One Stop Shop Translations

What is Localization?

2011-12-28T04:26:00.000-08:00

Localization is the process of translating software or a website (menu, help, tool bars, etc.) from one language to another without altering the code. This is done with the use of specialized software (CAT Tools). For all those companies who wish to publish their website in more than one language translation companiesoffer a broad range of website translation services better known as “Globalization of websites”. Bering in mind the complexity of localizing a website, some Translation companies take care of the whole process and where necessary coordinate with the designers of the client company to make the website or software function in the market it is destined for. One must bear in mind the degree of ownership the client and the translation services company has in the process when sourcing the original translation quote. The typical process involves the text extraction which can be done by the client or company, translation done by the translation company, revision done by the translation company, re-engineering of the target text back into the website or software done by either the client or the translation company, linguistic testing done by either the client or translation company, bug fixing done by either and functional testing done by either the client or translation agency. The project process will have a bearing on the price of the translation project.

What are the Services included in the cost?

The following is a more detailed breakdown of the different stages in the localization process, the ownership of each process having a bearing on the final Translation quote. For the implementation of multilingual websites one must also bear in mind that the target Language is culturally suited to the particular region the site is destined for, for instance the idiomatic differences between the Brazilian Portuguese market and the Portuguese Market.

The translation of websites includes:
• Translation of all the User interfaces, graphics, multimedia components and documentation.
• Use of translation Memory technology (CAT Tools) to optimize consistency and reduce costs
• Integrate the translated text into the HTML files and upload the onto the server
• Change the title of the page and its links to the target language.
• Add a Language bar if the client requires it
• Translation of alt and meta tags
• Translation of the online help files in line with the User interface translation
• Translation of the Online Web QA: a complete and exhaustive quality control of the processes or tests required by the client
• Revision by the client and approval at key stages of the project
Complete or partial Translation?
Instead of translating all the website to save on Translation costs some companies may only translate the principle pages. Some pages are not visited very often and do not justify the cost of translation.

What is the next step?

The pages can be sent in different formats such as Word (. doc) or in the original format of the source code (. asp,. htm (l),. php, xml., Js. etc). If one prefers the Translation in Word one must remember that it will not include information such as the: page title, description, Meta Tags, etc., which are fundamental in the search engines

