Summary translations may also be beneficial in situations where the turnaround time is very tight. A professional translator will read through a document to assess the most important points. The document is then summarized and translated into the target language. This will provide the reader with a basic and essential understanding of the context. Although a summary translation is not ideal for publishing or distribution, it may meet the specific needs within a given situation.
Summary translation may also be known as “gist” translation or preliminary translation. However, this these terms are not standarized within the translation industry. Some translation agencies can take gist translation to mean simply a machine translation. For others a preliminary translation can be a draft. That is, when the document first gets translated by the translator. A review by the editor and proofreader has still not been performed. It should be noted that these types of translations are usually intended for in-house use, not publication.
For more information on summary translation, or to discuss your specific situation and whether summary translation is appropriate, please contact us.