Professional Translation Projects

Do you have translation projects? Are you unsure how to deal with them? The answer is easy: contact a reliable translation company like Strategic Languages, which has the experience, people and technology to help. When looking for a reliable translation provider and preparing documents from your translation projects, do not underestimate certain important steps: Write for translation; make sure what language pair(s) you need; verify what exactly has to be translated; and check if your translation provider has experience with similar projects in the past.

Write for translation

If your source documents are not ready and you know they will have to be translated to the languages of your overseas subsidiaries, follow guidelines that make it easy for your translator or translation company to translate them. One of the most important guidelines is that you keep in mind your target audience, who might not be familiar with names of geographical locations. Avoid using location names if they are unfamiliar to people who live 100+ kilometres away. Also, avoid writing in local jargon or using slang. Humor is another thing you should be careful about. Jokes are often hard to translate, especially if they are based on word puzzles, which cannot be translated at all. These are the basic guidelines; following them will bring you the best results.

Make sure what language pair(s) you need

Be sure what target audience you want to address your message to. If your clients live in Quebec, ask for Canadian French, not Paris French. Contact us and we will be happy to give you professional advice. Do not guess, be 100% sure. Re-doing your translation projects can be expensive, if you have mistakenly selected the incorrect language version to begin with.

Define what exactly has to be translated

Select the text that needs to be part of your translation projects. If more languages are involved and you wish to go ahead with multilingual translation, be sure what exact text has to be available in other language(s). Cut the paragraphs, charts or tables which are redundant, to reduce your costs. However, do not assume that you will be able to add more text later. It is always better to process each entire translation project as a separate block, worked on by one translation team, rather than multiple teams. This creates more consistent terminology, and better consistency means higher quality and clarity of your final documents.

So remember, aim for just the text you need; no more and no less. If you are not sure, please consult with Strategic Languages.

Translation provider’s experience

Your translation projects are important to your organization, so take the time to select the right translation provider such as Strategic Languages. The translation company’s experience, and their record of similar previous translation projects, plays the most essential role. You don’t want somebody to learn on your projects. Ask for references and details of previous translation projects. The company’s history is important, as history has a tendency to repeat itself. If a translation company has a reputation for missing deadlines or other problems, it is quite possible that you would have the same issues.

Please contact Strategic Languages if you have questions regarding writing for translation, selecting language pairs, choosing what text should be translated, and how to select the most suitable translation company for your translation projects. We will be more than happy to help you.