subject: Rules For Quality Assurance In Translation [print this page] Quality assurance (QA) in translation may be defined as the act of maintaining translation services to ensure conformance to customer requirements or other specifications. QA is implemented by the translation service provider. Don't confuse QA with QC, which is implemented by your customer after the translation is completed and delivered.
Below are some methods that help to meet the quality requirements.
Accept jobs only within your areas of knowledge/specialization and translate only into your native language.
Some customers try to make you accept a job before you see the source text. This is a very wrong approach. In such cases you should always respond that I need to see the source text to determine whether it is within my areas of knowledge.
This is also applicable to editing jobs. I often receive Russian translations for editing and see that the target text is so poor that it can't be improved by editing. It is easier to translate the source text from scratch than to edit. If you accept such a job before seeing the translation, you will actually have to translate it from scratch at much lower editing rates.
Always use TM software such as Trados, Wordfast or SDLX to avoid omissions and eye mistakes.
Besides using the main TM function, such software breaks the source text into segments, so you will never miss a sentence or paragraph, which is a rather common mistake. If a sentence contains untranslatable parts, use Alt+Ins to copy the source segment into the target text box and overwrite the translatable parts only. Alternatively, you may use the buttons to copy the untranslatable elements into the target segment.
However, the TM software has an inherent defect - the segmentation makes you perceive the text as a sequence of individual sentences. At each step you are a bit out of context. Therefore it is necessary to proofread the cleaned-up target language text in MS Word - to improve the integrity and wholeness of the translation. The result is a smoother text with consecutive sentences stitched to each other. This is important not only for creative translation - e.g. ads, but for other types of translation too.
Co-operate with another good translator - hire him/her for second proofreading.
As the Russian saying goes, one head is good, but two are better. You can provide the same service to your colleague in return - this is a win-win solution.
To ensure the use of corporate-specific terminology, use references materials and specialists/consultants from the local representative office which will use your translation.
Know the target audience of each translation project and translate for this audience.
When you translate into Russian, you need to know where your target audience resides. This info determines the terminology you should use.
Understand clearly the objectives of each translation project.
You need to understand what this or that text is meant for, i.e. what task it will fulfill. Some texts are designed just to inform the target audience about something, some texts stimulate the desire to buy a service or product, some (PR texts) are designed to create or improve brand identity, some (manuals) to help users operate a device. Your translation must be "honed" to fulfill the particular task most efficiently. This determines the language register that should be used.
Arrange close and direct co-operation with the end customer specialists.
Some translation agencies do not allow the translators to contact directly end customer specialists for clarifications and terminology. These agencies are afraid that next time the customer may contact the translator directly, not via the agency, and the agency will lose a part of its business.
Use "test readers" representing the target audience of your translation
The price of mistakes in medical translation may be very high. This is why special expensive QA methods such as back-translation and the use of test-readers may be justified in this area.
Remember that you translate not for the translation manager or editor or proofreader - you translate for your target audience. This audience has the last word on whether you are good at your job or not, and it is the target audience that pays for your work in the final analysis.
Aunes Oversettelser AS has been in the business for 26 years, and we are specialized in technical translations. We are specializing in the Nordic languages, and can offer services into Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Icelandic. The premier translation agency for Norway and the Nordic region! Technical translation services for businesses in the Nordic countries and translation agencies world-wide.
