The importance of Internet systematic search for legal translations

Abstract The web is a vast and disorganised language resource which is often accessed too naively or superficially by students or inexperienced translators. In this paper, bachelor's students enrolled in a course in translation studies are challenged to translate an extract of a legal document. To complete their translation task, they consulted the language resources they felt comfortable with. Some of them asked for advice to external experts. This helped make the translation task real-life. Despite the language tools used, the students' shortcomings and mistranslations were several. In particular, formulaic expressions were neglected and too many literal or “fanciful” translation candidates were proposed. Afterwards, the students took part in a 2-h lesson where they understood how to consult the web effectively to find reliable information. This paper will highlight that a systematic approach to Google search is necessary in order to deliver high-quality translation work. In particular, advanced search must be performed, together with an accurate consultation of legal documents and of authoritative sources, such as experts' forums or sites.