Academic writing—A challenge in translator training

Abstract

Studies and articles presenting new discoveries, scientific results are usually published in a world language, most often in English, therefore there is a great need to translate these articles in other languages, so that representatives of different professions may keep up with international development. In many cases, these translations are done by specialised translators. Translating academic writing can be challenging in several respects, as it is an accurate, standardised, normative language form, the use of which requires thorough knowledge and experience from the part of the translator. In our study, we examine whether translator trainees at Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania are aware of the characteristics of academic writing and are prepared to write academic text, discussing the eventual difficulties that should be addressed in the training process. Keywords: Academic writing, translator training, style, paraphrasing, proof-reading.