5 Simple Ways Companies Can Reduce Translation Delays - Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) - Translation

A translation’s success hinges not only on accuracy and quality, but also on meeting important deadlines. How can you assist your language service provider with faster turnaround times? These considerations will help to fine tune content to ease the translation process and reduce delays due to clarification requests.

Evaluate Source Content

Read through your material for any content that may be not appropriate or understood by the target audience. Check for company buzz words, colloquialisms, and idioms. Equivalents may not exist. Clarify abbreviations and acronyms.

Remove Content Before Translation

Consider the user interface, guarantees, purchase options, service contact numbers, and legal content that may not apply to the translated material.

Insert Specific Market Content

After removing content, insert any country specific information or requirements that may differ from the source. Also consider how to handle measurements and acronyms. Some choose to have both the source content and the localized material, while others opt for only one version.

Use Straightforward Language

Ensure sentences are short and clear. Consider the implementation of STE (Simplified Technical English) when writing instructions and manuals. Below are two helpful resources:

Create Corporate Standards

An established, approved term base will ensure consistent corporate material with the same terminology. This applies not only to your source content, but also to translated content.

Ensure your company’s experts in other countries provide their feedback regarding preferred terminology. Some terms may have two or three different options in another language, so it is important to have your company reviewers involved in the approval of the term base as well as a style guide.

A style guide will determine language conventions and translation guidelines such as punctuation, capitalization, and abbreviations. Your translation provider can assist with creating a localized version of these governing documents.

Streamline the Deadline

Following these five simple recommendations prior to translation will ensure your translation provider has clarity and direction to proceed without delays.

This article previously appeared on TerralinguaTranslations.com. 

AEM service member company Terralingua is a leading ISO 17100, 9001, and 18587 certified translation agency. Terralingua assists global companies with translation and localization needs in over 40 different languages.

For more AEM member company perspectives, subscribe to the AEM Industry Advisor.