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RE: How do you ensure the quality of translations?
Subject:RE: How do you ensure the quality of translations? From:"Technical Writing Plus" <doc-x -at- earthlink -dot- net> To:"'Bill Swallow'" <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com>, "'Boudreaux, Madelyn \(GE Healthcare, consultant\)'" <MadelynBoudreaux -at- ge -dot- com> Date:Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:43:21 -0600
If it is a specific thing that you are talking about, and if the document
was | Chinese | German | Spanish to English, then perhaps I could help by
reviewing it* - and this fixer service of mine is described at
fixer-jim.blogspot.com (scroll all the way to the bottom because the first
ad on that blog is for my Mandarin Coaching).
* This initial review and opinion will probably be free-of-charge. We can
talk about this and it is detailed in the fixer ads too.
Now, the wording of the intial query leads me to believe that it was a
general question. And my answer is that generally you have to get an
experienced translator who knows both languages who will review the work for
you. As to the *know* thing. Reputation is all. That is why 'reputable'
translation companies, etc., is always being emphasized.
The Global Communication SIG used to have some good information that was
downloadable from stc.org. Another resource is the American Translator's
Association. I think that their Web site is at atanet.org. Individual
translators can belong to the ATA and translation companies can belong too.
ATA Certification and ATA membership are not the same.
Jim Jones fixer-jim.blogspot.com (Chinese, German, Spanish
to English)
-----Original Message-----
Partner with a customer in the target country. Give them a reduced price or
free support engagements in turn for a quality review of translated
material. Can be as simple as "if you find something in the translation that
doesn't make sense, report it as follows..."
First, you will establish a strong and hopefully healthy relationship with
the customer, provided you make good on their feedback and they see the
value in helping you through your reciprocal actions. Second, they will be
an advocate of your company, a promoter. That speaks well of future sales in
that country, as companies do talk.
Really, this goes for any aspect of a product, and not just localization.
Engage your customers, seek opportunities for reciprocal compensation, and
make good on delivering value.
On Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 12:00 PM, Boudreaux, Madelyn (GE Healthcare,
consultant)<MadelynBoudreaux -at- ge -dot- com> wrote:
> Does anyone have any tips on how to verify the quality of a translated
> document? How do you *know* that the work you get is good, especially
> if you cannot read the translation?
>
> In a related vein, what are some tricks for picking out a good quality
> translation company?..
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