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10 Tips for Working Efficiently and Productively With a Professional Translator

When you have a translation project and contact a professional translator, here are some tips to make the project run smoothly and efficiently for both of you.

1. Provide as much information as possible at first contact.

This will help you receive a faster response from the translator. This includes the subject, language pair (obviously), target audience, length (words, pages etc.), deadline, if there is reference material, if a specific tool should be used, if a project database needs to be used and all information on how to use it.

2. If project is accepted, send the translator a Purchase Order or sign one from the translator.

The purchase order should contain a reference number, fee/price, deadline, payment terms, and contact information both for during the project, when the translator has questions, and for after the project for invoicing.

3. Provide a glossary if possible, or ask the professional translator to make one, especially if the project is big.

4. Provide a contact person to answer any questions the translator might have.

This contact should be available as much as possible during the project, and be able to find answers in a timely manner. This increases the quality of the final translation.

5. Give formatting guidelines for the final document

6. Provide as much reference material as possible.

This includes previous translations, correspondence, glossaries, translation memories, links to websites etc. This also increases the quality of the final translation, since the translator can see what style has been used before, words that are specific for your/this company, more context etc.

7. Have another professional linguist proofread the document.

This linguist can be somebody you use, or somebody that the translator works with. Either way, provide the translator with the proofread/edited document with track changes. This is a great feedback tool and learning opportunity for the translator, plus if the translator has final responsibility for the translation, he/she should be able to approve the changes.

8. If you require a rare translation tool (or TEnT), try to provide this tool at a discount.

Or for free if possible, and provide as much training and material about the tool as you can.

9. Always confirm good receipt of translation, and ask questions or give comments as soon as possible after receipt.

10. Make the invoicing procedure as easy as possible and the earlier you can pay, the happier the translator gets.

If you follow these guidelines you will create a fruitful relationship with your professional translator, and receive high quality translations that can increase your credibility, and boost your business. A win-win situation!

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LanguagesTranslation

Tess

What I Look for When Evaluating a Translation

After working many years for a number of good translation companies, I have frequently been asked to evaluate other translator’s jobs. This is partly due to the fact that they need more Swedish translators on the team, partly because they know and trust the quality of my translations, and therefore trust me to evaluate other Swedish translators. Sometimes the clients or other translators ask me what I look for when evaluating other translations. Based on my experience in evaluating other Swedish translations for Language Service Providers and my experience as a grader for the Swedish certification exam for ATA, I have compiled a list of points that I consider during my evaluations.

First I read through the whole text to get a general feel for the quality and style.

Then I compare the translation to the source text and look for omissions.

After these two initial tasks are done, I start going through the text sentence by sentence and follow these guidelines:

Are there any typos, misspellings, omissions or grammar errors?
Numbers and measurements – Are the numbers and measurements transferred appropriately for the target language? Are the conversions correct?
Consistency – Are the terms consistent throughout the text?
Fluency – Does the text flow in the target language?
Comprehension – How well did the translator comprehend the source? Does it show that the translator has expertise in the subject area?
Accuracy – How accurate is the translation of the terms and concepts?
Style – Is the style of the translation consistent with the style of the source? Has the translator used proper idiomatic language for the subject matter?
Audience – Is the translation appropriate for the intended audience?
Non-translatables – Are names and trademarks preserved correctly?
Diacritric marks – Has the translator used commas, exclamation points, semi colon etc. properly for the target language. The use often differs between the source and target language, at least for English and Swedish.

Based on these guidelines I can then make a general judgment of the translation quality and also give specific examples to the client, plus recommendations to the translator.

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Plain Language and Translation – Expert Guest Post

I have had the fortune of getting to know a plain language expert in Sweden, who is bilingual and also works with translation. I actually met her through Twitter, so never underestimate social media. Ingrid Herbert has a BA in Swedish Language Consultancy and works for Språkkonsulterna as a language consultant and translator. Her work there includes plain language, writing for the web, social media strategies, teaching, editing and proofreading. She is also on the Board of Ess (the Association of Swedish Language Consultants). Ingrid grew up in both the UK and in Sweden. Here is her post.

No two days are ever the same for me. One day I could be editing an English business proposition written by a Swede, the next I’ll be preparing a lesson in plain language for the web, and the third I’ll be writing language guidelines for a Swedish agency. In the middle of this I could suddenly be sent a text for urgent translation, and would have to find a way to fit it into my schedule.

