Thorough knowledge of language is absolutely necessary in translation but even more, a love of language and flair are two components that decide the ultimate quality and standard of the written material.

Just as translators very often live in the country of the target language, it is absolutely vital that a translator has lived in the country of the source language.

As children we first understand more than we can speak and we are able to read more than we can write. Mostly we acquire grammar without being aware of the process, this is why childhood is so important as concerns language, not very many translators will ever be able to translate into what is for them a foreign tongue, a native speaker will nearly always make a better job of it, this is also, in turn, the reason we select native speakers of the target language to work for Lexis.