Timing is Everything

Recently Confluent Translations received several short notice onsite interpreting requests. Luckily, in most instances resources were available and we were able to supply the appropriate people. However, qualified interpreters are hard to come by on short notice especially if it is a rare language or if travel is involved. This can affect the ability to schedule an interpreter and can also increase the cost of interpreting. Contacting a language service provider (LSP) with as much lead time as possible is essential to secure the proper resource.

Translators and interpreters are contract positions. Their acceptance, and in turn, the ability to provide resources, is based on whether or not the linguists have other assignments already scheduled at that time. Not leaving enough lead time can put LSPs in a position where the most qualified and experienced interpreters are already committed to other projects and are therefore unavailable.

As soon as you think you might need an interpreter for your event, please contact your LSP so they can start the process. It also helps to be able to provide them with any and all information about the event such as:

• What are the dates of the event?
• What languages are required? (From what country or countries are the visitors coming?)
• Will interpreters require any industry or technical expertise or experience?
• What is the number of interpreters that may be required?
• Where will the interpreting take place and is travel involved?
• Will any interpreting equipment, such as headsets or transmitters, for the interpreters and participants be needed? If so how many? Will the facility supply these?
• Are any video or audio conferencing services needed?
• How long will interpreters be needed?

As Confluent Translations celebrates our 20th anniversary, we want to use our experience in the industry to help our clients have the most productive and seamless event possible. When it requires the need to schedule interpreters…timing, as they say, is everything.

Benefits of a Coordinated Review Process

After making several follow-up calls to existing clients, a common theme emerged. Clients were sending translations to internal review without alerting us. This was concerning because the translation process needs to be a collaboration on all levels to ensure quality and accuracy.

 

As with most things in life, you learn from client feedback and find better ways of doing things. Since we see a lack of client communication, we have decided a simple statement on our quotation is not enough. We will add an additional step to the project scope and ask if client internal review will be part of the process. Better communication and sending reviewer instructions on our part with first time clients will help facilitate the process.

 

Over the years we’ve developed best practices which we share with clients to achieve optimal results with internal review. I'd like to share some of these best practices to implement when sending translated materials to internal review:

• Clients need to let the translation vendor know when a review is taking place
• The reviewer must be qualified i.e. native speaker, knowledge of industry or text type
• Establish a glossary with technical terminology
• Send the same instructions and source text to translators and reviewers
• Client needs to send reviewer feedback back to the translation vendor to be shared with the lead translator
• Translation memory must be updated with preferred terminology so the translation vendor and reviewer are not wasting time moving forward
• Determine who has the final say: client reviewer? lead translator?

Below is more detailed information on each topic mentioned above should you need more information:

 

Let Your Translation Vendor Know There will be a Review
When a client decides to have translated material reviewed, he/she needs to let the translation vendor know so the process can be properly coordinated from start to finish. That way the translation vendor can plan the entire process, including preliminary and final deliverables. This even begins with determining turnaround time at project onset. Typically, one to two weeks is given to reviewers for them to fit review into their daily duties, depending on the size of the project. The translation vendor also needs to know if the file should go directly to desktop publishing or to review first, we highly recommend it is reviewed first to save costs on duplicate formatting costs.

 

A Qualified Reviewer
It is essential that the reviewer must be qualified i.e. native speaker, knowledge of industry or text type AND be fluent in English. Aunt Lydia who speaks some Polish should not review an instruction manual for operating a fork lift. Clients take time to identify a quality vendor to perform the initial translations and should put equal effort into identifying quality reviewers. Otherwise, even though Aunt Lydia tried her best and offered a few comments a majority of her feedback could be riddled with spelling and grammar errors. The goal of review is to enhance the initial translation and not detract from it.

 

Glossary Development
The best way to resolve the issue of technical terminological inconsistency is to translate a glossary of terms before starting translation during all project phases. Upon completion, the glossary must be sent to the translator and reviewer. Over time if the reviewer wants to change a term he/she needs to alert the end customer so new terminology can be agreed upon with the translation vendor. Otherwise, inconsistencies will arise. While a translation vendor may use the same translation team, it is more common for client internal review resources to vary from project to project and each reviewer may impose his/her own preferences or style. The glossary helps to eliminate reviewer battles.

 

Everyone on the Same Page
As mentioned above, it is always best to send the same instructions and source text to translators and reviewers. It is crucial for everyone to be on the same page. It is not in anyone’s best interest to allow the reviewer to take liberties and change the translation when they do not agree with the English source. As translators, we must remain faithful to the English source and reviewers should too. We have seen reviewers try and eliminate warranty or legal sections, which needed to be part of the documentation.

