今年開始接到工程相關的合約翻譯案子詢問，技術上應付得來，只是語言配對談不攏，結果還是沒有成事。中文撰寫的工程文件若在國際上有發揮作用，想必是一定翻譯成英文，畢竟這是在全球語言。但若堅持要翻譯成馬來文，我則沒辦法了，因為我無法保證語言的精準度。
記得以前剛剛全職接案的時候，有一家日文翻譯公司常常將工程相關的中文合約文件交託我翻譯成英文，他們之後再翻譯成日文。其實原因很簡單，中文地區的文件準備中英日三個語文讓合作的各方作保存。合作的日文譯者讚我英文寫得精準而且單刀直入，這一點我是蠻驕傲的，因為記得以前師大英語系的老師勸我寫的文句必須再精闢一些，切記不要囉嗦。可見我是一直有進步。
工程出身的朋友說工程文件的英文最重要清晰、精準，用字若模糊就是不合格。我研究中英文多年，用字精準這門功夫難不倒我，重點是多花些時間搜尋正確的專業詞彙。
Earlier this year I received some requests about engineering project translation. Technically, the work was manageable. But the client asked for a different language pair and I did not proceed with the project.
If engineering documents originally written in Chinese language are applicable in international market, they are usually translated into English, for this is the global language. I couldn’t ensure the accuracy of the language if the client needs the engineering documents to be translated into Malay language.
When I started as full-time freelancer, a Japanese translation company often assigned me Chinese to English engineering document translation. They then translated into Japanese according to my English version. The Chinese, English and Japanese versions of the documents were to be kept by the collaborating companies.
The collaborating Japanese translator praised my accurate and straightforward English writing style. I feel proud about the compliment, for I used to write not-very-concise English sentences and paragraphs, and my English professor at NTNU advised me to write in a more concise manner.
Engineering friend said the English writing of engineering documents has to be clear and accurate. Vague wording is not acceptable for engineering documents. Given my years-long research into Chinese and English languages, I find it rather manageable to always ensure accurate wording. The key point lies in spending more time to search for the correct professional terms.
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