TRANSLATING MEANING, NOT WORDS.
My approach to English to French-Canadian translation, revision, and editing is based on efficiency of communication, concision and logic. I translate meaning, not words.
Why trust me with your translation projects?
My priority is not really to “deliver a job”, but rather to make sure the end reader is able to make good use of the information in order to reach their goals. That is in my opinion the goal of translation, and never losing sight of this keeps me down to the ground, humble and realistic in my work.
Using a diverse and precise vocabulary allows for a more direct injection of meaning, which should be conveyed seamlessly, with fluidity. When you translate meaning (vs words), you can articulate ideas and concepts more efficiently, and according to the spirit and particular logic of the language – all of which make for shorter sentences and texts.
It’s normal that French takes up a bit more space than English because French is a more precise language. But I find that when a translation is more than 15% longer than the source, it is because the translator did not leverage the built-in mechanisms of French to make an efficient and meaningful sentence, but has settled for following the source word for word, without understanding. And this is because the translator who doesn’t understand what they translate feels too uncomfortable to stray from the security of the word to really dive into the meaning.
When the meaning gets lost in translation, it is because the translator does not take the time or make the effort to understand the subject matter. I prefer to make sense of the information before I translate.
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