Tips for becoming an excellent editor Thread poster: Mark Hemming
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Mark Hemming 
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:29
Slovenian to English
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I'm interested in any editing tips and tricks that might be out there for a person looking to become a sharp-eyed editor or proofreader. Do you prefer working on-screen or using printouts? Are there any specific spellcheck programs out there that beat the rest? Do you work in short bursts to maximise concentration? Any advice welcome.
| | | | | Some answers to your questions | Apr 8, 2019 |
1. I prefer editing on paper; it looks like on-screen there are always small things that I’m unable to see
2. I always use a spellchecker and I considered it very good but I don’t work the same language combinations as you
3. Time permitting, I prefer working on short bursts, but most of the times this isn’t feasible
4. When editing, I try my best to respect other’s work and to change only what is really required
| | | | Phil Hand
China
Local time: 06:29
Chinese to English
| All about the attitude | Apr 11, 2019 |
I may not be the best person to answer this, because I very rarely edit the work of other people. But in terms of editing my own translations, I find it to be a mental switch, rather than any specific technique.
I don't have any special approaches: after translating in Trados, I output to Word, run the basic Word spellcheck and adjust format, then just try to read the English document like a reader. I put the source document from my mind, and try to be a nit-picky, argumentative rea... See more I may not be the best person to answer this, because I very rarely edit the work of other people. But in terms of editing my own translations, I find it to be a mental switch, rather than any specific technique.
I don't have any special approaches: after translating in Trados, I output to Word, run the basic Word spellcheck and adjust format, then just try to read the English document like a reader. I put the source document from my mind, and try to be a nit-picky, argumentative reader, searching for inconsistencies and infelicities. When I'm translating, I try to be a generous reader, giving the best possible interpretation to everything in the source text. When I'm editing it has to be the opposite. I sometimes talk out loud as I do it, and it's quite abusive! "What are you talking about?! What one earth does this paragraph have to do with the previous one? What does that term mean, speak English!" As a reader I'm not interested with how well the words correspond to some other source text that [I pretend] I've never seen. I just want to know if this English text in front of me makes sense. That helps me excavate the higher-level connections and logical form of the text, and makes sure it's functional in English in the same way that the source text is functional.
This kind of editing does not help much with issues of accuracy, like checking numbers. Fortunately, Trados is very good at helping to get those right during the translation stage, so it's not too much of a worry these days. I used to have terrible trouble with numbers, and if I'm not working in Trados, I still need to do a dedicated numbers check to make sure I've caught them all. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Always consider the necessary. | Apr 11, 2019 |
I am comfortable editing with anything but I mostly prefer doing it virtually, there are often automatic spell checkers. A brilliant editor once told me that in writing, every word ought to earn the right to be there, and I think you might want to keep that in mind when editing.
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