Not all translations are created equal.
While Google Translate might come in handy when you want to read menus on vacation, translating a medical trial or legal contract requires a specialized skill set.
Plus, the stakes vary for different types of translation. A blunder in your marketing campaign can damage your brand image forever, and a mistranslated word in a medical report can endanger lives.
More importantly, if you’re planning to work with translators, you should know exactly what you’re looking for.
That’s why we’ve compiled a list of 10 types of translation to help you understand the basics.
💡 What is translation?
Translation is the art and science of converting text from one language to another while preserving meaning, context, and intent. That said, it’s far more complex than swapping words in a dictionary. Great translation captures cultural nuances, maintains the original tone, and ensures the message resonates authentically with the target audience.
TL;DR: Types of translation
| Translation Type | What it covers | Essential skills |
| Literary translation | Books, poetry, plays, creative writing | Cultural fluency, artistic sensibility, and author collaboration |
| Technical translation | User manuals, engineering specs, safety protocols | Industry background (engineering/IT), regulatory knowledge |
| Legal translation | Contracts, court documents, patents, legislation | Law degree, understanding of legal systems, certification |
| Medical translation | Clinical trials, drug labeling, research papers | Medical/science degree, regulatory knowledge, GTP training |
| Business/commercial translation | Marketing materials, advertising, corporate communications | Marketing background, cultural adaptation, creative writing |
| Academic translation | Research papers, journals, educational materials | Advanced degree in the field, publication experience, and research skills |
| Financial translation | Annual reports, banking documents, investment materials | Finance/accounting degree, regulatory knowledge, confidentiality protocols |
| Audiovisual translation | Subtitling, dubbing, voice-over | Technical proficiency, cultural adaptation, media specialization |
| Website/software translation | Apps, websites, digital interfaces | Technical skills, cultural intelligence, and project management |
| Machine translation | AI translation, CAT tools, hybrid approaches | Technology evaluation, post-editing expertise, workflow optimization |
10 types of translation you should know
Let’s break down the 10 most widely used translation types.
1. Literary translation
Literary translation focuses on any literary work, including books, plays, poems, essays, and more. It aims to translate these creative assets while preserving the author’s original voice, style, and nuance. Translators recreate the emotional impact of the original works.
One of the primary goals of literary translation is to make these assets accessible to a wider audience.
Literary translators blend linguistic accuracy with creativity. Here are a few core skills they need:
- Cultural understanding: You need a nuanced understanding of both source and target cultures to translate literature with accuracy and nuance.
- Artistic sensibility: This type of translation requires the ability to capture tone, rhythm, and style while making creative choices about untranslatable elements.
- Genre specialization: Translators have to specialize in specific types of literary work, like children’s literature, contemporary fiction, and more.
When working with literary translators, it’s best practice to match the translator’s background to the type of literature you want to translate. And it’s equally important to give them space for creative freedom and roll with their artistic sensitivity.
Case in point: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
When Swedish author Stieg Larsson died in 2004, his unpublished crime trilogy sat unknown outside Sweden. The biggest challenge was translating his work in a way that preserves the distinctly Scandinavian atmosphere Larsson created in these books.
Translator Reg Keeland stepped in and translated Larsson’s work to accurately capture Swedish cultural nuances like the concept of “lagom” (balanced moderation).
His translation transported readers to Stockholm’s gritty underworld and made the story a global hit.
2. Technical translation
Technical translation covers all types of documentation, such as user manuals, software guides, safety protocols, and more. This translation spans across sectors with technical work, including healthcare, manufacturing, software, automotive, and similar.
Technical translators need deep industry knowledge beyond language skills. They should ideally have a background in the industry they work in to handle complex subjects.
Here are some essential skills for technical translators:
- Regulatory knowledge: They should have a clear understanding of compliance requirements and safety standards across different markets.
- Industry experience: Translators need hands-on experience to be aware of specific terms and processes in their industry.
- Visual translation: You need the skills to properly localize diagrams and technical drawings for various countries.
Share your company’s glossaries and reference materials with technical translators to get solid output. You can also connect them to your in-house experts for complex concepts.
Case in point: IKEA assembly instructions
One of IKEA’s biggest problems was explaining furniture assembly to customers speaking a dozen different languages. That would’ve meant an endless translation loop.
