The world is moving towards globalization, and translation from one language to another is part of this process, affecting many areas and being closely intertwined with business and technology. Scaling a project outside of one country increases the reach of potential customers, thereby opening up new opportunities for development and profit growth.
To interest a foreign audience, it is important to speak the same language with them. The consumer will invariably associate the company’s content with the quality of the product or service. Before entering a new market, it is important to immediately “package” your offer correctly – to translate the site or software, advertising texts and other information about the uniqueness and value of the product.
Who needs a professional translation
The distinguishing feature of professional
translation is its high quality, accuracy and competence of the specialists who perform it. Translation services are in demand among business owners seeking to set the right vector for the company’s promotion, form an image in the eyes of a foreign user, and implement a marketing strategy. Promising areas for scaling include:
- production and sale of goods;
- provision of services in the B2B and B2C segment;
- IT development.
Translation for business may include the creation of language versions of an online store, the localization of programs and mobile applications, the translation of technical documentation , legal information, corporate instructions, etc.
When modifying into several languages and working with diverse content that requires knowledge in the subject area and special skills, one translator is not enough. The easiest way to quickly find the right specialists is to contact a translation company.
What does the translation process in the agency include.
10 basic steps
Behind every professional translation there are many interconnected processes, as well as teamwork. Here are the main stages that the project goes through on the way to the final look:
1. Receiving files for translation.
The client sends files with materials to the agency employee. Files can be in the format of simple documents and presentations (docx, pptx, xlsx), as well as resource files or other development files (po, xml, json), layout files (idml, indd), and many other types of files.
2. Audit and evaluation of the project.
The company’s specialists study the source files in detail, evaluate the subject, determine the terms of the translation and its cost. The customer expresses his requirements and expectations. Also, at the initial stage, decisions are made on additional services: market analysis of another country, adaptation of a marketing strategy, localization testing, checking the display in the finished layout, etc.
3. Team building.
The basis of an impeccable translation is the professionalism of the performers, their experience and consistency of work. In an agency, each stage of working with content is usually performed by a separate specialist with deep knowledge in his field. Among the employees of the company are the following:
Project manager
Serves as a link between the client and the team. He coordinates the requirements with the client, transfers the materials and instructions of the client to work, controls the progress of the translation and ensures the interaction of the team.
Interpreter
It is the responsibility of the translator to accurately convey the meaning of the source text, choose terminology that meets industry standards, and use it consistently. According to industry standards, the translator must be a native speaker of the target language. In addition, he must have either additional education in the required expert area, or translation experience in it.
Editor
To be sure of the quality of any text, it must be evaluated with a fresh eye. The translator may not notice some linguistic or terminological nuances, which the editor will certainly identify. The editing process includes proofreading the finished translation, editing in style, punctuation, as well as evaluating the sequence of the text and the consistency of its parts with each other.
Corrector
After making corrections by the editor, it is necessary to make sure that there are no errors and that the original text and the edited parts are consistent. Standard quality checks must also be performed.
Terminologist
The participation of this specialist may be needed in large or narrow-profile projects. The terminologist creates a term base with translation (glossary), monitors its compliance, supplementing and updating it, if necessary, in the process of translation.
4. Preparation of materials for translation and localization.
4.1. Convert files to a single format.
Before translating, you need to convert the source files into a working format. Translation companies, in line with the demands of the industry, use automated tools.
Linguistic software significantly speeds up the workflow, makes it possible to connect dictionaries of terms, check their uniformity, save translations and reuse them when identical or similar sentences are found in the text.
4.2. Creation of a universal language version.
When translating into multiple languages, it is advisable to first adapt the materials into one language, preferably English. After that, it will be much easier to translate into other languages, which is also related to the professional ethics of translation by a native speaker, because finding professional translators and editors with the required skills and experience from English to any other language is much easier than similar specialists from Russian or Ukrainian. In addition, in the process of creating such a version, you can ask the client for a decoding of certain abbreviations, identify possible errors in the source text and resolve other controversial or challenging questions in the text. When translating into other languages, translators can be provided with such additional materials that will definitely help them in their work.
4.3. Internationalization and pseudo-localization.
When translating software products, internationalization may be required – preparation of program and text parts for localization. It involves developers and designers. The process includes setting up language selection algorithms, the structure of storing text strings in different languages and graphic components, the ability to select formats for dates, numbers, currencies, etc.
To determine in advance whether there are problems with the display of text, pseudo-localization is carried out using machine translation or filling the application with any text in the target language.
4.4. Glossaries and dictionaries.
The decision to use the glossary is made at the start of the project. This is necessary in order to initially adhere to uniformity in terms. The client can provide his own glossary or approve the version prepared by the
legal translation agency manchester.
5. Text translation and graphics localization.
The translator adapts the materials into another language, taking into account the cultural characteristics of the region. Then editing and proofreading is done . In addition to translation, which involves working with text, it is necessary to localize – modify visual elements.
The length of the translated text on a graphic element often differs from the original, and it is necessary to properly wrap words and choose the font. In some cases, it may be necessary to change images, as they may cause incorrect associations in residents of another region.
6. Translation of audio and video.
Translation of audio materials
Audio recordings can be part of adaptable materials, such as lecture recordings, training sessions, soundtracks for presentations. Linguists with listening skills produce a transcription of files, creating an interpretation understandable for a foreign listener from the source material, taking into account terminology, phraseological units, slang expressions.
Translation of video materials
If the company has a YouTube channel, product reviews, commercials or training materials, then the videos need to be adapted by creating subtitles or re-voicing.
7. Control checks.
7.1. Translation analysis by automatic means.
In addition to performing all stages of translation in specialized software, automated control checks are performed at each stage using additional tools (such as Verifika or Xbench), which allow you to quickly and efficiently identify incompletely translated sentences, punctuation and capitalization errors, double and missing spaces, translation errors terminology in the presence of a glossary, spelling and grammatical errors.
7.2. Analysis of the translation by a third party.
To be completely sure of the quality of the translation, the adapted materials are submitted for verification to a third party – an independent
legal translation agency that is not involved in any of the previous stages of the project . Independent expertise and recommendations for
legal aid translation will achieve the perfect result.
8. Testing in the target format.
In addition to translating the text, it is necessary to check the display of the content in its final form – as it is seen by a foreign reader or user. For example, in a PDF file or on a PC screen. The final stage of the translation of documentation is the verification of a document in another language with the original: the general view of the text, the display of headings, tables, captions for images, the layout of content blocks. With the help of layout, visual inaccuracies can be eliminated.
After localizing a site or a software product, it is recommended to carry out localization testing – checking the compliance of the translated interface elements with the general context of the page and displaying the content on the screen as a whole.
9. Coordination and approval of the result by the customer.
When the translation is ready, the materials are sent to the client for approval. If necessary, additions and corrections are made to the files, after which the project is completely ready to be launched.
10. Project support.
The world is changing rapidly, and you need to adapt to trends and user expectations. A successful project is in a continuous development stage – new content appears, updated versions of the software are released, etc.
It is much easier to make adjustments if the same specialists work with the customer’s materials. The translation agency also uses translation memory — all previous actions with the project are saved, which allows you to separate the new text from the previously translated one, and not re-adapt the document from scratch. This allows both saving and guaranteeing the safety and invariance of the previously translated text approved by the client.
