How do you measure the value of a translation partner?

When you’ve no personal knowledge of your target language, it can be incredibly difficult to measure if your translation partner is doing a good job. They may well refer to their ‘value add’ but what does this mean in concrete terms, and what impact does it have on your finished work? At Peak Translations, we articulate our ‘value add’ as six key qualities: 1. Subject specialisms Each of our talented translators is hand-picked for his or her subject specialism; be that Marketing, Engineering, Legal or Medical. In-depth understanding of the terminology and phraseology used in a particular industry quickly builds the credibility of the translation and, in turn, reader confidence. 2. Country knowledge All our translators are native speakers. We believe a sound understanding of the nuances of native language is key to the very best translations. Consider medical terminology. Acronyms that are widely used in the UK and US may be less known to, say, a French or Spanish market. A native speaker will be able to measure whether an alternative phrase is required. 3. Translator consistency As far as our choice of translators is concerned, sector specialism is as important to us as linguistic capability. We ensure the same individuals are assigned to all a client’s projects where they relate to the same industry. Matching the same translator or revision team to a particular client ensures consistency in approach from one project to the next. Rather than starting from scratch with a new translator each time, a dedicated team will really get to know a client’s brand, products and industry. Not only does this make them best placed to communicate on the client’s behalf, their knowledge accelerates the time in which we can complete the project. 4. Language consistency Our translation software, Trados Studio, stores all translations in a memory database. It’s there to be called upon to look up the exact phraseology we’ve used previously for the same client. There are two key benefits to this approach: firstly, it ensures a consistency of message across multiple communications; and secondly, it saves cost since the number of words to be translated is reduced. 5. Multi-lingual project management As our translators work through translation into a particular language they may raise a particular question. Should an acronym used in the English-speaking world be translated into Dutch? Or is the acronym widely understood in that market? Would the same apply, say, to Spain or is an alternative phrase required? Our project manager raises the issue with all other linguists working on the project to identify whether the same issue applies to their target language, and to resolve it accordingly. It also helps that our project managers are linguists too. With a collective in-house knowledge of French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Dutch, we’re able to enhance our usual two-stage translation process with a third-stage review for these popular languages. 6. Understanding of a client’s wider marketing and comms strategy For translation to truly excel it needs to be considered as part of a company’s wider marketing or communications strategy. Over our 40+ years in business, we’ve developed an innate understanding of the wider elements of marketing that need to be considered. Did you know that a static website translated into target language demonstrates greater credibility with search engines than when a website translation plug-in is used (which renders the copy in target language invisible)? Have you considered that the keywords that work for your source language may not work for your target language, and that competition for keywords in that market needs to be assessed? We’d love to tell you more about why Peak Translations continues to be chosen as a translation specialist year after year. For an informal chat, please contact me or a member of my team on E: projects@peak-translations.co.uk or T: 01663 732 074.

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