Translator Style Guides: What are they and why are they important?
Posted on Tue, Nov 24, 2009
Mary Nurminen, Lionbridge Solution Architect, is introducing today's new Translation FAQ, "What are Translator Style Guides? And Why are They Important?"
Like a corporate style guide for content creation, a translator's style guide defines the grammar, syntax, and tone translators should use to convey a company's brand and desired end-user experience to a target audience.
Your company is probably already using a style guide to create its content. A style guide defines the conventions that writers use to accurately convey your company and its brand.
It is equally as important to define the desired style for translated versions of your content - so that your brand and experience are carried through in all target markets.
Typically, a company's in-country employees check content, either as a formal process after translation or in an ad hoc manner after content is published. In both cases, problems with the translation are noticed at a very late stage, making it more difficult and expensive to correct them.
Another issue that often comes up in this type of "review" is that most people tend to make changes according to personal preference: it just sounds better to that person when it's written a certain way. But, when translations are reviewed, it is important that reviewers follow clear quality and style guidelines.
By implementing translator style guides, you can proactively outline the expected style and tone for your translated material. This allows translators to know up front what conventions they should use. Your reviewers can also use the style guide to understand what they should be judging against when reviewing content, which will make them less likely to request changes according to personal preference. And, you can save precious time and effort at the critical end of your publishing cycle, and reduce costs.
Read the full FAQ: "What are Translator Style Guides?"
Lionbridge will publish Translation FAQs regularly, so: