Translation process

Upon receiving the source files from our client, we identify the content type and check that the files received are all editable and open properly. We also analyse them against our translation memories to see the final word count and leverage previously translated content to reduce costs and keep on producing consistent quality translations.

At this stage we provide you with a quotation in which we will itemise the services requested and break down the word count for translation as per the matches we found in our translation memory (new words, repetitions, 100% matches) which will reduce the final cost and improve the turnaround time. All our quotations are free of charge. This is also the stage where we discuss the costs and timeline associated with the different project steps. Once we are all set and get your go-ahead, we can start the localisation process.

While our team is organising the material received and making files localisation friendly, we are also lining up the selected resources for the project. We take great care in selecting the right linguists for the material you sent through. All our linguists have areas of specialisation and native languages which need to match your project for them to be considered. It is our job to find the best suitable linguists based on the specifics of the project. Depending on the client’s requirements, our team will build a glossary as well to define the key terms, technical words, and highly repeated words on which we need to consult our client’s SMEs to obtain approval before kicking off the actual translation stage. The glossary is then shared with our linguists who will rigorously follow it to produce localised content fully aligned on the client’s SMEs expectations.

The files to be localised have been prepped for translation in a previous step and are now sent to the relevant linguists who will work on the project. The translation received is then QA’ed by our project team through our internal verification step (adherence to translation memories and project glossary, truncation, punctuation, numeral equivalence, missing works, double space, etc).

Once the translation step is completed and that the output has been verified by our team, we send the files to a revisor or proofreader, a second experienced linguist, who will compare the source text against the target text to make sure the translation is accurate and true to the source text. The proofread translation is then QA’ed by our project team through our internal validation step.

Before typesetting the translated content back into the source environment, Transladiem always offers our clients the opportunity to review the localised content in a friendly format (a bilingual table with source and target content presented in a word document or via our online review platform) and to add any potential changes they wish to make at this moment. This step exposes our work directly to the client in order to get amendment requests or sign-off on the translation before proceeding to the next steps of the localisation process. This step is highly recommended but remains optional as not all companies have the capacity to run through this. If our stakeholders insert edits into the bilingual tables containing the translations, we will check these changes to make sure there are no typos, grammar errors, double-spaces or any kind or wrong insertions before implementing all amendments.

When the localised content is signed off internally or via the client review step, we will typeset the translated content into the original source file environment to mirror the original documents we received. Our team will then QA the work of our formatters, typesetters or desktop publishing operators by skimming through the document to make sure all the elements are well displayed. Here truncation, alignment, punctuation, layout and display issues are fixed to make sure the file is ready to be used or printed.

Through our post-localisation service, Transladiem commissions native testers to run the final linguistic QA before delivering to our clients. Indeed, populating the translation back into the source file will often shift elements and mess up the layout of the file, this is precisely what our testers need to flag to our typesetters or desktop publishing operators so they can reorganise the elements on the translated files as per the source file. Before delivering the final localised file, our project managers will go once more through the deliverables and compare them against the source file via an internal QA step called Final Eye to make sure they look alike and that all parts have been localised and show in the right places.

Your dedicated account manager will deliver the final files to you via the delivery method agreed upon (email, FTP, secured link) and expect feedback.