A polished translation often looks effortless on the page. Clean sentences, clear meaning, no visible struggle. But behind every finished text, there’s a lot more happening than meets the eye. It all starts with getting to know the source text. Before translating a single word, professional linguists look at the bigger picture: Who is this for? Where will it be used? What’s the tone supposed to be — formal, friendly, technical, persuasive? Understanding the context early on m