subject: Translation Quality You Need To Have [print this page] There are different levels of translation quality, and understanding which level your project requires will greatly enhance your satisfaction with the results. Consider these questions prior to submitting a project to either a linguist or an agency:
What language will this project be translated into?
Your linguist or translation agency might ask for you to define the language pair, meaning from Japanese to English, or from English to Russian.
Where will the translated documentation be used?
This is often referred to as a projects locale or as localization for use in a specified region. If you need documentation translated from English into Spanish for use in Cuba, you will require a different translator than if you were looking for a Spanish translation for use in Houston, Texas.
What is the intended use of the translation?
Understanding whether the translation will be used internally or externally will lead to different considerations regarding your corporate brand and message. Clinical trial documentation for use in a region must be readable at a grade school level and must be easily understood in order to not interfere with the results of the trial. The level of quality for a patent translation for international filing requires more intense editing and review than that of one being translated into English for research and development purposes.
There are four main quality levels that you should consider when requesting a translation. Lets look at the example of two popular proverbs:
Machine translation will provide the lowest quality. Some words may not be translated. This method is not recommended for technical translations without some level translation memory training and/or post editing.
Literal translations are what you get when a bilingual individual who is not a trained linguist works with documentation outside his or her area of expertise. Quick, cheap human translations, as well as in-house translations by nonlinguists will often provide you with this level of quality. The resulting translations are nearly word for word without any interpretation of a statements meaning.
Professional translations are easily readable and understandable. They take into consideration what the meaning of the statement is and translate accordingly. This is of great importance in technical translations for industries having their own jargon, as that jargon differs from language to language. A literal translation that doesnt consider this will just create confusion.
Transcreation is what is needed when the message is more valuable than the words themselves. When you translate a document for use in a specific location, such as Portuguese for use in Brazil, you want a professional translation that will adapt the document for easy use, taking into consideration the nuances of the language in that location. If youre advertising a product there, you want the audience to feel and experience exactly what you intended your original audience to feel and experience.
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.
