Articles for Translators
and Translation Companies
How to Buy Translation Services
Become a member of TranslationDirectory.com at just
$12 per month (paid per year)
Going Global? Investing in Translation is Not an Option
No country is an “island” anymore. And the same can be said for most businesses as well. Evenif a U.S.-based business limitsits customer base to within its own borders, there are now significant segments of a population that are…
Read the full article…
11 Tips to Save on Translation/Localization Costs
One very common argument I hear from direct clients considering multilingual translation of their content is that the costs are too high. While the translation of a company's products in several languages represents an investment…
Read the full article…
Certified Translation. Getting your Documents Certified the Right Way
What is a certified translation? There is no simple answer, because the requirements vary depending on the use case. What may be considered a certified translation in a certain situation may be unsuitable in another…
Read the full article…
Online Translation Services: a Guide to Buying Translations on the Internet
I think it was Amazon that started the online commerce revolution. Or was it eBay? The fact is debatable, but there is one fact that cannot be disputed…
Read the full article…
Translation Failures: What’s The Worst
That Can Happen?
I recently had coffee with my friend Catherine, who works as a regulatory
affairs officer for a large industrial manufacturing company, ensuring
that products are manufactured and distributed in compliance with
the appropriate legislation set by regulating authorities. When
she took over her position, she found that mitigating risk…
Read
the full article…
Funny but Costly Localization Mistakes
You want to increase your market share, profits, and presence, so
you decide to expand into a new market. Your team spends an incredible
amount of time and money determining which market to enter. Your
brand is molded to fit into your prospective market while maintaining
its integrity, and the research backs that it is relevant, appropriate,
and remarkable…
Read
the full article…
How
to structure and streamline the in-country proof
Imagine the following: First, you are tasked to organize people
in different countries, operating in different time zones, with
different cultures and languages, not reporting to you, to participate
in what will be a very laborious task. Second, these people are
committed to doing other jobs that take up all their work time…
Read
the fullarticle article…
How to Localize Your Software Products
in Order to Go Global
Localizing software is a great way to rapidly expand your business
and grow profits. A 2007 paper by the Localization Industry Standards
Association (LISA) reported that $25 dollars was returned for every
$1 invested in localization…
Read
the full article…
McElroy’s In-Country Review Process
It has often been noted that a key characteristic of language translation
is its handcrafted nature. While machine translation has its place,
depending upon the quality of the desired deliverable, human judgment
and terminology preferences are translation issues we consider carefully
in our industry…
Read
the full article…
Why Your Translation Vendor Should Be
ISO Certified
To enjoy the best translation
services possible, you need a provider with an objective, measurable
standard of high quality. ISO certification provides this elite
standard, but fewer than 1 percent of all translation companies
worldwide have achieved it. McElroy is one of them. This
infographic describes our commitment to quality management and details
the minimum quality objectives we’ve implemented for the benefit
of our clients…
Read
the full article…
About the Word Counts
Have you ever received quotes
for a project from multiple language vendors, only to discover that
the word counts were different? Or perhaps you handle your own word
counts, yet they never seem to match up with what is charged on
the final document…
Read
the full article…
What Translation Quality Do You Need?
Have you ever received a
translated document and been disappointed with its quality? Have
you ever wondered what you would get if you chose machine translation?
Or what the difference would be using a professional translation
agency rather than your bilingual coworker? And how can idioms and
colloquialisms be best handled for international business to consumer
communications?…
Read
the full article…
File optimization - Prepare yourself
for better results
When you design a document
for print, you consider many details that work together to form
the overall look of the end product. One thing you probably don't
look at is the hidden text: all the spaces, line breaks, and paragraph
marks that live behind the scenes…
Read
the full article…
Cost and Time Implications for Varied
Formatting Services
Have you ever had a PDF
document translated and formatted page for page? Have you ever been
asked if you prefer your graphics keyed or recreated? Ever wonder
what that cost difference is? And exactly how much time really goes
into formatting translated text back into an InDesign file? How
does a company charge for keying vs recreating vs desktop publishing
(DTP)?…
Read
the full article…
Differentiating Translation Quality
Have you ever received a
translated document and been disappointed with its quality? Have
you ever wondered what you would get if you chose machine translation?
Or what the difference would be using a professional translation
agency rather than your bilingual coworker? And how can idioms and
colloquialisms be best handled for international business to consumer
communications?…
Read
the full article…
How to Globalize E-Learning
Multimedia E-Learning content
is more than just modules of curriculum in your company’s learning
database; these are company assets that help build cohesion and
culture within your enterprise. Over the last decade, technological
developments from Learning Content Management Systems to social
networks and web 2.0 communities have drastically reduced the cost…
Read
the full article…
10 irresistible potholes writers find
on the road to globalization, part 2
In the first installment
of this article, we described potholes that writers can avoid to
make translation faster and less error-prone. These were things
like leaving enough time for translation, mismatches between tools
and file formats, screenshots, page layout, and “interesting” writing
styles…
Read
the full article…
10 irresistible potholes writers find
on the road to globalization, part 1
Optimizing the translation
process has two basic components: improving the writers’ source
texts and improving the translators’ process. For the moment, we’ll
focus on the writer’s job…
Read
the full article…
Add a Review of Your Translation by an
In-Country Affiliate in Your Project Schedule
This type of process is
referred to as an in-country review or client review and plays an
important role in ensuring quality, consistency, and compliance
for your project. The final translated or localized materials are
sent to client-assigned reviewers in the target country to review
linguistic and formatting issues. The following formats present
their own special requirements…
Read
the full article…
Buying Translation Services: How to Always
Stay Within Budget
Some meetings with your
manager should happen only in nightmares: red-faced and heart pounding,
you shuffle pages of spreadsheets that stick to your sweaty palms.
