10 Tips on How to Save Money on Translation

Procedure of Assuring Translation Quality

Procedure of assuring translation quality

Acquiring perfection is impossible in translation, so it becomes necessary for translation service providers to assure the translation quality to be as best as it can get. Translation is something that won't ever receive a nod of 100%, you are most likely to receive objections and complain about the words used or phrasing or grammar of the translation because of personal priorities and preferences and different backgrounds.

If you are looking for one of the simplest procedure to maintain the quality you should follow the given three steps for each and every single translation project whether it is large or small:

Step one - Carrying out translation job

? The job shall be assigned to the most suitable person who can handle the translation quality.

? He must be a native speaker of target language and must be aware of the style, tone and grammar of source and target languages.

? Translation job shall be carried out in such a manner that it shall sound as the content has directly been written and not translated from any other language. In short, target content shall sound natural rather than artificial.

? Translation shall be in accordance with the end users' needs and priorities as described by the client.

? A big translation project shall not be assigned to a newbie because fresh professionals lack concentration and the quality deteriorates as the work progresses.

Step two - Editing the work

? The translated content shall be thoroughly checked by another competitive and eligible translator.

? This translator shall not have any connection with his predecessor to ensure the impartiality and objectivity.

? He shall check the translated content regarding spellings, grammar, style, context and tone of the source document.

? HE MUST ENSURE THAT TRANSLATION IS A MIRROR IMAGE. IT MEANS THAT TARGET CONTENT CONVEYS THE SAME SENSE AS IS CONVEYED BY THE SOURCE CONTENT.

? He shall point out major mistakes and take notes about the weaknesses and shall notify the previous translator about these mistakes so as to avoid them in future.

Step 3 - Internal Monitoring and Checks

? Check the formatting of the target document that it is in accordance with the client's needs or if there are no distinctive instruction as to the formatting then formatting shall be the mirror image of source document.

? Look for any typos, spelling mistakes, missing content, consistency of translation and images and graphs that they are perfectly well handled.

By applying these steps, you will be able to provide better and accurate translation services.

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Translation Services for International Students

If you're a student interested in attending a college in another country then there is a good chance you may need some form of translation in order to make your acceptance into that school a reality.

Every school - whether it is a university in the United States or another country - has their own specific requirements for the information needed to process an application, admittance or transfer. There is a good chance though that any school you want to attend is going to require translation of your academic documents into the university's language.

This translation is likely to include (but not limited to):

Notations showing the completion of secondary coursesCertifications, degrees or diplomasAcademic transcriptsLetters of recommendation

Following Translation Guidelines for Universities

It's just one more step to the application process but it is important that you follow the process as closely as you can when it comes to having documents translated. While missing the mark will not necessarily get an application rejected it can significantly slow down or halt the application process.

One of the most prominent guidelines set forth by colleges is that you cannot translate the documents and information on your own, or have it done by someone you know who is fluent in both languages. Colleges will require the documents to be handled and certified by a professional translation company.

The need for translation services may go beyond getting your foot in the door - it can be used and applied on a number of levels.

Academic Translation For Course Material

Once you have been accepted and are attending the foreign university, managing the course material can be a bit of a chore as you study in your second language. This is especially true for course content that is very technical in nature.

Academic translation can aid in a variety of ways, providing a clear translation of any document, recording or other content pertinent to your education, including:

Course materialLecturesPodcastsRelevant articlesText booksSeminars or conference materialResearch papersDissertationsAnd more

If there are language barriers that could potentially halt or impair the learning process, working with an academic translation service on the most important material can save a great deal of time and hassle.

Ensuring Quality Academic Translation

Academic translation is a different beast, far and above common translation - especially where technical terms come into play. Choosing someone who is fluent in more than one language to handle the translation can lead to a number of problems. In situations where academic translation is necessary, the most benefit will come from working with a professional individual or agency that has a great deal of experience with the academic discipline in question.

An added benefit is if those providing the translation services not only have experience with the field you are studying, but actually have an academic background - thus providing you with the greatest opportunity for success.

Audio Translation And Its Problems

As the world gets smaller, people find ways to use materials from other countries. However, this requires some sort of translation in order to work well. Audio translation has a number of inherent problems that need to be dealt with on every track.

Unlike a normal translation, the audio version has a number of limitations based on the format of the original material. The biggest limitation is that the translated track must match the original in length. This can be a problem as some languages simply use more words to describe the same concept; for example, French uses about 25% more words to describe the same thing as an English version. This can make for some interesting issues when converting from one language to another and the length must be the same.

