International Translation Day 2011
Did you know?
You know how it works. You have a document written in English. You need a version of that document in German. So how do you get that document from point A to point B? You send that document to your Verbatim Solutions team. But how exactly does that translation occur? Verbatim Solutions uses a delicate balance of talent and technology resources to achieve the best results for your translation.
Translation Team:
The translator is the first important resource we identify to achieve best results. Our translation team is made up of talented professionals. We partner with proven resources that deliver quality and on-time materials. Our translators have a track record of quality and success and are also constantly being evaluated by our project managers to ensure the best quality translations.
Translation Tools:
The tools translators use to aid in translation are essential to the translation process. We do not use any specific or proprietary technology tools but instead rely on industry wide, standard translation tools, like SDL Trados™, to ensure the best results for your translations. These tools aid the translator in translation but are not machine translators. The tool allows the translator to work directly within the source file they are given to create the appropriate translations based on context without destroying the formatting found within that file.
As with any project, the quality of the results depends on the quality of the resources and raw materials used to produce the final product. In the case of translation we are talking about source files. Source files are the documents, websites, and content you give your account manager. For best results we recommend using an editable file such as Word, Excel, HTML and PHP. The translation tool recognizes these files and the translator can then work directly within the file to create your translations. The tool can protect or “mask” the formatting in these source files so what you receive is as close to the original as possible.
An image based file such as a PDF or a JPEG are less than ideal file formats because they are essentially just an image of a page. There are ways of extracting your text from these files but they are imperfect and can often miss things. It is also more difficult and time consuming to return a translated document with the same formatting when working with these file types. Whenever possible a true source file is preferred to this type of image based file.
Translation Memory (TM)
Another advantage of tools like Trados is that it can assist in building a translation memory database for your documents. It is important to remember that any TM database is only as good as the input. If stylistic or terminology revisions are made to the final document after the initial translation those changes need to be included in TM or it will not be recorded. At best TM is really a light guideline for the translators to work with in the future. If investing in TM is important to you we can save the TM file and help you manage updates.
Desktop Publishing (DTP)
DTP is the final step in making sure your translated document is print ready or publishable. Language expansion in different languages and foreign alphabets can create drastic changes to an already formatted document. Often our clients can handle this step in-house. However, if you need assistance with this final step your project manager can pass your document along to our DTP team to assist with the necessary formatting.
As your translation team, Verbatim Solutions always strives to provide the best balance of talent and technology based upon your needs and requirements. Ultimately, it is this delicate balance that gives you the quality results you expect.
It is always fascinating for me to discuss technology with our current and potential clients. Helping clients to understand the potential savings they can achieve with the intelligent use of technology, as well as the associated improvements in quality and all the other benefits, can truly be rewarding and fun. At the same time, it can also be the beginning of a major misunderstanding if we don’t make sure the client is aware of all the tradeoffs associated with technology, and the risks if not used and understood by everyone in the translation and localization process.
A beautiful example of this occurred recently when we sat down with a large multi-national client to discuss planning for the next major release of their product into 15 languages. It turns out that the client had staff members in each locality where the product was used review the previous translations prior to their release, as is good standard practice. However, the client didn’t capture the changes made by those reviewers and feed them back to Verbatim so we could update the Translation Memory for the client.
When this problem came up in the planning meeting, the client was frustrated that they wouldn’t achieve as great a savings as otherwise possible, due to an outdated Translation Memory. But what got them really upset was that the improvements in terminology and style that were the result of those reviews were also lost, and the same changes would have to be made again in the new version of the product. To quote the client, “It’s like we threw away the benefit of the technology and everything we learned on the last version, because no one told the reviewers to send the marked up documents back to Verbatim!” I think it’s a safe bet that this painful lesson won’t be repeated again this time around.
Luckily, this example is more than balanced out with the many clients who work hand-in-hand with their Verbatim Project Managers, to communicate through the entire translation process, in order to insure that they achieve all the benefits of the technology, every time they go through the process. It is truly rewarding to see how our experienced people can work seamlessly with client staff, to make sure every aspect of the process is planned, executed, communicated, and recorded, in order to give our clients the highest in quality, with quick turnaround, and low cost. This doesn’t happen magically, all by itself. It takes our experienced people and the client’s knowledgeable staff, communicating and cooperating openly and synergistically so that in the end, it all comes together as everyone hoped it would.
I invite everyone to take advantage of our experienced and dedicated people, and allow us to help you succeed. We are more than happy to discuss lessons learned, plans, frequent problems, and when to and not to use what tools, to help you meet your needs. We ask lots of questions, and get into lots of details, but our experience has taught us that only by paying attention to every detail, do the little issues get addressed and not allowed to become big problems. It’s never to early to talk about the next project, so take us up on the offer and talk to your Account Executive or give me a call personally.
