Posts Tagged ‘qa’
Translating Intent
Sometimes intent is not easy to translate. As illustrated in the example below, a completely innocent statement in one language may appear incredibly rude in another. Years ago, in Chile, I was walking around a city on a warm day with a close American friend and colleague. As we walked up a hill, in business attire, my colleague began to [...]
Garbage In, Garbage Out
The axiom "garbage in, garbage out," abbreviated GIGO, applies to translation in a number of ways. As illustrated by the following example from "Machine translation can bring blunders, successes in international business," it is worth the time to ensure translation glossaries, translation style guides, translation memory databases, and also [...]
Translation Reference Materials
In addition to existing translation glossaries, translation style guides, and translation memory databases, additional translation reference materials can help companies get the most out of translation services. Reference Materials for Translators Other translation reference materials can provide background and context that will help translators [...]
Free Term Extractors
Terminology extraction tools or terminology extractors can help suggest possible terms for inclusion in translation glossaries. Term extractors may automatically suggest lists of glossary candidate words and phrases based on a number of factors including repetition, uniqueness, and clustering with other words. Some term extractors are [...]
When Localizing Aesthetics, Primary Research is Highly Valuable
Primary research is incredibly important when localizing aesthetics like color. Research including charts that list color meanings by culture can be very helpful, but secondary research may not include everything you need to know. Take an example from IKEA's marketing to hispanics, noted in the article "Color meanings can be lost and found in [...]
Cultural Bridge Weight Limits
Bridges are incredibly useful and help many people reach important destinations quickly and easily. However, bridges can also be dangerous when misused, and exceeding a bridge's maximum load capacity can obviously result in disaster. Similarly, bilingual workers can be incredibly beneficial and can help bridge the gaps many organizations [...]
Do Not Translate This
Sometimes companies actually want to avoid translating certain words including product and brand names. When that is the case, be sure to add applicable rules and terms to your translation glossaries and translation style guides. Example product brand names - including Kodak and Dreft - that are successfully used untranslated across borders [...]
Translation Quality is in the Eye of the Beholder
People say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" to indicate that beauty is subjective. Likewise, translation quality is in the eye of the beholder, and localization quality is also in the eye of the beholder. Some might ask if there is not just a single translation of any given text that is "the right one." No, there is not. You could give [...]
Native Speakers
Use only translators that are native speakers of the target language. The same is true for editors and internal reviewers. Companies should not hire non-native speaking translators and interpreters for the same reason they should not hire non-native speaking copywriters or spokespersons. Even a native speaker who has been living outside of [...]
Translation Memory Hostage Situation
Standard practice in the translation industry is for language services providers (LSPs) to provide a translation memory (TM) to a client upon request. Your company may never actually need to request a copy until you switch providers and then need to take the TM with you to continue receiving the benefits of cost, speed, and quality the TM [...]
