Virtually every country, industry and individual in the world has been affected by the Coronavirus and the ensuing global pandemic, including the translation industry and the linguists who work within it.
Many people have been furloughed, made unemployed, lost contracts, or placed their businesses on hold for the foreseeable future, however, for some of those in the translation industry, the work level has increased with the rise of the disease.
This increase in workload, for some translation service providers and individual translators, is due to the need for a global sharing of information regarding the virus, such as, accurate and successful treatment information, medical research, potential vaccine treatments, healthcare information for key workers, and methods and procedures for staying safe for the general public.
Medical Translations
One such crucial area, in which translators and linguists are working hard to help combat the coronavirus, is medical research.
Translating vital academic papers and scientist led studies on causes, treatments and potential threats, can help slow the spread of the disease, help create a vaccine and limit the overall death toll.
Likewise, ensuring that citizens of every country can access this information in their native language means that governments are translating the information they wish to circulate in multiple languages.
For instance, in the UK, the government has translated its most vital information regarding the pandemic into at least 10 different languages ranging from Bengali to Welsh.
Medical translations of this sort must be totally accurate – mistakes could potentially cost lives.
Translators must have a medical or scientific background, with a solid understanding of key terminology and concepts in both the target and source language, to ensure that the translation is exact.
These kinds of translations take time to get right, so translators are often working around the clock in order to get the information translated and out to the recipients as fast as possible.
The speed with which the public have received the accurate, and factual knowledge regarding the coronavirus is due, in a large part, to the expert linguists who have translated information from scientists and medical experts around the world.
Medical Mistranslations and Misinformation
Linguists working on translating information regarding the coronavirus have an additional challenge on their hands when translating this kind of documentation.
Sifting through the huge amount of misinformation, and incorrect data, which is available daily online via social media platforms, is a laborious task but a vital one.
Official channels, such as government and research centre websites, are a translator’s best option, but even these must be checked and verified wherever possible, and the original language text used as the basis for translation to ensure there are no errors in the previously translated documents.
The collaboration between governments, healthcare authorities, and medical research centres, around the world is unprecedented, and a large part of its success is due to the input of translators who are working tirelessly to ensure the transfer of information remains as accurate and as fast as possible.
Language service providers are vital in many industries but during this pandemic they have been instrumental in helping combat coronavirus. They are the communication link between countries, governments, scientists, researchers and individuals across the globe, yet their work goes on behind the scenes with little recognition.
Linguists, translators, and interpreters are keeping the world connected, no matter how limited our movements or restricted our activities!
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