subject: Quality Assurance For The Translation Industry [print this page] Using a systematic approach in translation can help achieve better results. Abiding by a few key principles will lead to translators with better skills who can produce higher quality translations which leads to higher customer satisfaction and higher rates of return.
As the old saying goes, Preparation is half the battle. A well-prepared mind enables the translator to focus on the task at hand. Focus can be achieved only when the translator is immersed in the context of the translation, and recreating this context in another language is a skill honed over time. One way to hone this skill is by being receptive to insights from other translators and translations. Analyzing and evaluating different translations to acquire passive knowledge becomes one of the pillars of quality in translation.
Translators need to be able to write fluently and correctly in both source and target languages as well as acquire comprehensive knowledge of both source and target languages through general and specialized readings. With increased experience translators can pick up on expressions, idioms, and specific vocabulary.
Another essential ingredient is the translator's awareness of the culture of the people whose language he/she translates, i.e., being familiar with the customs and social settings of the source and target language speakers, also with different registers, styles of speech, and social stratification of both source and target languages, e.g., by listening to the radio, watching TV, reading websites, newspapers, mailing lists, etc. Familiarity with the syntax of indirect speech and various figures of speech in the source language such as hyperbole, irony, meiosis, and implicatures /entailment are essential, as well. Moreover, translators need an understanding of how linguistic choices in texts reflect relationships between senders and receivers, such as power relationships, and how texts are sometimes used to maintain or create social inequalities.
Project management plays an integral part in the process of translation. It can help translators focus on translation instead of coordinating graphics translations, accounting for character expansion, or solving double-byte issues. One of the most important tasks of the project manager is to communicate changes to the source text when receiving updates through version control checks and the like, and to manage this so-called scope creep appropriately.
In order to be able to improve the quality of translation we have to first look at the aim of translation. The goal of translation is to convey thoughts, ideas, and emotions by way of deconstruction, analysis, and recreation in the target language, in effect, transcreation. One way to make that easier is to employ the appropriate tools.
When looking at the parts that make up the process of translation, one should consider using a CAT tool. CAT is short for computer aided translation and refers to those tools that aid the translator in the translation process. The benefits of these tools have been expounded elsewhere at length and can take the form of increasing consistency by reusing partially or even entirely previously translated content, be that words, phrases, sentences, or even paragraphs, and, thereby, eliminating having to translate the same phrases over again.
Depending on the type of document to be translated, the translator should use the most suitable translation tool for the job: Software localization tools are ill-suited for FrameMaker files the same as executable files are ill-suited for processing in CAT tools designed for desktop publishing documents. Translation quality will suffer, if, to paraphrase a metaphor, one's translation tool is a hammer and all documents end up looking like a nail. Document-dependent details need special attention, e.g., if the document is a spreadsheet, select the appropriate cell on each tab and the appropriate tab before saving since that is usually how the spreadsheet will open and be visible to the customer.
Once the document is ready for translation the source text needs to be analyzed - questions the translator should ask him-/herself are:
Do I understand the source text?
More specifically, do I understand the topic at hand, the context, imagery, metaphors, similes, puns, etc.?
Does the source text make sense to me?
One way to check this is to use back-translation, i.e., after translating a passage from the source text into the target language, translating it back into the source language. This can serve as a sanity check to test one's understanding of the source.
While reading the source text it should be checked for errors, inconsistencies, ambiguities, etc. Consulting with teammates of the same language team or with those of another language team can help clarify items like these or others along the entire translation process. In case of irreconcilable disagreements between team members, majority rules; if that is unacceptable to the overruled member, other language teams should be consulted for advice; if no solution can be found, consult management.
Contacting the source text maintainer early in the process will avoid extra work later in case the source text is amended or corrected, which may prompt translators to have to go back and update the translation. In case of inconsistencies in the source language, consult with the source code maintainer to resolve the issue. If the source is translated into multiple languages updates like these can eat up valuable project time not allocated at the beginning of the project. When it is not economical, an error log should be maintained and communicated to the source text maintainer to handle resolution of the errors.
Quality of the translation can be influenced also by the style used. If, e.g., literary devices like alliteration, assonance, rhyme, meter, parallelism, and their combinations are used in the source text, then efforts should be made to transcreate and use an equivalent in the target language. If it cannot be translated, transpose: paint a picture to be taken in with all five senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste, e.g., As sunrise approaches, the aroma of bacon sizzling on the grill is a welcome start to any morning on the breakfast patio. In cases like these, and others, a two-phase approach may be helpful. First a rough translation is produced, then the rough translation is fine-tuned.
Quality Assurance in Localization
Localization comprises making accommodations for certain ways of organizing or laying out text that are particular to a locale. Locales are geographic regions that can lie within or sometimes cross country borders.
Quality Assurance in Primary QA
One of the mantras easily applied to translations is, of course, to check and check again. This initial check often pays dividends when errors are discovered that were made elsewhere, thus providing the opportunity to improve on the text at hand, as well as other ones past and future.
Quality Assurance in Version Control
A version control system allows one to roll back to whatever version is needed, based on criteria such as dates, times, authors, tickets, P.O. numbers, file tags, and many more. For a more in-depth review of this topic, I refer the reader to the respective Internet forums on version control systems, as well as content management systems with built-in version control. Before hand-off to secondary QA, checklists or other tools can be used to check off all required tasks such as translation, localization, primary QA, version control, etc.
Once all files have been checked in, the person or team performing secondary QA should be notified. This can happen manually or automatically in the case of content management systems.
Quality Assurance in Secondary QA
All translated materials must be reviewed by another person, including informal translation requests by e-mail, etc. While primary QA review is performed by the translator, secondary QA review is performed by the translator assigned to QA review, covering the same details reviewed during primary QA. If tertiary QA review is performed, this is done by the QA department, mostly for general content, layout, and functionality in case of websites, software, etc. Unless otherwise arranged, all reviews should be performed after all needed files have been uploaded on a test server to replicate the production environment. Use a checklist where appropriate or necessary for files tested, reviewer name, date and time, etc. Notify the secondary reviewer of the location of the test notes, if available, the URL(s) and port(s), and the deadline, if not a standard item.
Quality Assurance in Final Editing
After comments and suggestions have been communicated to the translator it is incumbent on him/her to incorporate them during final editing. Items under dispute must be resolved during this phase using the process used during translation as mentioned above. Upon resolution, files can be uploaded to the test server, checked into version control systems, and tagged for a particular date or release.
The final review ensures that all edits are complete and the final translation sounds native, not translated. The best translation is one which no one knows it is.
Quality Assurance in Delivery
Proper communication at the end of the project is just as important as at the beginning, so care should be taken to notify all involved parties of aspects required for possible follow-up. The secondary QA reviewer is notified when all final edits are complete. If possible, separate notifications by individual translators or language teams are consolidated by project management. This includes notifications of developers, QA department and others. If deadlines cannot be met, then notifications should be sent out stating as such to give those notified the opportunity to make arrangements for any delays in further processing.
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.
