What makes a good translator?
A capable translator will have a solid mastery of the source language and a native mastery of the target language. This means that he or she can understand the source text correctly and can write in the target language at or near the level of a professional author. Capable translators are also well-read, are familiar with many subject areas and stay very well-informed and completely conversant in their areas of specialty. They have excellent research skills and the patience necessary to get to the bottom of knotty translation problems, rather than settle for the easy or obvious solution that may or may not be right. They have learned the grammatical structures of the source and target languages inside-out, in order to make the necessary transformations when a structure used in one language does not have an exact parallel in the other. First-rate translators also have a spark of creativity that they can draw upon when they need it. The best translation in a given instance may be the lea
