What is the native speaker principle?
As a general rule, translators should translate into their native language to ensure optimal translation quality from an idiomatic perspective. However, our experience has shown in exceptional cases involving specific types of text that it can be more important for a translator to have native mastery in the source language. Naturally, a native speaker has a much better understanding of complex syntax structures in the source language. Example: A legal opinion written in German is to be translated into English. A native German speaker, who of course must have near-native idiomatic and professional command of English, is ideally suited for this assignment, since he or she will be better able to correctly interpret the deeper meaning of the source language and to establish the appropriate logical connections. In such a case, the translation would need to be edited by a native English speaker to improve its intuitive flow and to round off the translation in linguistic terms.
