The Steps in the Translation Process

Starting a translation project can feel like stepping into the unknown. If you are ready to dive in but need clarification on the steps, you are in the right spot. In this article, we will walk through the simple, straightforward translation process and methodologies that ensure high-quality translations—giving you the know-how to kickstart your project easily. Let’s get started.

Key Takeaways

• In-depth Understanding: Prior research and understanding of the text are pivotal.
• Accuracy and Quality: Ensuring the translation is accurate and well-worded is crucial.
• Proofreading and Quality Assurance: These steps ensure the translation is error-free and high-quality.
• Use of Technology: Leveraging translation and quality assurance tools can enhance the translation quality.
• Professional Approach: Engaging professional agencies or translators ensures adherence to a structured translation process.

Understanding the Text

Before diving into translation, it is imperative to understand the text thoroughly. This involves grasping the subject matter, content, length, writing style, technicality, and text structure. Translators often analyse the source text, noting key concepts or terminology and sometimes deciding on preliminary background reading to ensure a smooth translation process.

Contextual Understanding

Understanding the context, target audience, company values, and specific style and tone is crucial to ensure consistency among different content from the same company. This step ensures the translation aligns with the intended message and resonates with the target audience.

1. Translation of Text

Ensuring Quality and Accuracy

The translation process involves converting the text into the translator’s mother tongue to ensure higher quality. It addresses challenges like specialised terminology, idioms, cultural references, and abbreviations, providing the text is clear and specific. Researching specific aspects of each project is pivotal to ensure accuracy and relevancy in the translation.

Utilizing Technology and CAT Tools

Leveraging technology, such as Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools and software, can enhance the accuracy and efficiency of the translation process. CAT tools such as Trados are typically used, dividing the original text into segments (usually full sentences) to facilitate segment-by-segment translation.

2. Revision

Enhancing Style and Clarity

Revision involves refining the style and ensuring that sentence structures are clear and direct. It ensures the text reads naturally in the target language and adheres to linguistic norms. Employing the “four eyes” principle, where another linguist reviews the translation, ensures enhanced quality and avoids introducing errors during proofreading.

3. Quality Assurance

Employing Specialized Tools

Quality assurance involves using specific tools to avoid numerical errors, inconsistencies, and double spaces. This step ensures that the translation is accurate and adheres to the quality standards required for professional translations.

Ensuring Consistency

Ensuring consistency in terminology and style across various documents and content from the same company is crucial to maintaining a coherent brand voice and message across different languages and markets.

4. Final Revision

Verification and Final Touches

The final revision involves verifying that the whole text is correct in its final layout and stays true to the source. This step ensures that the translation is ready for publication or submission and adheres to the required quality standards.

5. Additional Steps

Desktop Publishing

Adapting the document’s layout to ensure it is in line with the original and fixing any errors in the source is pivotal. Checking punctuation, line breaks, and graphs and ensuring the layout is coherent and professional is integral to the translation process.

Customer Interaction

In cases of doubt or requiring information confirmation, the translator gets in touch with the customer to ensure accurate translation, maintaining transparency and ensuring the final text aligns with the client’s expectations.

Ready to embark on your technical, medical, or marketing translations journey? With EHLION by your side, navigating through the world of translation becomes a breeze. Let’s start translating together, ensuring your message resonates globally, maintaining its essence and charm. Get a quote or contact us today, and let’s weave through the tapestry of languages, connecting words and worlds seamlessly.

Machine vs Human Translation

Ensuring Appropriate Application

Knowing when to leverage machine translation for quick, unofficial translations and employing professional translators for business, legal, or official documents ensures that the translations are accurate and serve their intended purpose effectively.

Watch this video to understand the 5-step translation process and its significance in ensuring translation quality and accuracy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are CAT Tools?

Computer-assisted translation (CAT) Tools are software that assists translators in translating content. They help manage translation projects efficiently, ensure consistency, and save time by reusing previously translated content. CAT tools are not to be confused with machine translation like Google Translate, as they do not translate content but assist translators in the translation process.

Why is Quality Assurance Crucial in Translation?

Quality assurance in translation ensures that the translated content is accurate, and adheres to the quality standards required for professional translations. It involves using specific tools and methodologies to avoid errors and inconsistencies, ensuring the translation is accurate and of high quality.

How Important is the Revision in the Translation Process?

Revision is a pivotal step in the translation process as it ensures that the translated text is coherent, and adheres to linguistic norms. It involves refining the style, providing clear and direct sentence structures, and ensuring the text reads naturally in the target language.