Every translator makes mistakes. Even the most experienced translators with decades of experience slip up occasionally.
But professional translators know which errors matter most and have systems to catch them before clients do.
This article breaks down seven critical mistakes that damage your reputation and cost you repeat business.
Every error in this article is preventable.
None of these require exceptional talent. They require discipline, systems, and commitment to quality.
The translators who build successful careers aren’t necessarily the most linguistically gifted. They’re the ones who consistently deliver error-free work because they’ve built processes that prevent mistakes.
Build your processes now. Your future clients will thank you.
Not Following Client Instructions
Your translation can be linguistically flawless and still fail the project.
If the client asked for 500 words and you delivered 650, you didn’t follow instructions. If they provided a style guide specifying British English and you used American spellings, you made an error. If they requested a specific glossary term and you chose a synonym, you deviated from requirements.
Accuracy means nothing if you ignore the brief.
Clients set requirements for reasons. Marketing teams need exact character counts for layouts. Legal departments require specific terminology for consistency across documents. Technical writers follow rigid style guides to maintain brand voice.
When you skip instructions, you create extra work for clients. They must review, request revisions, or fix issues themselves. That’s frustrating and expensive.
Before translating a single word, read the complete brief.
Look for style guides, glossaries, deadline details, word count requirements, formatting specifications, and any special handling notes. If something seems unclear, flag it immediately. Many translators rush this step. They assume they understand the requirements or think they can figure things out later. This causes most instruction-related errors.
Creating a project checklist can also save a lot of stress. Build a simple checklist for every translation project.
In your project checklist, include items like “style guide reviewed,” “glossary terms loaded into CAT tool,” “word count verified,” and “formatting requirements noted.” Check off each item as you complete it. Before submitting your work, review the checklist one final time. This takes three minutes and prevents hours of revision work.
Finally, never hesitate to ask a question when you are reviewing the brief.
Clients appreciate clarifying questions at the start. They don’t appreciate assumptions that lead to incorrect deliverables. A two-minute email can save you from redoing an entire project.
Not Communicating with Clients About Doubts
You won’t have all the answers. No translator does.
Source texts contain unfamiliar terminology, ambiguous phrases, cultural references that don’t translate cleanly, and context that isn’t immediately clear. Sometimes the writing itself is confusing or poorly structured.
When you encounter doubt, consult the client. Making assumptions leads to mistranslations.
Doubt can strike anywhere. You might struggle to understand a technical term even after research. The source text might reference a cultural concept unfamiliar to you. Instructions might contain contradictory requirements. A phrase might have multiple valid translations, each with different nuances.
Document your questions clearly. Instead of asking “What does this mean?” explain what you’ve already researched and why you’re still uncertain. This shows you’ve done the work and genuinely need clarification.
When asking questions, provide surrounding context. Copy the full sentence or paragraph where the confusion appears. Explain why you’re uncertain and what interpretations you’re considering.
Clients can’t read your mind. The more context you provide, the more useful their answer will be. A vague question gets a vague response. A detailed question with context gets actionable guidance.
When you initiate a project communication, always document your conversations neatly so that you can refer back any time. Keep records of literally all client communications. Save emails, note phone call details, and document agreed-upon decisions.
This protects both parties. If questions arise later about why you made certain choices, you can reference your communications. This prevents disputes and misunderstandings that damage professional relationships.
Not Correcting Source Text Errors
Writers can make mistakes. And translators are often the ones to spot them. You’ll find typos, grammatical errors, inconsistent terminology, formatting problems, and logical contradictions in source texts. Sometimes you’ll spot errors the original author and editor both missed.
Your role isn’t just to translate it’s to be the most careful reader the text will ever have. Don’t automatically reproduce errors in your translation. Flag them. Question them. Verify them with the client.
Train yourself to spot issues while translating. Look for spelling mistakes, grammatical problems, terminology inconsistencies within the document, factual claims that seem questionable, and formatting that doesn’t match the rest of the text.
This takes practice. New translators often assume source texts are correct and focus only on translation. Experienced translators know that source quality varies dramatically.
When you identify errors, communicate them tactfully. The client or author isn’t incompetent, and errors can naturally happen all the time.
It is important that you present your findings as observations, not criticisms. You may like to say “I noticed some terminology inconsistencies that might need clarification” rather than “This document is full of mistakes.”
Also, it’s a good practice to document every error you identify and every correction you suggest. Note the location in the source text, the issue you found, and your recommended fix.
This protects you if questions arise later. It also demonstrates your attention to quality and thoroughness. Clients value translators who catch problems before they become bigger issues.
