“Woe to the makers of literal translations who by rendering every word weaken the meaning! It is indeed by so doing that we can say the letter kills and the spirit gives life.”
According to many dictionaries, to translate is to render the meaning of a text into another language. Render is also used when referring to the performance of a service (for example). To translate would then be to render a service to knowledge, by spreading it regardless of language boundaries. To Voltaire, a translator must not limit its work to translate each and every word; he/she must imbue the message with life.
With 15 years of experience in translation (working with English, French, Portuguese and Spanish) and 12 in training (in languages and secretarial skills), my dedication to languages and foreign cultures has set me on the path of another field - marketing.
But let us start from the beginning …