2011-12-17T13:49:00.000-08:00

Best online translation Quote
In a lot of cases it’s a hassle to fill out a Translation quote request, send it and wait for the response from the client if indeed he does respond. This is especially the case if the client knows the word count, field and language combination they require.
This is why many most Translation services companies have their own online quote facility. In this article we aim to sort out the wheat from the chaff. Which company provides the best online quote?
There are a number of criteria we use when deciding on which translation company offers the best online which we will go through in detail.
Usability
Which online quote has the quickest and is the most usable? The following important questions arise:
• Is the online quote easy to find from the home page?
• Does the quote show in the top search engine rankings? Of course this is of the ultimate importance as the User is very unlikely to go past the first page?
• How many steps does it take to get the online quote? The User often has to go through a number of unnecessary steps to get their quote
• Does the User have to provide information to get the quote? In a lot of cases the User has to provide their email address and telephone number to get their online quote. This may lead to many unwanted sales emails and calls which can be annoying
Cost
• Which company offers the cheapest translation quote? In many cases this can be a difficult query to assess. Many translation prices vary per country, language and service. The simple analysis later in this article takes the four main language combinations (English to German, English to French, English to Spanish and English to Italian) and gets the price per word average for 5 different translation agencies
• Is the cost deceptive? For instance, is the goods tax included? What currency is the total in? While a quote in British pounds of 83 GBP may seem the same as a quote of 83 EUR it is really almost 20% more expensive at 100 EUR, so be aware of the exchange rates. For the sake of the analysis we have chosen EUROS.
Aesthetics
• Is the interface enticing and visually appealing for the user? Does it have the latest graphics and look fresh and modern?
All the above queries are very relevant and we have used a scale for 1-10 across online translation quote facilities from five different translation agencies. Each facility is ranked on:
• Easiness to find, based on a ranking of 5 due to weighting (importance)
• Easiness to find in search engines, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance)
• Amount of steps, based on a ranking of 4 due to weighting (importance)
• User information, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance)
• Cheapest in EUROS per word, based on an average per word of the of the four main European languages, based on a ranking of 10 due to weighting (importance)
• Currency of the quote total, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance)
• Aesthetics, based on a ranking of 5 due to importance
Please note our findings below with a summary on each online quote facility:
Applied Language
Easiness to find, based on a ranking of 5 due to weighting (importance): 5 Easy to find on front page
Search Engine Ranking, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 7
Number 1 in most important search engines for key word “Online translation quote”
Amount of steps, based on a ranking of 4 due to weighting (importance): 0
3 steps
User information, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 2
Email and telephone requested
Cheapest in EUROS per word, based on an average of the four main European languages, based on a ranking of 10 due to weighting (importance): 2
€0,14 per word
Currency of the quote total, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 3
Proofreading not included in price
Aesthetics, based on a ranking of 5 due to importance; 4
TOTAL out of 45: 23
Exigo Translations
Easiness to find, based on a ranking of 5 due to weighting (importance): 5
Easy to find on front page
Search Engine Ranking, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 7
Number 3 in most important search engines for key word “Online translation quote”
Amount of steps, based on a ranking of 4 due to weighting (importance): 4
On Screen
User information, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 7
Email and telephone not requested
Cheapest in EUROS per word, based on an average of the four main European languages, based on a ranking of 10 due to weighting (importance): 5
€0,11 per word
Currency of the quote total, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 3
Proofreading not included in price
Aesthetics, based on a ranking of 5 due to importance: 4
TOTAL out of 45: 35
Translated.net
Easiness to find, based on a ranking of 5 due to weighting (importance): 5
Easy to find on front page
Search Engine Ranking, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 6
Number 5 in most important search engines for key word “Online translation quote”
Amount of steps, based on a ranking of 4 due to weighting (importance): 4
On Screen
User information, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 7
Email and telephone not requested
Cheapest in EUROS per word, based on an average of the four main European languages, based on a ranking of 10 due to weighting (importance): 6
€0,10 per word
Currency of the quote total, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 5
Proofreading included in price
Aesthetics, based on a ranking of 5 due to importance: 4
TOTAL out of 45: 37
Click2translate
Easiness to find, based on a ranking of 5 due to weighting (importance): 1
Easy to find on front page
Search Engine Ranking, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 2
Number 9-10 in most important search engines for key word “Online translation quote”
Amount of steps, based on a ranking of 4 due to weighting (importance): 1
5 to 6 steps
User information, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 7
Email and telephone not requested
Cheapest in EUROS per word, based on an average of the four main European languages, based on a ranking of 10 due to weighting (importance): 2
€0,16 per word
Currency of the quote total, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 5
Proofreading included in price
Aesthetics, based on a ranking of 5 due to importance: 4
TOTAL out of 45: 22
One Stop Shop Translations
Easiness to find, based on a ranking of 5 due to weighting (importance): 5
Easy to find on front page
Search Engine Ranking, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 5
Number 5-7 in most important search engines for key word “Online translation quote”
Amount of steps, based on a ranking of 4 due to weighting (importance): 4
On Screen
User information, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 7
Email and telephone not requested
Cheapest in EUROS per word, based on an average of the four main European languages, based on a ranking of 10 due to weighting (importance): 10
€0,09 per word
Currency of the quote total, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance): 7
Proofreading included in price
Aesthetics, based on a ranking of 5 due to importance: 3
TOTAL out of 45: 41
*Four main European Languages are French, German, Italian and Spanish
Summary
Applied language (Total 23 – Position 4) scored 23 out of 45 and has the lowest score of the five agencies surveyed due mainly to the expensive price per word (€0,14 per word), the amount of steps for the quote and the user details being requested
Exigo Translations (Total 35 - Position 3) scored well at 35 out of 45 but was the third most expensive agency at €0,11 per word.
Translated.net (Total 37 - Position 2) scored well at 37 out of 45 and was the second cheapest agency at €0,10 per word.
Click2translate Total (Total 22 – Position 5) scored poorly due to it being by far the most expensive agency at €0,16 per word and having too many steps.
One Stop Shop Translations (Total 41 – Position 1) scored well being the cheapest translation agency at €0,09 per word
So there you have it. The report weightings and results are subjective but we think give a fair reflection of the available online translation quotes, so shop around when buying translation services.