“Sorry... it’s going to be a little more expensive than I thought...”…
Read
the full article…
EN 15038 Can Help You Assess Translation
Service Providers
Many clients struggle to
find a good way to rate the many translation agencies that come
knocking on their door. It can also be a challenge to assess current
providers. Companies have longed for an objective means by which
to carry out their assessments. Some help has arrived in the form
of European Standard EN 15038:2006, "Translation Services - Service
Requirements."…
Read
the full article…
10 Ways to Reduce Localization and Translation
Costs Without Sacrificing Quality
Some say that the best way
to reduce localization costs is by avoiding localization altogether.
Yet companies with a global vision have realized that to compete
in a global economy, both they and their products have to speak
their clients’ language…
Read
the full article…
In-Country Review
In-country (or client)
review is one of the most crucial, yet challenging, steps in the
translation process. In-country review is the process by which the
translated material is sent to an individual in the target country
to review linguistic and formatting issues associated with a given
translation project…
Read
the full article…
Translation Project Case Study: Interpro
Translation Solutions & Zebra Technologies Corporation
Zebra Technologies Corporation
is a global leader in helping companies to identify, locate and
track assets, transactions and people with on-demand specialty digital
printing and automatic identification solutions in more than 100
countries around the world…
Read
the full article…
Outlining a Translation Requirements
Specification
The success of a translation
project depends on its preparation, and this includes the identification
of service needs, and then a requirements specification. A specification
is defined by ASTM as an explicit set of requirements to be satisfied
by a material, product, or service…
Read
the full article…
Developing a Localization Kit
A localization kit is comprised
of the files to be localized and accompanying documentation that
enables McElroy to initially prepare a complete proposal, quote,
and schedule for your project and ultimately enables us to perform
the actual localization once the project has been awarded. The accompanying
documentation augments the file set to be localized and provides
us with details regarding your requirements and expectations…
Read
the full article…
Why Desktop Publishing Matters To You
Desktop publishing impacts
all written content produced in print and online. In its simplest
form, DTP (desktop publishing) comes into play every day when choosing
typography, colors, margins, line spacing, backgrounds, tables,
images, etc., in document, email and even online formats…
Read
the full article…
Preparing Projects for Localized Desktop
Publishing
If you search the Web for
guidelines for preparing projects for localization, you will find
that most of the results focus on issues related to language content.
For technical documentation and marketing materials, preparation
and guidelines for the document publishing portion of your multilingual
projects are equally important…
Read
the full article…
One project/many languages:
A step-by-step guide to a stress free job
Your company has just developed
a new idea for a new product. The product has passed the research
phase, which required a considerable investment of time, people
and money. Your company has calculated the developmental cost and
developed a promotion plan. You, the product manager, know that
all of your carefully crafted marketing copy, originally written
in English, will require translation into all of the languages spoken
in your company’s international target markets…
Read
the full article…
Just how literal do you want that
translation?
From time to time translation
agencies receive requests for a “literal” translation. This seemingly
inoffensive adjective is much like the term “obscene.” No one is
quite sure how to define it, but we all know it when we see it.
When a literal translation is explicitly specified, an agency specializing
in intellectual property translation reacts somewhat like a minister…
Read
the full article…
A New Look at an Old Question by
an Ancient Project Manager
Senior Project Manager Tina
Wuelfing isn’t really ancient. But she is experienced and this article
published in industry e-magazine ClientSide News shares valuable
insights. The article outlines the unique offerings of a translation
company vendor, and steps clients can take to ensure a successful
partnership…
Read
the full article…
Does Sending Source Files Make That
Much Difference?
The Short Answer
It just may. You should consider certain factors when deciding how
much effort to spend finding source files that aren’t readily available.
You may save translation turn time and/or money by providing electronic
source files if you have…
Read
the full article…
Translations - 6 Mistakes that Cost
You Money
In the translation industry,
there is a per-word cost below which it is unlikely to receive a
quality translation. When you go below this cost, you risk spending
much more time and money than anticipated. Let’s figure out the
true cost of getting a cheap, poor quality translation…
Read
the full article…
How to Optimize Files for Translation
The first thing we do when
we get your brochure for translation is to flip the switch that
shows that hidden text. The finished product of your brochure is
our starting place, so we spend time before translation making sure
the translated text will behave the way your English text does.
We call this “optimizing” the file. It doesn’t look different on
the surface…
Read
the full article…
Submit
your article!
Read
more articles - Free!
Need
translation jobs? Click here!
Translation
agencies are welcome to register here - Free!
Freelance
translators are welcome to register here - Free!
Subscribe
to TranslationDirectory.com newsletter - Free!
Take
part in TranslationDirectory.com poll - your voice counts!
|