Not Reading Target Text in Isolation
Your translation needs to work independently of the source. After you finish translating, read your target text without looking at the original. Does it flow naturally? Do sentences connect logically? Would a native speaker find anything awkward or confusing?
Many translators skip this step. They’re so close to the source text that they can’t see problems in the target. Their brain fills in gaps and smooths over rough phrasing because they know what the text should mean. Reading in isolation reveals these issues.
When you read silently you will skip problems. Your eyes will quickly and your brain will autocorrect. Reading aloud forces you to process every word. You’ll stumble over awkward constructions, notice repetitive phrasing, and catch rhythm problems that affect readability.
This feels time-consuming but catches errors that editing tools miss. Spend 10 minutes reading aloud and you’ll find issues that would embarrass you later.
Another important practice is to think about who will read this translation. What’s their cultural background? What’s their language proficiency level? What assumptions can you make about their knowledge? A technical manual for engineers needs a different language than marketing copy for consumers. Adjust your translation to fit the real readers.
Not Proofreading for Typos and Punctuation
Typos happen. Punctuation errors slip through. These small mistakes undermine otherwise excellent work.
Clients will notice every typo. A single misplaced comma in a legal document can change meaning. A missing period in marketing copy looks unprofessional. Inconsistent capitalization suggests carelessness.
Proofreading isn’t optional. It’s the final quality gate between you and your reputation.
Use spell checkers, grammar tools, and CAT tool QA features. They catch obvious errors quickly. But don’t rely on them exclusively. Automated tools miss context-dependent errors. They don’t catch correctly spelled wrong words. They often flag correct usage as errors in specialized texts.
A practical and effective way of proofreading is to take a break before proofreading. Even 15 minutes away from the text helps reset your perspective. Return with fresher eyes and you’ll spot errors you missed before.
Reading backwards also helps. This breaks the flow and forces you to see individual words. It’s tedious but incredibly effective for catching typos.
Don’t expect to catch everything in one go. Run the process a few times. Proofread for flow and meaning, then check spelling and typos, and then finally check punctuation and formatting. You will be able to deliver a quality translation every time simply by breaking down the proofreading process in multiple sessions.
Not Allocating Enough Time
It’s universal that rush jobs lead to mistakes. When you’re racing against an unrealistic deadline, you skip steps. You don’t research terminology thoroughly. You cut proofreading short. You make assumptions instead of asking questions. Every shortcut creates error opportunities.
Tight deadlines sometimes can’t be avoided. But you can manage them smartly.
Calculate how long translation actually takes for you. Include research time, translation time, editing time, proofreading time, and buffer for unexpected issues. Many translators underestimate. They calculate pure translation time and forget everything else. Then they’re surprised when they can’t meet the deadline without compromising quality.
Be honest with yourself about your pace. Fast translators average 2,000-3,000 words per day for standard texts. Complex technical or legal content takes longer. Creative adaptation takes even more time.
When a client’s deadline isn’t realistic, say so. Explain why and propose alternatives. You can offer a partial delivery, suggest a rush fee for expedited work, or recommend adjusting the deadline to ensure quality. Most clients appreciate honesty more than false promises followed by missed deadlines or poor work.
Some projects genuinely can’t be delayed. For these, be explicit about quality trade-offs. If rushing means less thorough proofreading or abbreviated research, make sure the client understands and accepts this.
Not Asking for Feedback
Translation skills improve through feedback. You can translate thousands of words and repeat the same mistakes for your life. Without external input, you don’t know where you’re going wrong or what you could improve.
Clients, colleagues, and native speakers see things you miss. They catch errors you’re blind to. They identify patterns in your work that you don’t notice.
When clients suggest changes or colleagues point out issues, resist defensiveness. These observations are valuable data about your performance. Even harsh criticism contains useful information. Look past the delivery to understand the underlying message. What specifically needs improvement? What patterns emerge across multiple feedback sources?
Document feedback systematically. Keep a file of common issues people identify in your work. Review it monthly to track whether you’re addressing recurring problems.
Clients evaluate whether your translation meets project requirements. Colleagues assess technical translation quality. Native speakers judge naturalness and cultural appropriateness. Each perspective reveals different issues. Collect input from all three sources to get a complete picture of your work quality.
Receiving translation feedback is pointless if you don’t act on it. When someone identifies an issue, create a system to prevent it next time. If you consistently misspell certain terms, add them to your CAT tool. If you tend toward overly literal translations in certain contexts, note this in your personal style guide.
Change your process based on what you learn. Feedback only improves your work if it changes your behavior.