One Stop Shop Translations: Your Spanish Translation Quote – Tips and Advice

2011-11-27T12:19:00.000-08:00

One Stop Shop Translations: Your Spanish Translation Quote – Tips and Advice: Choosing the correct translation services is often a very difficult and time consuming. These days there are thousands of freelancers, agenc...

Translation Memories, Blessing or Curse?

2011-11-16T03:13:00.000-08:00

A translation memory is a modern technology tool designed to help translators. It is essentially a database that saves previously translated segments of text. The main benefits of a translation memory are saved time and cost, more efficiency and consistency throughout translations.

Moreover, clients and translators must also analyze not only what are the benefits of the Translation memory are but also the the ethical questions posed by this tool. Firstly, it is important to note that the usual practice during the delivery of a translation to the client is for the translator to also deliver the translation memory database so it can be used in future translations even if the client opts to use a different translator. It is clear to see how this process guarantees consistency. However, here is where a lot of problems can arise. It is true to say that in the majority of cases the the new text to be translated corresponds to the saved translation but there are cases where the corresponding saved translation does not make sense with the new source translation in its current context especially in the case of literary translations or Marketing translations.

To navigate this problem it is important to understand the analytical nature of the Translation memory. A lot of Translation Memories match a previously translated segment to a new source segment on a percentage basis. For instance, if a translated target segment in the TM and its corresponding source segment match a new source segment to be translated word for word, this segment will be translated automatically and the analysis will return a statistic of 100% matching. But as outlined above, the contextual problem may occur. This is why the 100% segment needs to be checked by the translator. The whole process is not fool proof and we always need some degree of human intervention. This is why most translation services companies and translators will charge a fee even for segments that are 100% matching. The bottom line is that the 100% matching segments have to be checked.

Many clients are often surprised when they get their translation quote to find they are being charged for segments that have been previously translated word for word. Hopefully, the above explanation gives the client an insight into this dilemma. For information the 100% matches are usually charged at a lesser rate, for instance a revision translation rate per word so there is still a very evident cost saving. It is here that the client has to find the best translation rate per word to pay for 100% matching segments and repeated segments. This can lead to huge translation cost savings especially in the case of updates such as software or manuals.

Hopefully this article gives the reader an insight into the workings of the translation memory environment and with this technology, unlike most concepts in the technology world, the fundamental process will stay the same, we will always need some degree of human intervention!

Preparing for the Hispanic Market

2011-11-08T07:01:00.000-08:00

More and more companies are translating their web content and commercial collateral into Spanish. Is this a coincidence?

Of course not, the importance of the Hispanic market should not be underestimated partly due to the fact that the vast majority of this active and expanding market is Spanish speaking only. Below we will discuss some of the more detailed facts of the Spanish market.
Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, in fact, after English it is the second most widely spoken language in the world with regard to commercial communication and the third most used on the Internet.

It is estimated that in three generations 10% of the world population will be Spanish speaking and that by the year 2040 the largest Spanish speaking population in the world will be in the united States of America with Mexico next.

Spanish is the second most studied language in the world with 20 million students mainly due to its growing importance in the commercial sector.
All the above points give us some idea as to why so many companies are translating all their commercial collateral into Spanish to take advantage of this huge growing market.

Here are some astonishing facts about the US Hispanic market alone.
• The Hispanic population is expected to account for 44% of the total US population growth before the year 2020 and 62% from 2020 to 2050. By 2050 the current Hispanic population of 44 million is expected to double.
• The average age of the Spanish population is 29 years old.
• Hispanic owned businesses increased 78% between 1985 and 2000.
• The Hispanic market accounted for over 600 billion USD in consumer spending last year.

In these uncertain times where the developed markets are saturated its important to open doors to other opportunities such as the Spanish speaking market. Moreover, translating into Spanish not only opens the door to the Hispanic US market but to another 21 countries in the world that have Spanish as their official language.

