Your Translation Partner. Professional Translation; over 2,000 native-speaking translators; High-Quality & 5-Star Customer Service Guaranteed.
Recent
Categories
When you have finished your translation, run your spellchecker and correct any misspellings and typos. Now is time to become your own editor and read over the document comparing it to the original. Read again without looking at the source text to make sure that it makes sense. Readers will not have access to your source material and, frankly speaking, they do not care the text was translated and how it was translated.
Identify relevant reference sources on the Internet for the subject you are going to translate. If you are going to translate technical documentation for bicycles, find the brand’s website in your language. The manufacturer’s competitors are often a source of good terminology and style. If you are translating medical devices, you are sure to find some relevant material in related websites.
Contact your Translation Project Manager or client immediately if you encounter or foresee any problems with the document, with the format, with the word count or with the delivery time.
Follow what has been done before, even if your personal style and personal preferences are different. Take note in a separate file of any terminology issues and comments while you are working. You will not feel like doing that or going over the errors once you have finished the translation. Let the Translation Project Manager know what is best. Remember, feedback is always appreciated and it helps to build quality and improvements in the process.
In Terms of quality of the translation contact immediate your Translation Project Manager if you find any problems with the translation memory or the glossary. Previous translators may have not followed it or perhaps they had a bad day. If there are any quality issues with the material you have been provided with
Use any reference material, style guides, glossaries and terminology databases. Never ignore any glossary that has been sent to you. If the client has created a database, use it. If it is a simple excel file, you know all tools can import this format into a CAT tool and CVS can create a glossary file in seconds. It is essential that you are consistent in terminology and style with previous work. Quite often, you will not be the first translator involved in a publication process.
Make sure you are familiar with the file format. If you are working for a translation company, the files will come quite probably in a translation-friendly format and with a translation memory. Do not change the CAT tool your client has specified. There is no worse feeling for Translation Project Managers than receiving a file whose contents they have to rework because of bad formatting.
Make sure that you are comfortable with the subject matter and language style and confirm this to the Translation Project Manager. Whilst you may take on translations in fields in which you are not an expert for the sake of expanding your business, it will take you more time to master the terminology and you will have to invest time in doing so.
Make sure you revise the document(s) and the files before starting a translation. Understand any instructions that come with the job: they show you the way in which the translation must be approached. You do not call a plumber to fix a flood and leave your house without a shower. Ensure that all the files and documents the client needs are the ones you have received.
Depending on what language you are translating, the same language may translate differently between countries, as words may convey different meanings depending on the location that they are used. Mistranslating the word or meaning may become offensive, and some of the literal translations are not always correct.
