I call myself a translator, and every translator wants to accurately reproduce what the author wrote. One must know one's own language intimately in order to do this. A client should be able to take for granted that a translator commands absolute accuracy in grammar, punctuation and meaning, so that he will not be in danger of introducing errors of his own. More than this, one needs the full palette of linguistic and semantic options available in order to match the range of possibilities presented by different texts. Thus one must be widely read, with a broad experience of life as well as literature, and aware both of the historical legacy of one's language and of current trends and developments. These factors combine with one's special knowledge of the subject matter, where relevant, to constitute, as it were, the raw materials at one's disposal.

All of which counts for little, of course, if one cannot create out of them a linguistically correct text which still flows and reads well. To do this, I believe, one has to absorb the material into one's own mind and then reproduce it in one's own words. Of course a text has to be 'taken apart' before it can be put back together again, so there is a certain deception involved in saying, as I do, that a good translation cannot be done word by word. But this is no more than realising that the vibrant orange appearance of a painted sunset may be created by the artist out of a combination of chrome yellow and carmine red brush-strokes. In my opinion, a translation has failed if it immediately looks like a translation. Sadly it is very common to see texts which have been taken apart by the translators but not put back together again! Non-native speakers and long time expatriates in particular seem to simply go straight to the nearest similar-sounding word in the second language, without considering either the word's suitability or the context of the whole passage. This is how semi-intelligible language forms such as the ever-popular Svenglish and Franglais are born.

My ambition, in any case, is to do slightly more than just avoiding errors. I intend to translate not only what is on the page but what lies behind it, those unspoken meanings, incomplete thoughts and silent assumptions which also come with every text. Naturally this can hardly be done without reference to the author. Accordingly I never accept a text and then simply send back a final translation. There is always and inevitably a process of consultation and cross-checking. I will frequently be asking questions like, "Do you mean x or y here?", "Did you realise you said this / contradicted this on page 4?" and "Sorry, I don't follow your reasoning here, can you explain?" The author's reasoning is generally perfect, by the way; but it may not have been clearly expressed in the words used. On the other hand, a passage may be grammatically accurate and clear in meaning but may carry references and tones which are not suited to the present context. This also is part of my domain: to ensure that the finished piece conveys the feelings and flavours which the author requires for an intended purpose. Especially with high-level English texts written by expert but non-native speakers, I very frequently find that that the language is technically acceptable but entirely fails to convey the author's actual theme or attitude to the subject, and thus sounds flat and empty. "Are you saying this is a 'good thing' or a 'bad thing'?" is a common question I raise, for example. Often the ambiguity is due to a lack of the emphases which the writer would have been able to supply in spoken English by stressing different words in the sentence. In these cases I will often need to insert conjunctions such as 'however', 'nevertheless' or 'on the other hand' to make the meaning clear. Another example is that English uses a lot more adverbs than, for example, Swedish, so I may want to discuss which additional adverbs to insert in order to make the text flow more naturally.

Effectively then, I see myself as a text editor even when I am not specifically hired for that purpose, sometimes even as a language coach. As a result, I have often been told that the English version I have produced is 'better' (more clearly expresses what the client wanted to express) than the original foreign language text. All my clients appreciate and value this type of in-depth collaboration. They have something worth saying, and they want to say it as clearly and convincingly as possible. When they see that I can help with this, they are happy to allow a little extra time to get it right. I don't attract customers who only want quick easy answers and no discussion about it!