Its also important to note that the Translation of websites and commercial material is not a straight cut deal where one simply asks the first Translation services company they find to translate everything into Spanish because they are cheap. While the Hispanic market may not be as developed as more established markets corporate image is still a huge factor in breaking into these markets. Intertwined with Corporate image is the need for quality translation as in most cases a poor quality translation is worse than no translation at all and can destroy the public image of the entity in question. This is why it is so important to hire a translation services company that has experience in providing high quality work in the particular area of expertise in question while also fitting into the companies budget criteria. When requesting a translation quote there is usually a wide range of translation price differences one has to ask why some translation services are so much cheaper than others.

Most of the larger multinationals are already taking this expansion into the Spanish speaking market very seriously but for a lot of the medium and smaller sized companies it is a shame to lose such an opportunity especially in such challenging times?

Automated Translation services Management

2011-10-18T09:19:00.000-07:00

Is Online Translation Services Project Management the future?

Its ok to say that the majority of small and medium sized companies specialized in internationalization, localization and Translation services have their own modern and informative websites but they are now following the big players in the industry and providing online translation facilities.

I am not talking about automatic translation but automatic management of translation services where the Users submit directly the criteria of the Project, the files, personal information, Project details, expectations etc…. When all has been uploaded the translation quote and delivery dates will appear on the screen. Also, when the user replies with invoice information and the payment he receives an automatic mail confirming the transaction. At the same time the Project Manager received all the Project details via the internal server.

From here the Project manager allocates all the resources according to the Schedule and all the relevant logistics – its all so simple.

Many companies are now perfecting a fully automated process thus cutting out the project managers. Based on the criteria chosen by the User the system automatically selects the appropriate resource. Following this a mail is sent to the translator giving him a certain amount of time to respond before the Project is offered to another translator. Although this automated system is a considerable outlay initially there is the obvious saving on administration costs.

Apart from giving the user a greater sense of security the system also gives the user the option of following the progress of the Translation via an Access key.

It seems very possible to automate the whole process, by-pass the middle man and get a reasonable profit. If this is the case, why don´t more translation companies do it? Maybe it´s only a matter of time, but the initial investment and the fact that most clients still want some form of human interaction means that the job of the Translation Project manager is still safe for now, at least. Also, some localization projects are very complicated and involve multiple stages and languages making it nearly impossible to automate.

Today, there are few companies that offer these type of services. Of course, the big players in the industry have offered this service for many years but now some of the medium and smaller translation agencies are offering.

With all this taken into account I believe that that automated Project management will be an industry standard but for more complicated projects involving many words, stages and languages the Translation Project manager´s job is a long way from being automated.

One Stop Shop cuts translation rates

2011-09-13T04:04:00.000-07:00

One Stop Shop Translations has just cut its translation rates by up to 20% for some language combinations. The cuts are in line with the current economic climate but in no way reduce the quality of the translation services produced by One Stop Shop.

One Stop Shop Translation’s CEO, Mark Kieran says, “With these cuts on top of the cuts last November we see ourselves extremely competitive in the current market place. In fact I would go as far as to say that we are probably one of the most competitive in the world considering the quality of the translations we offer. We can afford to offer such great rates to our clients due to our low over head cost model and translator loyalty that we have built up over the years.”

One can request a translation quote here at or alternatively do an online translation quote here.

Translation rates and Prices

2011-08-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

One of the main difficulties when choosing a Translation services company is understanding why the translation prices vary so much from vendor to vendor.

There are many factors that contribute to the price of translation apart from straight forward translation. Many translation companies include the revision cost within their translation rates whereas other translation company’s prices simply cover just translation within their translation rate.

With regard to the language combination it tends to be reliant on different factors:
• The supply of the language combination. The rarer the combination the more expensive it tends to be.
• The cost of living in that particular target language country. For instance the cost of Scandinavian languages tends to be a lot higher than other languages as the living costs and average wage costs in countries such as Sweden, Norway and Denmark tend to be much higher. Translation into Spanish is one of the cheapest rates per word as there is a high supply of Spanish translators and the cost of living in these countries tends to be much lower.

The level of expertise required for the subject matter. In addition to be being a qualified translator the translator may also need to be qualified in the subject matter being translated. For instance a general business text will cost a lot less to translate than a medical text that requires a medical qualification in addition to a translation qualification.

The type of translation requested has a bearing on the translation rate. For instance in the case of software localization the rate may be higher as the translation rate includes resizing of the translated strings. In other cases the translation rate is charged separately to the additional services. For instance, in the case of desk top publishing the typesetting of the translated pages is charged separately to the translation itself.