I work for the largest plain language company in Sweden

I have been working as a plain Swedish consultant for two years. I found the Swedish language consultant university course by chance and was thrilled – it involved a bit of journalism, a bit of teaching and a bit of translating, but mainly language “nerdery” in general. Just the course for me! After graduating I freelanced for a few months before I was employed by Språkkonsulterna, a private plain language company in Stockholm. Språkkonsulterna is the largest plain language company in Sweden, and I feel privileged to work with some of the most experienced plain Swedish practitioners. If I ever get stuck or need a second opinion, there’s always someone to ask for advice. At the same time, the company only has six employees, meaning that we all have a large chunk of responsibility to develop the business. All of us also get to write for the company’s monthly newsletter and blog.

Plain language and translation is a great combination

Translation isn’t a huge part of my job, but when I do get the chance to translate my plain language training is of great help. I have been trained to spot inconsistent language usage and can instantly decide which form to use in the translation. I will also add humble comments on certain choices I have made, and I always understand that my finished translation may not be final. As I have solid grammatical knowledge I can always use grammar to explain why something is incorrect or corresponds. True, this is rarely necessary, but knowing that I am able to gives me confidence.

…but I can get frustrated with unclear original documents when translating

However, plain language work is a bit too similar to translating. In fact, I often explain it as translating officialise into Swedish. This means that I occasionally, but not often, take my translations too far. I can edit out fuzzy wordings and redundant information on the fly. It is frustrating to stay completely true to the original when it is obvious how much better the translation will be if I tidy it up a bit! But I am aware that this is (usually) not a part of translating, so I always tell myself to avoid going too plain when my client has not asked for it.

Variation is the spice of life

I am happy I am able to do both translation and plain language work. I love the variation and it would be a bit boring to come to work and do only editing or only translations every day. Both areas are creative and have similarities as well as differences, so I always have a fresh challenge to look forward to.

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Tess

To My Favorite Client Among LSP’s

Dear Client,

I just wanted to write you a short note to tell you that you are one of my favorite clients among Language Service Provider companies and here is why.

1. You always address me by my name when you contact me

2. You do not send mass emails and wait for the first bidder of the job

3. You understand and appreciate the quality that I can provide and are willing to pay for it.

4. You understand that to do a good job, there needs to be sufficient of time for it and do not ask for impossible deadlines.

5. You understand that I have a life outside of my translation business and that I want to spend my weekends with my family and friends.

6. You show your appreciation of my work and give me feedback and recommendations to other clients

7. You give me clear instructions and guidelines for the projects

8. You are available and make sure the end client is available for questions and clarifications

9. You do not ask for additional changes after the delivery of the project without also paying for them

10. You pay on time

In return you get a loyal translator who appreciate you and make room for your projects. I will always try to deliver the highest quality Swedish translation for you. Thank you!

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BusinessLocalizationTranslation

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Things to Think of When Developing Localization-Ready Websites

Yesterday I attended a seminar held by Utah Technology Council here in Salt Lake City. The presenter was Adam Wooten from Globalization Group, talking about how to develop localization ready websites. His key point was to prepare in advance to ensure that the localization process will be easy and cost-effective. To correct an error for one language, before going global can be $1000, but $25,000 to fix after having launched the site in 25 languages.

In order to prepare well, we should think of both technical aspects and cultural aspects.

Examples of technical aspects are:

Regional settings such as number and measurement formats
Character sets
Separate code and translatable text
Text expansion
Text in images (harder to localize)
Concatenated strings (harder to localize)

Examples of cultural aspects are:

Cultural aspects: eliminate local cultural examples, example, American Football
Brand Names (will they work in the target country?)
Symbols, Images and Colors (how are they perceived in the target country?)

As a translator, I especially liked his tips for content authors:

Write with the translator in mind
Avoid ambiguity
Avoid references and allusions, such as references to sports
Limit concatenations
Take advantage of repetitions (easy to handle with CAT-tools)

Adam Wooten is the CEO of Globalization Group, a localization company in Utah, and a member of Utah Translators and Interpreters Association.

Readers, do you have any other tips to prepare websites to go global? Happy Global Earth Day everyone!

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BusinessSweden

Tess

Interesting Facts on Doing Business in Sweden From SACC

As a Swedish translator I follow business news in Sweden, but particularly news from the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce (SACC). US and Sweden have a long history of thriving business relations with each other. Here are some interesting statistics about the Swedish business climate from SACC:

>> Sweden’s business sector is unique for its large number of multinational corporations in relation to the relative size of the national economy.

