5 Steps to Prepare for Document Translation
Every document translation that are performed, are done so by a translator. Let's take a look at how a translator sees your document and what you need to know to help them achieve the best quality work.
When the new project arrives at the translator, he/she reads through it to get a general idea of what the theme, fell and language used in the document is. Knowing this will help to determine the translators approach towards the process. The process could either be a sentence to sentence conversion or the complete retelling of a story.
When you prepare for your project there are some steps to take that will ensure you receive a good language conversion service that will benefit your company.
1) Use correct English in your original document. It is extremely frustrating to translate a document that the translator feels he/she could have written better themselves. And yes it actually does happen; people submit English documents riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes for document translation. A document that is not grammatically taken care of before converting to another language suggests that the person submitting it either have extremely limited language skills or they simply do not care about their project. Languages are a passion for the translation and a badly composed document might cause them to lose interest before they even start on your project.
2) Ensure that the instructions you give the translator are complete and comprehensible. Nothing frustrates a translator more than having to change direction in the middle of a document translation job, due to the client changing his mind or improper instructions.
3) Do not abuse the skills of the translator. People in general think that writing in a foreign language is easy, and should therefore be cheap to come by. They tend to forget that good interpretation is a time consuming creative process that requires more than just knowing the language the document are being translated into. When you do plan a project ensure that you pay the translator what is due and give them ample time to provide you with proper unrushed work.
4) Pay the fees for the document translation job. If you do not pay the full fees for the job, the translator will keep the copyright and creative rights on all of the translated pieces. Copyright is especially important for documents that are published on the internet and used in legal cases.
5) Protect your company's information and image. By using a translation agency instead of freelance translator you will be able to protect your company's name and information. Professional work will ensure that the image you have created for your company stays intact. By signing a non-disclosure agreement with the document translation agency you will ensure that your information and data are kept safe and not shared with anybody that might like to steal it.
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