Finally, does the company use translation memories? This may increase the rate. Translation memories involve a complicated workflow where the files to be translated need to be converted into a compatible for the TM environment. However, this extra work and cost is beneficial in the long run as previously translated texts can be re-used thus saving time, ensuring consistency and quality and cost in the long run.

As one can see there are many factors that have a bearing on the translation rate. The best thing to do is to shop around when requesting a translation quote. Request an itemized translation quote per word, language combination and additional translation service required. If you have requested three to four different translation quotes and you receive an itemized quote in this format it should be easy to compare which agency is the cheapest. Alternatively, it may give us an idea of where to outsource different translation services. For instance we may outsource French, German and Italian to company A, Spanish to Firm B and Publishing to Firm C as they are the cheapest in these respective services.

All you need to Know about Legal Translation?

2011-06-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

A legal translation is any translation used within the legal system. This can mean all manner of documents required by the civil and criminal justice systems. It includes documents such as contracts, patent and trademark filings, court and witness transcripts, depositions, registration documents, expert reports, legal disclaimers, affidavits, regulations, laws, confidentiality agreements, legal certifications and statements, government and legal ruling reports, letters of credit, technical documents to support litigation efforts , licenses, litigation and arbitration documents.

The list of legal translation is endless and we must also bear in mind that other documents become “legal” when they cross into the civil and criminal justice systems.
Examples include passports, death certificates, birth certificates, last wills and testaments, immigration documents, marriage certificates, powers of attorney, evidentiary recordings of phone calls, police interviews, court documents, contracts, complaints, judgments, affidavits, judgments, adoption papers, , summons, legal proceedings, trusts, partnership deeds, sales contracts, real estate titles or leases papers, permits, insurance policies, trademarks and copyrights, service agreements, escrow instructions, distribution agreements or arbitration documents.

The main question is when a document needs to be translated legally and the answer is when whenever the document is to be used by the courts or for legal matters. If, for example, you moved to another country with your family and died there, you would need a sworn or notarized translation of the will in the language of that country in order to go through the relevant legal proceedings of that country.

It is always best to have these things done in advance rather at the last minute at times of stress when mistakes are more likely to occur. After all, in a lot of cases these events will definitely occur so why add the extra stress.
This brings us to our next question. Who can do a legal translation and how do we know they have the credentials and qualifications to do the translation. In Spain for example a legal translation needs to be translated by a sworn translator. A sworn translator in Spain takes periodic exams with the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On passing these exams the sworn translations are accompanied by their stamp. In the United States it is less clear cut in that there are no official exams or licenses. There are voluntary certifications given by bodies such as the American Translators Association and the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters & Translators. These bodies work along similar lines to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in that the translators and interpreters have to pass periodic exams to maintain their status. Some translators may have a relevant legal background such as a law degree. When choosing a legal translator it’s really important that the translator or translation Agency has a demonstrable legal qualification or experience.

To make a legal Translation official a professional translation agency should be able to certify or notarize their translations with the relevant stamp from that particular country. At One stop Shop legal translations are notarized or stamped according to the country the translations are intended for. I would now like to define a few essential terms for legal translations that may help you decide in choosing the best qualified translator in the country you wish to use the translation.

A certified translation as one that has a document accompanying it attesting to its accuracy or validity, but is not notarized. With a notarized translation the accompanying certificate is notarized by the relevant legal representative.

A sworn translation has the official stamp of the sworn translator who is regulated by a Government body in that country

Below is a list of the qualifications per country used by One Stop Shop Translations to “legalize” a translation. In the case where a translator is sworn the translation is sworn in that particular country in order to legalize it.

French Legal Translation: Translators sworn and registered with a Regional court of Appeal in France.

Spanish legal translation: Translators sworn and registered with the Spanish Ministry of Foreign affairs.

German Legal translation: Translators sworn and registered with a regional court in Germany.

Italian Legal translation: Translations are sworn at the local Italian court of Justice on a case by case basis. Some legal translations need to be notarized before a notary and the relevant parties.

Austrian Legal translation: Translators sworn and registered with a regional court in Austria.