>> Sweden places third in economic competitiveness within the EU, after Switzerland and Denmark (Source: World Economic Forum, 2008-2009).

>> Sweden is ranked as number four in economic competitiveness (Source: World Economic Forum, 2009-2010).

>> Sweden is ranked number one when it comes to technological readiness (Source: World Economic Forum, 2009-2010)

>> In 2008, there were more than 12,800 foreign-owned companies employing a total of 620,000 Swedes. USA was the country with the most IT companies, 241 and almost 12,000 employees. (Source: Only in Swedish; Tillväxtanaly)

>> Sweden is foremost in innovation capability (Source: Global Summary Innovation Index; Trendchart, 2007).

>> The highest internet penetration in Europe; 80% (Source: Invest in Sweden Agency)

> Sweden was in 2008 ranked number 18 as one of the leading exporters and importers in world trade in commercial services. (Source: WTO)

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LanguagesLocalization

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4 Software Localization Mistakes to Avoid

This is my final post in the series on software localization. There is a lot to think about when translating and localizing software and making mistakes is easy. Here are 4 mistakes to try to avoid:

1. Neglecting the length of translated words, which would require redesigning the software to fit the foreign language version, losing time and money.

2. Disregarding localization for specific countries/regions and their particular elements (special characters, date format, number format, address strucutre, postal code length and structure, calendar format etc.)

3. Not using simple, concise text that is familiar to most people and users of the software

4. Not providing clear and accurate text in the target language, making the instructions and commands nonsensical or hard to understand.

Happy translation and localization year to everyone!

LocalizationTranslation

Tess

Software Localization Tools

In software localization, good tools are important. Without specialized tools, localization of software is very difficult and time consuming, with many repetitive tasks. Fortunately, there is a variety of specialized tools available today.

The main source and target formats: resource files (RC) or binary files such as EXE or DLL usually do not contain long translatable text strings surrounded by non-translatable code. Localization tools have to extract these short strings properly, provide a convenient graphical user interface (GUI) for the translation of the strings and save the translations correctly back into the surrounding code. Examples of specialized software localization tools are Alchemy CATALYST and Passolo.

In contrary, software documentation files (HLP, HTML, CHM, HTML or PDF) contain much more translatable text in much longer test strings. These files are usually better handled by a translation memory software ™, which memorized already used phrases, typically segmented by full-stops, and enable their recycling. Examples of translation memory software are Trados Studio, DejaVu, Wordfast.

I use Passolo, Catalyst, LocStudio, Trados Studio and Wordfast, of which I like some better than the others. For example, from a translators point of view I like Passolo, Wordfast and Studio the best. Which tools do you use and like? Which ones do you not like and why?

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The Role of Translators in the Software Localization Process

In software localization projects, we translators are expected to have complete command of the tools required, know the market and a lot of products, assume our own position in the process, and understand the constraints involved in ever shorter production cycles.

For this reason that most translators working in localization do so through intermediary translation bureaus, which are often specialized localization companies. Here’s what the role of translators in the software localization process is like.

Type of Software Localization We Handle

Software localization has the potential to open up your target market ten-fold. It is very important that all documentation and consumer interface text is translated with accurate technical lingo and nomenclature. International users of computer software have come to expect their software to “talk” to them in their own language.

This is not only a matter of convenience or of national pride, but a matter of productivity. Ultimately, users who understand a product fully will be more skilled in handling it and avoid mistakes. So they will prefer applications in their language and adapted to their cultural environment.

Swedish Translation Services provides Swedish translation and localization of the following:

Software/user interface
Help screens, instructions, menus, shortcut keys
Software manuals
License agreements
Legal and security disclaimers
Warranty arrangements
Marketing material and packaging content
Cultural related content

The Swedish market is on the frontline when it comes to adaptation and usage of new software. Most Swedes know English, but they still want and expect their software to be in Swedish.

The Typical Cycle of Localization

Software localization follows a cycle of comprehension. As translators are virtually never given more than a brief summary of the product specification, we must do a lot of guessing as to what function actually does what and consequently what to call it when we translate.

Often the purpose of a function, dialog box, or command will become apparent to us translators only when we finally get to the help file that explains it. In this case we may have to go back and change the term that was used in the first version of the software translation.

