Buying translations - Getting it right! part I

Translation is still considered a very easy job that any one with little knowledge of foreign languages is capable of doing. And people actually tend to think they can do it even if they have learned a foreign language ages ago in high-school! Well, news flash: it is not so! And any person without proper training who ever tried translating should know I’m right (unless they are totally unrealistic or narcissistic!). Of course that if all you are asked to translate is “Hello, how are you?” you should be able to handle it. But to be a translator or an interpreter (which are two totally different things!) is so much more than just knowing a little bit of English or Swedish.

For the sake of professional translation/translators, this post is meant to be a piece of advice for those who need/want to buy translations, but have no clue where to start and how to do it. I am going to use the information from a 2006 brochure called Translation, Getting it right. A guide to buying translations, by BDÜ, ITI, CiLT, ASTTI and SFT (for contacts see end of article), text:Chris Durban; Editor/Design: Antonio Aparicio. Any mistakes included here are my own responsibility, though.

I am not going to include everything in one post because it would make it a very long one. I might divide it in two or three posts.

As they say in the first page "For non-linguists, buying in translation is often a source of frustration. The suggestions in this brochure are aimed at reducing stress". So I hope this helps!

1- Does it really need to be translated?


Rather than blindly translate documents in full decide with your client or sales team which information is actually required. You can axe padding, including self-congratulatory prose and lists of all the in-house departments that have worked to make the product a success.

In 1999 a financial institution in France trimmed a 500-page user manual down to 230 pages with the help of an expert translator, who identified redundancies and sections that did not apply to foreign clients - before starting the translation proper.

Translate only relevant sections of existing documents, or produce shorter documents in your own language and have these translated.

2 - A picture is worth a thousand words

Take the burden off the words. Judicious use of maps, pictograms and diagrams can be far more effective with international readers than literary ramblings and hyper-technical descriptions. Your translator's job will be easier; there will be less risk of stumbling over the precise technical term. And your translation bill will probably be lower.

In 2001, Heathrow Airport moved 60.4 million travellers from all parts of the world through its four terminals using internationally-recognised pictograms. Ikea has several stores in several countries which mean totally different languages and cultures. It uses largely word-free diagrams to guide customers through kit assembly. 80% of instructions are pictures only; the remaining 20% require text to communicate safety aspects.

Only use text when you have to, or when it is the most effective means of getting your message across.

3 -Think international from the start

Avoid culture-bound clichés. References to your national sport may well fall flat. Ditto literary/cultural metaphors. Tread carefully with references to parts of the human body, viewed differently by different cultures.
For written documents, don't box yourself in by linking your pitch to visuals that may not carry the same meaning outside your native country - forcing translators to resort to cumbersome wordplay and workarounds.

In January 1998 PM Tony Blair told a group of Japanese businessmen that his government intended to go "the full Monty" in putting the UK economy on a sound footing. Blank faces: the film had not yet been released in Japan.

Keep some local flavour if you like but check with your foreign-text team to make sure that adaptation is possible. For written documents, be sure to include international calling codes for telephone and fax.

4 - How much will it cost?

Translation prices range from 1 to 10, and while high prices do not necessarily guarantee high quality, we respectfully submit that below a certain level you are unlikely to receive a text that does credit to your company and its products. If translators are netting little more than a babysitter, they are unlikely to be tracking your market with the attention it deserves.
Be realistic. How many pages can a translator produce an hour? How much time do you expect him or her spend crafting the text that will promote your product or service? (How much time did your team spend producing the original?)
When choosing a supplier, calculate how much you have spent to develop the product or services you want to promote outside your country. If you cannot afford a professional translation, perhaps you are not ready for the international market yet.

The added value that a translation company offers (translator selection, project management, quality control, file conversions, standardised presentation of multilingual projects, etc.) also has a price-tag, but can save you hours of work.

5 - How important is style?

Some translations are no-hopers from the start. For example:

Tehao Rechargeable shaver RCCW-320: Smuggle the razor blade (reference value around 400 g) on your muscle vertically. Then drag your skin and shave back slowly.

Often these are raw machine translation, or the work of non-native speakers struggling away with a grammar book in one hand and a dictionary in the other. They are good for a laugh.
Other translations are technically accurate, yet the sentences do not flow as smoothly as they might; word order or choice of vocabulary may be unduly influenced by the original language. They are not particularly effective for selling, but may be good enough for readers who know the subject and can - or have time to - read between the lines.