Complicating the issue is when the audio must be synchronized with a video track. An obvious issue is when the audio must match what is seen on the screen, but that is usually the simplest issue. A more interesting issue is when there are cues in the video that must match the audio, such as when the number "3" shows up on an instruction video. The same number must appear in the same place in audio translation as well, meaning that the translator must have the same length before and after the number.

If there are 10 seconds of audio before the number and 5 seconds after it, the translation must match that timing; this can make for some interesting timing issues when the two languages have different structures, such as the loose structure of English versus the rather strict one of French.

Another way to deal with the timing issue is to adjust the speed of the track, making some languages sound sped up a little, and other languages sound a little slower. Although there are more precise ways to do it, sometimes it is necessary to resort to some basic tricks in order to get the job done. However, there is rarely a translation issue too tough for technicians to deal with with some trick from their bag. Usually it is just a matter of looking for a slightly different translation, but given the potential issues that a wrong translation can cause, sometimes it is just better to go with a technical trick.

There are other applications for an audio translation, as some translation jobs require that a transcript be made for the client. As a transcript is made as part of the translation process, this is usually not a problem. This just allows for a number of different ways for one group to communicate with another group in a different country, making for a smaller, more intimate world.

Translation Services Through Crowd Sourcing

As a professional translator have you ever received an email asking you to provide your translation services to some company or organization voluntarily or in more simple words for free? If you have then you don't need an explanation, that's what you call translation service through crowd sourcing.

Companies, firms, organizations and institutions explain their cause and aims that they are willing to achieve and ask the public at large to provide translation services voluntarily so as to be a part of their noble cause. One of the best examples is Facebook. Users have been rendering their services voluntarily to Facebook for many years. Now you can use Facebook in dozens of languages and all this hard work has been done without any cost incurred by Facebook Inc.

After witnessing this scenario on the horizon of translation services, many other companies have started wondering if they can why not us? Why can't we get such costly services from the crowd for free? The main reason is the motivation. Any sane person on this planet isn't going to put forward himself for the job until there is some big motivation. You cannot just send an email or a letter to the public and ask them to render their services voluntarily until and unless there is something big behind this.

Apart from any noble cause there is also a fact that what an individual is looking for. You may not believe but there will be a few who would be doing this just for a past time and for fun or for self esteem. And there are people who would be looking to make their resumes more impressive from experience point of view as they would be able to mention that they have provided their services to the "big name" organization or company.

An interesting fact is that if you are getting translating services through crowd sourcing it almost costs as much as it costs through professional translation. Because you cannot trust on the credibility of the services provided so you have to get the translation services proof read. Apart from this there are other costs as well. Then why crowd sourcing? Sargent says about Facebook: "Free was not the point, time was. Work that was appearing to take months got started to be finished in days."

So you cannot cut costs by getting services through crowd sourcing, it's just the time and other benefits that you can get if you are a reputed organization.

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How to Find Audio Translation Services

Finding a good translator can be difficult, especially if you do not know where to look. Audio translation services are somewhat rare depending on where you are located. The first thing that you need to do when you are preparing to contact someone about getting a piece of audio translated is to make sure that your audio is clear enough to translate. After you have done this you can begin to search for a translator.

The best place to find a translator is at a university or other establishment that has professionals that are fluent in the language you are trying to translate. Generally at a university you can find professors that will be willing to help you translate a piece of audio. You should not approach them, however, thinking that you will get a free translation. In some cases the professional will translate just for the love of it but in other cases you will be required to pay a fee for your translation.

If you choose to find another means of translation you can try looking on the internet for language experts that offer their services. Sometimes you can find experts in your area that offer audio translation services. In other instances you may be required to mail your audio file either in email or snail mail to the expert. If you are doing this you may want to make a back up copy to insure that nothing happens to your media. If you are doing this you will most certainly incur a fee unless, again, you find someone through personal connections or other means that simply loves to translate.

The cost depends on the length of the recording, how clear it is, how quickly it can be translated, and how easily it can be translated. In other words, there are some places that offer a base fee but it will likely come down to the recording itself that determines cost.

A short clip may cost as little as $100 or so while a longer clip can get into the hundreds. Finding dependable audio translation services is key. You can find just about anyone who thinks they can translate but you need to make sure that you check references and reviews before entrusting your money and project to just anyone.

Generally a translation can take as little as a day to have done or longer. Again it depends on the audio that is being translated. If you are looking for translation services make sure that you check all your options and find the best translator.