the style is appropriate for the audience, that the grammar is without fault and the vocabulary is both understandable and ideal for the industry.
CORRECTION OF CONTENT CREATED BY AI
We can use a number of applications involving artificial intelligence, but these need to be scanned for what are known as “hallucinations.” The AI application answers the question asked by searching for the answer among the clustered data. If it cannot obtain the required information, it may begin to hallucinate: to give an answer that is not true. The trap here is that the content generated may sound quite convincing, which is where correction plays a huge role.
No matter where your multilingual content comes from, our proofreaders are available in more than one hundred languages. If you need to revise multilingual content but have a limited budget, then take a look at our Quick Review.
Proofreading works best when we need to create texts for publication online, on your website, for print, for flyers and advertising brochures, for social media content, blog posts or videos with subtitles. Whenever it is important to avoid spelling mistakes as well as to obtain texts that are comprehensible and appealing to the audience, the role of the native speaker is invaluable.
In summary, proofreading is an advanced process that is designed to eliminate several types of errors while also smoothing the text in terms of style and syntax, which sometimes includes editing. This is not only useful for hand-written translations, as it can also be applied to machine translation or content created through AI. It is about making the text as close as possible to what a native speaker of the language would write.
If you need proofreading of texts in different languages or translation with proofreading by a native speaker of the language of your choice, then contact us!