Quality translation: What’s the significance?

Defining translation quality

Quality in translation is often something that is hard to determine due to its highly subjective nature. It is therefore crucial for translation companies to manage and set expectations by setting consistent measures for linguistic standards. The right way to do this would be to develop procedures and guidelines that give all translation projects a general direction.

With all the buzz about machine translation taking over human, what gives human effort that edge over machine translation at the moment? Accuracy and localization. These are the key qualities that keep translation businesses alive without compromising efficiency and customer satisfaction. What is then seen as good quality translation? Does the translated document need to reflect native speakers of the source language? Or just accurately retain its original intent?  Debatable, isn’t it? This is when translation companies come in play to make the right choice. This includes ensuring that the final document keeps its originality intact, has minimal errors and is successfully delivered in its target language.

Lingua Technologies’ in-depth translation process

Lingua Technologies’ key strength lies in its meticulous processes that involves four vital steps in producing translation that meets the necessary criteria and is of a certain calibre. This process is formally known as TEPV (Translation, Editing, Proofreading and Validation). The initial stage involves assiduously selecting the right native linguist for the project. This heavily relies on the nature of the project and the context in which it will be delivered in.

Once the text is translated, it is then sent to an independent editor for review. This is the part where the editor conscientiously checks the piece to ensure that it keeps the original meaning of the text intact and reflect this accurately in the target language. The edited piece then passes though the hands of a proof-reader who thoroughly checks for any possible inconsistencies. The final step of validation is what set us apart from the rest – it provides a level of quality that surpasses industry standards. The validator provides valuable feedback that ensures the final piece conforms to the client’s stylistic preferences. This is the quality that Lingua Technologies assures its clients – by going the extra mile to ensure we only deliver the absolute best.

Lingua Technologies International is a ISO 17100 certified translation company. The ISO 17100 standard is a world recognised standard for translation companies. It dictates a tried and tested process to produce good quality translation, controlling not just the process itself but also setting minimum requirement for the deployment and usage of translators, editors and project managers. It even has a mandatory data-protection plan in place to ensure the confidentiality of customers’ information.

High quality vs Low quality translation

Customers devote time and energy to create marketing materials, product manuals and everything else between that needs to resonate with international customers. Translation often serves different purposes and it is paramount to ensure that the final product has the desired outcome that meets the customers’ expectations.

Without the right translation expertise, the risk of losing the originality of the text and offending potential leads remains high. Low translation quality often reflects texts that are acceptable for casual use but not of publication quality. This means that the text lacks accuracy, is ineffective and likely to be inappropriate. On the contrary, high quality translation ensures that nuances are retained, content is appropriately localized and professional decisions are made to ensure the syntax is not compromised.

How can you choose the right translation provider?

Like with any piece of writing, choosing the right translation provider also heavily depends on its purpose. An important business brief for example would demand more time and talent in comparison to an informal email for the upcoming company gathering. Therefore, it is up to you to decide if it is better to hire a trusted translation provider, a low cost vendor or even getting it translated internally.

However, if your decision is to have it done externally, it would only make sense that you only entrust your translation work to trusted translation provider not just with a good reputation but also a world recognised standard for translation you can rely on.

Sometimes what you get, is what you pay for.