The furniture brand solved this problem by developing a visual language system. Technical translators worked with designers to create universally understood diagrams, using minimal text that could be easily translated.
3. Legal translation
Legal translation helps you comply with the legal systems in different countries when you expand internationally. It involves translating your contracts, patents, and other compliance materials.
Legal translators navigate the intersection of language and law. That’s why they require specialized training beyond linguistic ability.
Here are some must-have qualifications for legal translators:
- Legal education: You should have a law degree or legal training, ideally in both source and target jurisdictions.
- System knowledge: Translators need a deep understanding of different legal frameworks (common law vs. civil law).
- Certification credentials: You also need a sworn translator status or court appointment in relevant jurisdictions.
For all legal translation, it’s best to engage legal counsel in all involved jurisdictions to support your translation process. You also need to verify a translator’s certification and admissibility before starting.
4. Medical translation
Medical translation covers clinical trial reports, drug labeling, research papers, patient records, and more. This type of translation relies on precision to convey scientific information across languages and regulatory environments.
Medical translators combine linguistic expertise with deep medical knowledge and regulatory understanding.
These translators focus on a specific specialty with a likely subspecialization like oncology, cardiology, and more. Plus, they need quality assurance training to be aware of medical translation standards.
Like legal translation, medical translation also requires a thorough verification of your translators’ credentials. You should cross-check their medical background and experience in a relevant specialty. And to maximize your translation accuracy, share terminology databases and guidelines with them.
📚 Learn more: Medical Software Localization: Key Requirements and Challenges
5. Business/commercial translation
Business translation spans marketing materials, corporate communications, advertising campaigns, press releases, and internal documentation.
This type of translation aims to replicate your brand voice in different markets while creating cultural appeal for local audiences. Commercial translators need to be marketing savvy to capture the essence of original materials and deliver the same impact.
That’s why creative writing is one of the key skills for business translators. You should be able to adapt marketing copy (slogans, taglines, etc.) to resonate with target audiences.
Plus, you need strong research skills to learn more about the markets you’re targeting and align your translations with each country’s cultural norms.
One of the best practices when working with business translators is creating a style guide.
It helps build consistency with guidelines about your brand voice, marketing goals, and audience needs. You can also test this translated material with native speakers and run it through a few feedback cycles.
Case in point: Coca-Cola’s branding in China
When Coca-Cola entered China in the 1920s, they first phonetically translated their name to “Ke-kou-ke-la,” which meant “bite the wax tadpole.” This became a lesson for the beverage brand to go beyond linguistics and work on cultural intelligence.
After closely studying Chinese characters, the brand made a slight adjustment to come up with a new name: “Ke-kou-ke-le,” meaning “delicious enjoyable.”
6. Academic translation
Academic translation covers research papers, conference presentations, grant proposals, journal articles, and similar educational materials. This type of translation focuses on translating complex theoretical concepts with accuracy and research standards.
Academic translators need deep subject matter expertise combined with scholarly writing skills. Many hold advanced degrees in their specialized fields, providing essential context for complex concepts.
You should also have firsthand experience with:
- Academic writing conventions
- Citation styles and processes
- Peer review approaches
Besides, a specialization in any subject is ideal since it builds a nuanced understanding. When working on academic translation projects, you should always include subject expert reviews to maintain accuracy.
💪 Build a foolproof review process
Find our best advice on designing a translation review workflow to maximize the accuracy of your translated content.
7. Financial translation
Financial translation includes investment analyses, banking paperwork, insurance policies, and audit reports. This specialized translation type requires a core understanding of different markets’ accounting standards, financial terminology, and regulatory frameworks.
Here are some essential skills for financial translators:
- Financial background: You need to have degrees in finance, accounting, or economics, with professional certifications like CPA or CFA.
- Regulatory knowledge: Translators should be deeply familiar with different accounting standards (GAAP, IFRS) and financial regulations across jurisdictions.
- Market expertise: Familiarity with financial instruments, banking products, and investment terminology in multiple markets also comes in handy.
Case in point: Chinese IPOs
When Chinese companies like Alibaba prepare for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, they rely on financial translation to properly translate every document from Chinese to US English.
