Aphoristically speaking

Translation is about faithfulness and betrayal at the same time. You simply have to set the balance right. And yes, translation is an art.

Real estate

When it comes to real estate, one challenge is to translate "numar cadastral". Proz.com has evolved a lot however the only solution it offers is cadastral number. British English uses "field number" or "parcel number" or"field parcel number" whereas American English prefers "property parcel number".

Commercial translations
I learned a lot about commercial translations not from dictionaries but by reading sample contracts on www.onecle.com. Business contract, consumer forms and other documents offer a view on the world, a very down-to-earth view on our surrounding and dealings with other people.
http://www.onecle.com/

My first encounter with translation that raised my awareness upon the matter (for otherwise I could simply mention my teenage years when I was listening to various songs in English and tried to comprehend the lyrics) took place after reading Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga in Romanian when I managed to find one of the volumes in English. The title of the first part was "The Indian Summer of a Forsyte". My challenge at the time was to understand what an Indian summer was and it conveyed the nostalgia pervading the book. Later, when listening to Joe Dassin's song... l'ete indien brought to my mind the Indian Summer of a Forsyte as a celebration of loss.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2594/2594-h/2594-h.htm

Many people associate translation with the idea of profitability: when they think of translation, their thought automatically leads them to commercial translation. To me, however, translation is primarily linked to learning a foreign language and at times, I cannot help feeling like a child who wonders at first seeing a grasshopper in the grass when I find myself in front of a new document which needs to be translated. And after having made translations for so many years, I believe I forged myself a motto which I can make public provided that my readers forgive its triviality:
Learning a foreign language is a perpetual surprise.