Four Translation Best Practices: Getting Great Results from your Translation Provider
Posted on Thu, Sep 24, 2009
Another great blog by Lili Kachakhidze...
Every time you shop, you evaluate quality. You check the expiration date, look at the brand name, the place of origin, etc.
The same applies when you buy Translation and Localization services. You evaluate the quality of the translation service provider (or "LSP," which stands for Language Service Provider in this industry) using specific criteria, and then you measure the end project against specific goals:
- Accuracy: Faulty translation; omission; overtranslation.
- Compliance: Unacceptable terminology or usage according to your corporate standards.
- Linguistic: Violation of language norms; incorrect or inappropriate style; unacceptable punctuation, syntax, or usage according to dictionaries and other established standards; lack of fluency.
In order to get the best in accuracy, compliance and linguistic quality from your translation provider, you're responsible for ensuring they have (and know how to use) all the materials necessary: a glossary, style guide, instructions, language rules, translation memory (TM) from a previous project, reference documents, software when applicable, etc.
Best Practices
- Always be sure your translation provider reads your instructions and the style guide before starting a new project and make sure they stick to them during the whole process. Work with them on anything they think is unclear before starting the project!
- Review the terminology in the glossary or the terminology database with your translation provider. If the Project TM is linked to a Master TM, the Master TM prevails. If there are inconsistencies between the TM and glossaries, take the time to discuss and clarify with your translation provider before the project begins.
- Don't expect a literal, word-for-word translation from an experienced, high-quality translation provider. They will convey the meaning using natural phrases from your target language, so that it is engaging and flows well.
- Make sure your translation provider runs a grammar and spell-check on your files, and ask them for a thorough review after the translation work is complete.
This should give you a good start, and if you'd like more ideas, my Lionbridge colleagues have recently published a free whitepaper, "Ten Translation Best Practices: How to Turn Your Efforts into Strategic Advantage." It's a great paper, I encourage you to check it out (and no registration required)!