Many translators/translation companies often supply "for-information" translation as standard work, rather than a "rewrite" or "adaptation". To avoid misunderstanding, clarify this up front. Get it in writing.

6 - Resist the temptation to do it yourself

Speaking is not writing. Oral fluency does not guarantee smooth, stylish writing. Even if you regularly negotiate successfully in French, German, or Spanish, and spend lots of time in the countries where those languages are spoken, 99 times out of 100 your written command of a foreign language will be immediately recognisable as "foreign".
This may be important if (1) your main selling point is price (price-driven clients will put up with a lot if they manage to understand the basics) or (2) you want to emphasise a certain foreignness.

If you wish to project an international image, you will probably be better served by a less ethnic approach. In many cultures, awkward or sloppy use of the local language - especially by a native English speaker - is not amusing. It is insulting.

7 - Finalise your text before starting the translation

Tempting as it may be to get your translation project rolling as quickly as possible, having translators work from a draft-in-progress will almost always be more time consuming - hence more expensive and frustrating - than waiting for the final text to be ready. Worse yet: the more versions you have, the more likely it is that errors will creep into the final version.

Sometimes you have no choice. Sometimes deadlines are so tight that work on the translation must begin before you've finalised the original text. If this is the case, be sure to time and date-stamp each version and mark changes from one version to the next clearly for your translators.

8 - What about machine translation?

If you are pressed for time and want to get the gists of something for you own use (inbound), machine translation may be helpful. It is certainly fast and you can't get much cheaper than free.
As a general rule of thumb, do not use raw machine translation for anything outbound without the express agreement of your clients. It is simply not suitable: you run the risk of looking inarticulate and stupid.

Careful editing of machine output by skilled human translators is one option, although not all translators will accept such assignments. Many insist that texts generated by computer programs are so skewed it is faster to start from scratch.

A French company used MT to produce its accounts (Nov. 2000): la clôture mensuelle became "The Monthly Fence" (aka Month-end); posistionnement chrono journal: "positioning stopwatch newspaper" (ledger log position). Back to the drawing board.

Some translation providers have developed proprietary software for specific language pairs and subjects; their gisting will be much better than any of the £99.99 off-the-shelf packages. But it will not be free, and for all but a handful of cases will still need human revision.

In October 2000, the Wall Street Journal gave two free online automatic translation services a test run and concluded: "These services are passable for travellers or for those wanting to translate a letter from a distant cousin. I definitely wouldn't use them for a business or anything that remotely requires accuracy." (A Closer Look, 10/00)

9 - Tell the translator what it's for

A speech is not a web site. A sales brochure is not a catalogue entry. A graph heading is not a directional sign. An article in the News of the World is not a prospectus for an Initial Public Offering.

Style, pronounceability, word choice, phrasing and sentence length - all will vary, depending on where your text will appear and what you want it to achieve. An experienced translator will probably ask you for this information; make sure you know yourself.

Be sure to tell your translator what your text is for, so that s/he can prepare a foreign-language version with maximum impact for that particular audience and vector.

10 - Teachers & academics: at your peril

For many companies faced with foreign-language texts, the first stop is the language department of a local school or university. While this may - sometimes - work for inbound translation, it is extremely risky for promotional texts.

Teaching a foreign language is a demanding activity that requires a special set of skills. These are rarely the same as those needed to produce a smooth, stylish translation. The risks are even greater if you opt for student translators, which may seem like a nice, inexpensive option.

Q: Would you approve of a medical student performing minor operations to pay their way through medical school? (Would you describe your brochure/letter/annual report/speech as "minor"?) Would you have your company's financial statements prepared by business students to save money?

That's that for today! Stay tuned for more advices!

ITI - Institute of Translation & Interpreting http://www.iti.org.uk/
CILT, the national Centre for Lnaguages http://www.cilt.org.uk/
SFT - Société Française des Traducteurs http://www.sft.fr/
BDÜ - Bundesverband der Dolmetscher und Übersetzer e.V. http://www.bdue.de/
ASTTI - Swiss Association of Translators, Terminologists and Interpreters http://www.astti.ch/