5. How important is style?

A good translation flows smoothly and naturally; you shouldn't even notice it is a translation. This is good translation style.

Some translations are hopeless from the start and need to be re-done entirely. Often, these are produced by translation software or non-native speakers struggling away with a grammar book in one hand and a dictionary in the other. Words are translated literally and do not take context into account. If all you need is the gist of a translation, then that should work fine for you. But if you need to get a message across accurately and credibly, you need good translation style, which is supplied by experienced human translators.

A small example:

Other translations are technically accurate, yet the sentences do not flow as smoothly as they should: word order or choice of vocabulary may be unduly influenced by the original language. They are not particularly effective for selling, but may be good enough for readers who know the subject matter and have time to read between the lines.

In either case, incorrect grammar, awkward sentence structures, and language out of context detract from a document's credibility and distract readers from its intended message. A good translation reads as correctly and smoothly as the original document in its own language.