30 Tips for Successful Translation
To commemorate ILS' 30th anniversary as a translation services provider, we have consolidated "30 Tips for Successful Translation" into a quick reference guide.
As more and more global companies consider the latest computerized translation systems, they’re often attracted by promises of cost and time savings. Computer technology has introduced cost savings to many aspects of business, so it’s natural to think that computerized translations can do the same thing for the cost of producing multi-lingual documentation. That’s not necessarily the case, since language translation is not usually a simple repetitive task. Human customers and business partners read your translations. Only another human being can translate human languages properly.
A recent development in business translation, cloud-based translation operates on principles similar to traditional human translation techniques. Cloud-based translation is really a translation management system, using human-translators and translation memory database technology, to help speed the process and produce accurate translations quickly and in an integrated way. It enables translation memory glossaries from multiple sources to be combined for access by anyone working with the management system. The idea is that the more extensive the translation memory, the more efficient the translation. In practice, however, there are some important issues to be considered before trusting your translation projects to cloud-based translation systems.
Automated translation, using computers to generate translations, appears in many forms and is offered to global businesses in a number of ways. From web-based instant translation of websites and text to services that take your original material and use sophisticated computer algorithms to produce translations, you’re probably already aware of some of these. In addition, translation engines, like Moses, are being implemented in-house by large global companies. Cost-savings are the goal, but quality is a serious limitation. While some automated translation systems can be useful in certain situations, understanding their limitations is crucial.
Advances in computerized or machine translation have led to multiple business translation service options based on this technology. Some major corporations have implemented computerized translation systems in-house. The goal is cost reduction and faster project turnaround, especially for businesses engaged in widespread global trade. Many issues remain, however, with this technology, and companies need to carefully consider quality, security, accuracy and overall costs before relying on machine translation to handle their multi-lingual documentation needs.
In the quest to lower the cost of translating documents, global businesses often wonder if automated machine translation can handle the job effectively. While removing human translators from the equation does reduce initial translation costs, it also reduces the usability of translations. It can lead to poor quality translations that actually damage sales potential or even create misunderstandings that can lead to costly liabilities. The best protection against inaccurate translations and the problems they can cause is to rely on proven translation service providers, like International Language Services, who use professional translators who are native-speakers of the target language and who have experience in your particular industry.
A quick guide on how to reduce your translation cost and get accurate translations in a timely fashion. Understand how the translation process works and what is involved.
If you are translating your company’s content into foreign languages, you can expect to encounter unfamiliar character sets. Some are more unfamiliar than others and many firms don’t give this much thought until they encounter a language that does not use the Roman character set, like Russian or Chinese.
An in-country reviewer can provide subject-specific expertise to help localize a project. Some reviewers, however, may base feedback on personal preferences and not necessarily on the intended message of the material. As a result, it is important to control in-country reviews carefully to avoid critiques that do not improve your communication.
Understanding the translation process saves you time, achieves maximum results. You’ve completed your document, and now it’s ready for translation. But there’s more to translating than simply “converting” the text into another language. Understand a few simple steps in the translation process and you’ll receive accurate, professional looking documents that leave you looking like a hero.
Creating and sustaining a multilingual web site requires advance planning. Properly scoping your project and asking for input from your translation partner will be of great benefit to you in the long run. A well-planned project has the best chance of receiving budgetary approval and can be implemented with relative ease. Follow these six tips for web site localization to meet the needs of your target audience and to help you save time, money and frustration.