Accuracy or Fluency?

As a “professional” translator, one of our task is to make the translation text as fluent as possible. Sometimes, we even just read the target text to define the “good” or “bad” of the translation, which might lead to fluent but inaccurate text.

There is a typical example of such translation. If you read the translation, you might consider that this translation is “OK” or “good”, however, when you read the original text, you will find that the translation text is full of mistakes, which indicates that the translator didn’t make a comprehension of the original text at all. All the mistakes has been concealed by the fluency.

The mistakes can be classified into the following catagories:

First, term mistakes:

1 Original text: Dense subsea and surface obstructions, remote regions and congested waters all pose serious threats to your operation and data quality.

translation: 深海和陆地的高密度障碍,远端地区和拥挤水域对地震采集和数据精密度形成严重困难。

edited text: 密集的水下和水面阻碍物、偏远地区和拥挤的水域都会给您的作业和数据质量带来严重威胁。

2 Original text: We also designed and completed the world’s first deep-water, ocean-bottom node survey at Atlantis Field, achieving positional accuracy and 98+% reliability.

translation: 我们还在亚特兰蒂斯领域设计和完成了世界上第一个深水域海底节点勘测,实现精准定位,具有98%以上的可靠性。

edited text: 我们还在亚特兰蒂斯油田设计并完成了全球首个深海海底节点勘测,定位精准,可靠性达 98% 以上。

3 Original text: Our purpose-built fleet includes our most recent addition vessel, European Supporter, a specially outfitted hybrid capable of operating as both a source vessel and its own node handler.

translation: ZNodal 专用数据采集包括最新船舶,支持欧洲标准,专用全套设备,能够作为能源船舶节点处理器进行操作。

edited text: 我们的专业船队包括我们最近新增的船只 European Supporter,这是专门装备的混合动力船,能够作为震源船和它自己的节点敷设船作业。

4 Original text: The Z700 nodal system is ideal for full-azimuth seismic acquisition in areas where surface obstructions and congestion make streamer work impossible, and where huge variations in water depth create major coverage problems for ocean-bottom cable systems.

translation: Z700 节点系统对于在地表障碍和拥塞造成测风带无法操作的地区及因水深巨大变化造成海底电缆系统的主要覆盖问题的地区能够提供全方位数据采集。

edited text: 在水面阻碍物和拥挤致使漂浮电缆无法作业的地区以及水深的巨大变化给海底电缆系统造成重大覆盖问题的地区,Z700 节点系统是实现全方位地震采集的理想之选。

5 Original text: Autonomous nodes are laid out on the ocean floor using passive ropes, which make retrieval as dependable as deployment.

translation: 使用被动绳对海底定位自动节点,使数据收集与节点定位同样可靠。

edited text: 独立作业的节点通过被动式节点绳沉放在海底,使其收回与放置同样可靠。

6 Original text: Two-vessel operation ZNodal acquisition requires simply a node-handling vessel and a dual-source shooting vessel, or our new hybrid vessel, resulting in much greater efficiency and improved HSE performance.

translation: 双设备操作 ZNodal 数据捕获只需要节点处理设备和双源拍摄设备,或综合性设备,效率更高,可提高 HSE 性能。

edited text: 双船作业 ZNodal 地震采集只需一艘节点收放船和双源井炮激发船,或者全新混合动力船,这极大地提高了效率,提高了 HSE 绩效。

Second, omissio or addition :

7 Original text: Thanks to exclusive ZNodal technology, including our true cable-free marine systems, no one answers the call for safe, efficient, high-quality seismic acquisition in these difficult areas as FairfieldNodal does.

translation: 使用专利ZNodal技术(包括无线海洋数据采集系统),FairfieldNodal 均能满足客户对于安全高效采集出高精度地震数据的要求。

edited text: 凭借我们独家拥有的 ZNodal 技术(包括我们真正的无线海洋系统),FairfieldNodal 能够满足在这些险恶地区安全、高效、优质地采集地震数据的要求,这一点他人都无法企及

8 Original text: Its true cable-free ZNodal design makes all the difference in obstructed fields, allowing us to acquire high-quality data below salt with unparalleled speed and 98+% reliability.

translation: 无线ZNodal 设计使拥塞地区的数据采集更为高效,获取高精度数据,准确度在98% 以上。

edited text: 它真正的无线 ZNodal 设计使充满阻碍物的油田变得大不相同,让我们以无以伦比的速度和超过 98% 的可靠性在盐层下方采集优质数据。

9 Original text: And because we can achieve such accurate positioning and repeatability, the Z3000 is also an ideal 4D seismic tool.

translation: 由于ZNodal 数据采集能够获得精准定位具有可再现性,Z3000 是理想的4D 地震采集工具。

edited text: 由于能够实现如此精确的定位和可重复性,Z3000 也是理想的四维地震采集工具。

Thirdly, problems of comprehension

10 Original text: Fewer boats, fewer potential problems Two vessels get the job done quickly—one handles nodes, one handles source shooting—for dramatically improved operational efficiency.

translation: 数据收集过程中使用较少的船舶,出现问题较少 使translation: 用两艘船处理数据收集—一艘处理节点,一艘处理源拍摄—更大程度地提高操作效率。

edited text: 船只越少,潜在问题就越少使用两艘船迅速完成任务——一艘船收放节点,另一艘船进行震源井炮激发,这极大地提高了作业效率。

11 Original text: Unlimited coverage We can deploy our Z3000 nodes anywhere—very close to platforms, wellheads and other obstructions, even on steep escarpments—with no gaps in coverage.

translation: 无限覆盖 可在任何地点布局Z3000 节点—可接近钻井平台、井源、其他障碍区甚至是悬崖,覆盖点无差异。

edited text: 无限覆盖 我们能在任何地方部署我们的 Z3000 节点——非常靠近钻井平台、井口和其它阻碍物,甚至是陡坡——无任何覆盖缺口

12 Original text: [3D rendering caption]

translation: [3D 渲染捕获]

edited text: [三维透视图片说明]

13 Original text: This is how you go deep and get more for your investment.

translation: 您也使用Znodal 数据采集工作实现更为详细的数据采集。

edited text: 这样您就可以到达更深之处,获得更多投资回报。

14 Original text: For safe, efficient high-quality seismic data acquisition, look no further.

translation: 致力于安全高效收集精准地震数据—志存高远

edited text: 要实现安全、高效和优质的地震数据采集,不要再观望。

From the above examples, we can see that, accuracy is the first priority of translation, especially in technical documents. The formulation of terms, translator’s familiarity of the industry, comprehension of the original text constitute the main part of an accurant translation text.