 

Send Reviewer Comments back to the Translation Vendor
Another must is for the client to send marked up reviewer comments to the translation vendor. The vendor must send the feedback to the lead translator to review, learn from the changes, provide feedback to client on exactly what those changes are, implement and update the TM. An engineer could be great technically speaking, but may make a grammar or spelling error because they are not a linguist thus compromising the quality of the overall translation. There needs to be an open dialogue throughout the review process to avoid these types of errors. A client once implemented reviewer comments directly into final desktop published files. After the reviewer received the final version, he asked what happened since his changes were not completely incorporated. Unfortunately, he only marked the first instance of a terminological change and wrote “global” in his native language only. The person incorporating the changes, only put it in the first time, and by the way, with the word “global”.

 

Translation Memory (TM) Update
Sometimes clients let us know reviewers fine tune technical terminology to better match company and industry speak, which is expected by the client and vendor. However, this feedback must be shared with the translation vendor so the translator can learn from edits and see that the TM is updated to use them on the next project for consistency. Most if not all translation vendors use some sort of software for translation memory. It is vital that it be kept up to date for the client to see cost and turnaround efficiencies over time. If the TM is not updated, you re-invent the wheel with each translation project spending more time and money.

 

The Golden Word
Once client feedback is sent to the translation vendor, the lead translator reviews the material and provides his/her feedback. Then what? Who has the final say? In most cases the lead translator agrees with reviewer feedback and accepts all changes. However, there are occasions when the reviewer introduces a spelling or grammar error and the translator cannot just accept those changes and must speak up. In those instances, the project manager will let the client know what is being accepted and what is not. The client can then determine if the reviewer should or should not know. In many cases when the reviewer is contacted, they agree and the text is corrected. However, there are situations when the reviewer will stand by what he/she did and not compromise. Typically, the reviewer has the final say, but should they? This is something the end client needs to determine. After all, company image, increased sales, and many other factors can be affected.

 

For more information regarding the review process and Confluent Translations, please contact Nancy Cardone at ncardone@confluenttranslations.com or 412-539-1410.

Business Abroad

When traveling to a foreign country, you are guaranteed to experience different customs and cultures. Visiting other countries as a tourist and adjusting to the different customs and language is challenging enough, but if you hope to conduct business in a foreign country, it is important to do your research.

The first thing people think about when they start planning to do business overseas is the language barrier. It is next to impossible to get a business venture started in a foreign country if the different parties cannot understand each other. Making sure that everyone can understand each other is key for your business’ success. The safest solution to the language barrier issue is enlisting the services of a professional translation company. When dealing with sensitive issues like contracts and business negotiations, it is not a wise decision to trust some random person who claims to be fluent in some language.

Though language is a major factor, it is not the only issue when dealing with foreign partners or clients. Granted some countries share similar customs with the United States, but others have tremendously different beliefs and traditions that Americans could not even imagine. Even if you do extensive research on the country in which you are visiting, you still run the chance of offending someone with the slightest action. Especially in Asian countries, it is vital that you watch your actions at all times to limit the chances of offending anyone. In some countries, like Japan, people rely more on non-verbal communication and body language than on the spoken word. They pay close attention to the way you say certain things and how you react to others.

To help generate goodwill, it is wise to learn as many habits and rituals as you can about the country in which you hope to conduct business. In Japan, everything from how you talk to people to blowing you r nose is different than in America. It is considered rude to look someone in the eye while talking to them, especially if they are of higher rank than you, and blowing your nose in a public area is unthinkable to them. Such small things that you may have never thought of could jeopardize your business in a foreign country, so you must prepare ahead of time.

Culture shock from such different customs is bound to occur. If you research the country ahead of time, however, and recruit the help of professional language translation services, your chances of your business venture succeeding will be greatly increased.

Translations Services & ISO Certifications

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international standard setting group composed of representatives from a variety of national standards organizations. The ISO issues different certificates for businesses that operate within certain quality standards. Businesses that wish to receive an ISO certificate must undergo a thorough auditing process by a third party registrar every year. This audit ensures that the company is conducting business according to a set of requirements, which is not based on the company’s size, or their public or private status. As Charlene Nagy, from Confluent Translations, stated, “While many companies that are required to have ISO standards in various fields are now requiring vendors to be ISO certified, they must remember that certification is based on the company’s procedures, measurable results and processes for improvement it is not necessarily a guarantee of quality.”

