The Most Desired Characteristics a Translator Must Have in Order to Deliver an Accurate Translation According to Students of B.A. in English

Abstract

The current research paper is based on an investigation of the most desired characteristics a

translator must have in order to deliver and accurate translation according to senior graduates in

BA in English and BA in English Teaching at the University of Costa Rica. The data collected

consisted of samples from the two groups of Intercultural Communication, which students take

throughout the second semester of fourth year of the major. At this level, most of these students

can give their opinion about such topic due to their experience with translation tasks during the

major. Some of main results of this study were the importance of language knowledge and

experience as key elements in a translation processes.

Introduction

When referring to translators, people from all spheres discuss about the qualities such

professionals must have in order to deliver and accurate translation independently of the field they

are dealing with. Thus, many authors have given their opinions based on thorough studies of the

many variables the translation tasks may present, and the way in which translators approach these

documents. Many of these researchers claim that the translation process is always affected by the

personal experience and worldview of the translator, and this is reflected in the final product.

Robinson Douglas, for example, states, “since I [the translator] am choosing the target-language

words, everything I write has to be filtered through my experience, my interpretations” (p. 3). Like

Douglas, many other authors believe that the translation may be biased by the translator

environment, and this is one of the key factors that determine if a translation is accurate or not.

That is, the more aware the translator is about his own biases (and, consequently, tries to reduce

them) the most exact translation he will deliver.

Moreover, Cristina Schäffner (1998) argues that, “A ‘good’ translation is thus no longer a

correct rendering of the ST, in the sense of reproducing the ST meanings of micro-level units. It is

rather a TT which effectively fulfils its