This goes beyond linguistic expertise. Translators have to be aware of Chinese accounting standards and US GAAP. They also need a strategic understanding of the regulations to translate financial concepts that don’t exist in the US.
8. Audiovisual translation
Audiovisual translation includes subtitling for films and TV shows, dubbing scripts, voice-over narration, and closed captioning.
This type of translation is mainly used in the cinema industry and video marketing. In addition to language skills, audiovisual translation requires technical proficiency, such as timing, subtitle formats, character limits, and synchronization requirements for different media formats.
You should also have the aptitude for cultural adaptation. This involves the ability to localize humor, cultural references, and idiomatic expressions to appeal to local audiences.
Media specialization is a good-to-have skill. That means you have experience with specific AV formats like documentaries, movies, etc.
💡Learn more about multimedia localization
Check out our best practices to localize multimedia assets along with your translation needs.
Case in point: Squid Game
Netflix’s web series “Squid Game” was translated into 37 different languages from the original Korean version.
Audiovisual translators faced many challenges, including how to explain Korean children’s games that don’t exist in other parts of the world. The solution involved cultural adaptation. “Red Light, Green Light” worked for English audiences, but other markets needed completely different game references.
Translators also navigated Korean honorifics (linguistic devices to express respect) and social hierarchies that don’t translate directly. They ensured international viewers understood the class dynamics central to the show’s meaning.
9. Website/software translation
Website and software translation is a part of a bigger process called localization. It goes beyond translation to adapt websites, mobile apps, software interfaces, and digital content for specific markets.
It translates user interfaces, help documentation, error messages, and marketing content while ensuring technical functionality across different languages and cultures.
This type of translation requires experience with content management systems and some coding skills. You’d also need the ability to coordinate complex projects with designers and developers. Plus, you should have experience with linguistic testing to vet and improve your translated output.
Case in point: Fetch’s expansion for Spanish users
Fetch, a popular rewards app, noticed growing Spanish-speaking user engagement and wanted to expand its user base with software translation. The app had 800+ offers at a time.
However, a small three-person team doing manual translations required a 6-day period to translate every offer in Spanish.
They used Lokalise to build a strong localization infrastructure and make translations a breeze. Lokalise’s automated workflows, translation memory, and a user-friendly interface supported Fetch’s technical teams and translators. As a result, they could ship same-day Spanish translations for all offers.
Fetch saw a 73% increase in active Spanish users with this translation campaign.
10. Machine translation
Machine translation uses AI-powered translation engines and translation memories to produce an output. It comes in handy for large-scale translation projects where you need to translate a lot of content at once.
This type of translation requires an understanding of essential features to choose the right machine translation software.
You also need human translators for machine translation post-editing. They’ll review and enhance the machine-generated output. Plus, your translators will help in quality control to maintain consistency.
Case in point: European Parliament’s documents
In an effort to maintain multilingualism, every document shared in the European Parliament has to be translated into 24 official languages.
They use machine translation to instantly translate every document into the recognized languages. Human translators then refine these drafts for official documents. This hybrid approach enables EU democracy to function across language barriers.
📚Read more: AI Translation vs Human Translation: Which Is Better?
Manage your translation projects effortlessly
Understanding the different types of translation is just the beginning.
The real work begins when you hire translators for a project. Between deadlines, handoffs, and quality review, managing a translation project can quickly become a nightmare.
Without a translation management platform like Lokalise, you’ll be scrambling to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Lokalise makes it easy to collaborate with internal and external contributors. Plus, it gives you a robust infrastructure to handle all your translation needs like a pro.
Start a 14-day free trial (without any credit cards) to experience the difference.
FAQs
What is the importance of cultural and linguistic nuances in translation?
Cultural and linguistic nuances are crucial in translation as they shape how we communicate and convey meaning. Translating literary works, for example, requires preserving the cultural context and ensuring the message resonates with the target audience.
By capturing these nuances, we can connect across borders and appreciate different cultures’ timeless themes and ideas.
How does translation contribute to business expansion and growth?
Translation plays a significant role in business expansion by allowing companies to cater to diverse cultures and languages. Translating a website can help brands establish a strong presence in foreign markets and build a loyal customer base.
Whether product descriptions, marketing materials, or video games, translating content into a customer’s native language increases their chances of converting. It’s a strategic move that supports business growth across industries.