The ISO 9001 certificate is specifically issued to companies for meeting the standards of having a quality management system. For businesses such as a translation services company, attaining an ISO 9001 certificate shows their dedication to producing quality results each and every time they provide a service. However, some companies will try and make themselves seem more qualified by listing several other certifications from ISO, such as the one pertaining to medical devices or environmental management. These are not relevant to their companies’ practices and therefore don’t add any additional value to the services they provide.

Consumers have to be cautious because some companies are taking advantage of the fact that most customers don’t know what each individual ISO certificate stands for. For instance, a translation company could list on their site that their qualifications include an ISO 9001 certificate, along with ISO 14001 and ISO 29001 certificates. At a glance, this could make this particular company look more qualified than a company that just simply lists the ISO 9001 certificate. However, those two extra ISO certificates are for environmental management and quality management systems for petroleum and natural gas, which have no extra benefit or qualifications for running a successful and quality foreign language translation company. This has recently become a growing trend, and it is important for consumers to recognize which ISO certificates are relevant to the different types of services offered by businesses. So when looking at service companies, it is always a good idea to not only look at their certifications, but also examples of their work and reviews from previous customers.

Importance of Medical Translations: Why Invest in a Professional Translator

It has been said that English is the hardest language to learn. However, learning any language can be difficult. Because it is so hard and time consuming, few people can actually speak several languages fluently, and those who can are very important and respected.

Though there are few foreign language translation experts, there is no shortage of imposters. A quick Google search generates countless free internet translators and cheap human ones. Before entrusting your important documents to websites or people whose only qualification is that they took three years of French in high school, be sure to weigh your options. Regardless that free translations services can be found easily online, it may end up costing you more than paying for a service would have. Misunderstandings can arise too easily for you to trust an amateur to translate important work.

Think of how many misunderstandings occur when the two parties are using the same language; imagine how poorly an inexperienced translator would convert the languages. Not only is it difficult to get the words in the message across in a translation, you must factor in the tiny nuances of different cultures and regions. In some Asian countries, people can say something that seems lucid and easily-understood, but it can mean something totally different, which only a skilled translator will be able to notice and look for. Many languages also use certain words in specific circumstances to show respect or to mean certain things, which amateurs would not know to use.

When you need something translated, especially if it is an important piece of business writing or detail-sensitive, it is vital that everything be translated perfectly. Many free and cheap companies or websites can translate a document's overall message, but skip the details that make it important. Though it may initially seem expensive to acquire the services of a professional foreign language translation company or experienced individual, what you'll spend in money, you will save in time, hassle, and lost business caused by misunderstandings

Importance of Medical Translations

Medical translation is extremely important in the production of medical documentation. Medical and health care workers rely on documentation every day to be able to use devices and equipment and even medicine correctly. Medical translation services help communication go smoothly between these medical and health care workers that don't speak the same language.

Some services provided by medical translation companies are medical device manuals and interfaces, clinical research reports, patent documentation, and much more. For instance, manufacturers of medical devices that export products to Europe or Asia have strict safety and language restrictions. Some of these regulations require all the documentation with the medical devices to have a translated version into the native language of the country or region where the devices are going to be sold.

In the international market, and also in the United States, there is a high demand for medical translation companies that can provide consistent, quality results. It not only consists of translating text from one language to a different language, but also incorporating the specific industry jargon or slang and any other cultural differences of the specific country. There is very little room for error, as a small mistake could lead to disastrous and potentially harmful results.

When choosing a translation services company, medical businesses should work with translators that not only have extensive experience and background in the production of medical documents, but also have native speakers of the target language. This should ensure that the translations will be culturally accurate, which is especially important in the medical field where there is absolutely no room for error or misinterpretation. 

Translation Services in the Military

The United States military largely depends on information gathered from foreign newspapers, magazines, radio broadcasts and much more. All of these sources are in foreign languages and therefore will need foreign language translation services to determine if there is any useful and important information.

In the time of war, it is especially crucial to have translators that also have basic field training so they can be on the front lines working with the soldiers. With the situation that America is in right now with Afghanistan and Iraq, the need for translators that know several different Middle Eastern languages and dialects is extremely high. However, these war time jobs can be a risky career since you can be exposed to the dangers of the front line of battle. There are more than two thousand Arab Americans that are employed by the US military to work in Iraq as translators. These translators are constantly at risk because they are viewed as traitors to the insurgents in Iraq.

Despite the dangers, it doesn't take away from the fact that translation services are extremely important to the military. However, being able to get reliable translations is also important in many different aspects of life, such as in business and trades. Without quality translations, it would be extremely difficult to communicate accurately between business partners, or trade associates. So not only do translators help our military but they also provide valuable services that benefit the entire global business market.