Manufacturing

Ken Zwerdling, CEO of Foreign Translations, Inc. receives about 20 calls or emails each week from manufacturers across the United States requesting documents, technical and industrial manuals, contracts, etc.. to be translated into a variety of languages.

“It’s a growing demand as evidenced by our increase in manufacturing clients. Although we enjoy this surge in the need for language translations, what is scary is how these companies found us in the first place,” comments Zwerdling.

Sometimes it is from a referral – but more often than not – it is a random selection. Most individuals have simply searched the internet for a translation services agency and want to know about pricing. If they are lucky, they will find a qualified language translations service which will provide an accurate and localized translated version of their document. If they wind up with a poorly translated document, it can create more than a world of problems.

One of the major misconceptions in the language translation arena is that anyone who speaks a second language can translate a technical document. That could not be further from the truth.

Zwerdling sites a language translation assignment gone bad, “Just recently a public relations firm in Columbia, South Carolina hired a local Hispanic DJ to translate a flyer for a local government department. It was peppered with errors and all of the flyers were useless.

Here are some suggestions in getting your translation right the first time:

Explain, in detail, your translation need. What is the subject matter? Who is the target audience? How many words does the document contain?

Describe the original document. Is it available in an electronic format? Is it industry specific? Does it require desktop publishing or certification?

Determine ahead of time which portions of the text do not require translations. Often times, logos, graphics and slogans do not need to be translated.

Advise the translation service provider of the time frame in which the project should be completed. Don’t expect lengthy documents to be returned quickly. Competent companies have one language translator translate the original document and an equally qualified translator to edit and proofread the assignment. This significantly decreases the chance for error.

Use a translation service provider that uses translators to translate into only their native language. Translators translate into, not out of, their native languages, and most translators only have one native language. Most translators cannot have the education and experience to translate technical, legal or medical documents in more than one language.

Avoid companies that provide translations using machine translations. The accuracy of machine translation (translation performed 100% by computer) is at least 10 years away. Even then, editing and proofreading will still need to be made by human translators Today, machine translation still can't disseminate the many nuances of other languages. In addition, documents that are not in an electronic format cannot be translated by machine.

Understand that there are variations of many languages. If you are requesting a document to be translated for a Spanish audience in Spain, this spanish translation will be a different version of one for a Hispanic audience in Mexico or Latin America.

Provide contact names and telephone numbers from your office who can assist with questions about the assignment.

Find a company who wants to work with you, your deadlines and your budget.