Furthermore, it may not even be the same person doing the software and the help, which complicates matters. Too often the software is already ready for production with no additional changes possible.

One of the attributes that characterize successful and sought-after software translators is precisely the ability to guess correctly about what given software string or dialog box or function actually does, to avoid having to loop back wherever possible. It is here that experience plays an important role.

The Standard Software Localization Process

Analysis of the material and evaluation of tools and resources required
Cultural, technical and linguistic assessment
Creating and maintaining glossaries
Translation to target languages
Adaptation of user interface, resizing of forms and dialogs etc.
Localization of graphics, or other media
Compilation and build of localized files for testing
Linguistic and functional quality assurance
Project delivery

Of these steps, a translator usually participates in glossary creation, translation and linguistic testing.

Software Localization and Translation: What’s the Difference?

Software localization is the translation and adaptation of a software or web product, including the software itself and all related product documentation. Traditional translation is typically and activity performed after the source document has been finalized.

On the other hand, software localization projects often run in parallel with the development of the source product to enable simultaneous shipment of all language versions. Translation is only one of the activities in a localization project. There are other tasks involved in localization, such as project management, engineering, testing and desktop publishing.

Choose Professional Swedish Localization

As you prepare your Swedish software for localization, be sure to choose a professional English-Swedish linguist like me! I have years of experience in meeting the unique linguistic requirements of software localization for the Swedish market.

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Tess

4 Types of Quality Assurance for Translators

One way to make the concept of quality assurance easier for linguists is to divide it up into four parts: administrative quality, linguistic quality, business quality and cultural quality.

International quality standards focus mostly on administrative quality, since it is the easiest to measure. Linguistic quality is the most important for language professionals. Business quality is defined as the relation to the customer, and cultural quality is when a translation speaks to the end customer/reader.

All four types of quality assurance are important for linguists and warrant further investigation. Here we’ll look at these four types and tips for translators to enhance quality every step of the translation process.

Four Types of Quality Assurance

Administrative Quality

This entails all routines for handling translation projects, inquiry, offer, order confirmation, translation, control/check, delivery, invoicing, follow up, archiving.

Linguistic Quality

This can only be achieved if you:
– Only accept projects that are within your expertise
– Have access to suitable, current reference material
– Use relevant tools that increase quality, for example translation memory and spell checking
– Proofread the end result carefully

Business Quality

This type can only be achieved if you:
– In advance check with the customer what they want/what is needed
– Deliver a product that fulfill the terms agreed upon

Cultural Quality

This means that you’re:
– Are thoroughly familiar with the cultural context of the source text
– Translate the text based on the cultural environment of the target language so that the text will have the same meaning

What Can a Translator Do for Quality Assurance?

1. Only accept jobs within your area of expertise/specialization and only translate into your native language.
2. Use CAT-tools to avoid omissions and eye mistakes and to keep the formatting.
3. Never hesitate to contact your customer for clarifications.
4. Find another translator to co-operate with for second proofreading when needed.
5. Always read the clients reference material and use their glossaries
6. Know the target audience for the final product and translate for this audience.
7. Understand the objective of the translation project; is it informative text, ad copy, brand identity…?
8. Use Translation Quality Assurance software if available. These are able to decrease the number of mistakes and improve the overall quality, even if they cannot detect everything, or detect too much/the wrong things.
9. Proofread carefully.

Even More Tips to Increase Quality Assurance

1. Avoid rework by translating each phrase as if the translation were to be published immediately.
2. Keep a list of dangerous words that you often mistype, but that a spell checker cannot detect.
3. Run the spell and grammar checker. Before doing this though, select the entire document, set the language to your target language and make sure that the checker is fully active.
4. Learn study and comply with target-language typography and punctuation rules. I have noticed that this is one of the most common mistakes among newer translators. For example in US English you write $3,000.00, but in Swedish it is written USD 3 000,00.
5. Never use the “Replace all” command
6. Proofread by comparing with the source, but also by just reading the target text to check that it “flows”.
7. Check headers, footer, graphs and text boxes. These are easy to miss; even CAT-tools can miss them sometimes.

Last but not least, read in your target language often and take continuing education classes at conferences, universities, translation associations etc.

I found these definitions very useful. It is easier to work on quality assurance if you can break it up into these aspects and follow them. What do you think? Do you have a system for quality assurance?

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