Dutch Legal translation: Translators sworn and registered with a regional court in Holland.

Portuguese Legal translation: Translators sworn and registered with a regional court in Portugal.

Czech Legal translation: Translators sworn and registered with a regional court in the Czech republic.

Polish legal translation: Translators sworn and registered with the Polish Ministry of Justice.

Romanian legal translation: Translators sworn and registered with the Romanian Ministry of Justice.

Turkish legal translation: Translators sworn and registered with the Turkish Ministry of Foreign affairs.

Venezuelan Legal Translation: Translators sworn and registered with the Venezuelan Ministry of Justice.

U.K. legal translation: no sworn translation system.

Argentinean Legal Translation: Translators sworn and registered with the Argentinean Ministry of Justice

U.S. legal translation: No sworn translation system. Translators are registered with the ATA (American translators association)

Mexican Legal Translation: Translators sworn and registered with the Mexican Superior Court of Justice

Norwegian Legal Translation: Translators sworn and registered with the Association of Government Authorized Translators.

South African Legal Translation: Translators sworn and registered with the South African High Court.

Swedish Legal Translation: Translators sworn and registered with the "Kammarkollegiet".

Your Spanish Translation Quote – Tips and Advice

2011-05-31T07:44:00.000-07:00

Choosing the correct translation services is often a very difficult and time consuming. These days there are thousands of freelancers, agencies, directories, software and methodologies. To add to this, the difference in the Spanish translation quotes from agency to agency can vary greatly. This mish-mash of decisions make it very difficult for a person to be happy with the choice they have made and may make them always wonder what they may be missing.
The aim of this article is to aid the reader to make informed decisions when purchasing translation services. The article touches many translation issues and hopefully some will be applicable to you the reader when making a safe decision.

The core resource of translation is course the translator. Let’s take a scenario where we have a friend who is bi-lingual in Spanish and English and a medical patent to translate from English to Spanish. Easy, he’s a friend and he’s cheap although he has no translation experience. Wrong, the consequences of choosing this resource, although cheap, could be disastrous. Every particular field of translation requires particular skills. In this case where we have a medical patent translation the translator needs to have grounding in medical science and be up to date with the latest medical terminology. In addition, they must also be experienced in writing in the particular style of medical patents, something which is learned over years of practice. At One Stop Shop we have medical patent translators with PHDs in fields such as chemistry, biology and biotechnology and years of experience translating in these particular fields. Even within the Medical or life Sciences field a translator with education and experience in chemistry would be a much better choice, than for instance a translator with a background in Biology, for the translation of a drug patent. It must also be emphasized that your translations should be handled by professionals. A good translator is a linguist, they have studied the art of translation, specialized in the language combination and fields they are most suited to and built up years of knowledge and experience. A linguist also has to mold the Spanish translation for an international audience meaning that the language must be neutral and not have any slang or regionalisms.

Some people may query the importance of being so selective when choosing a translator, after all, it’s only translation but take the example of the drug patent which is written by a chemist. To the average lay person the patent is double Dutch. The patent will only be understood by peers in the industry. This is why peers in the Spanish speaking drug patent field deserve to receive a high quality translation from a translator with grounding and experience translating drug patents regardless of the translation price.
The image of the company depends on it. A poor quality translation will cause untold damage within your industry and affect your standing within this industry.

Some clients may say that they have this great software that translates automatically. One thing to bear in mind that machine translation is only approximately 60-70% accurate, the rest of the fine tuning needs human intervention. While machine translation is good for informal translations and getting the general gist of something, professional translation that represents the image of the company requires a human. Then a client may say to edit the machine translation thus saving up to 70% of the costs. The reality is that a professional translation agency or translator will probably refuse to do this as editing a machine translation involves re-writing the whole translation and may involve more work than starting the translation from scratch.

The next question is whether to use a freelancer or a translation agency? The main question is what the difference is. With an agency the text is revised which is why the translation quote tends to be more expensive. The main advantage to having the text revised is that it is better to have a “second eye”. No matter how good the translator they are bound to make errors from time to time and in this respect, the revision cycle is like an extra safety net to eradicate these simple errors providing a higher quality translation.

To summarize, here are a few questions to ask oneself, before deciding on the translation service to use:
• Is the translator experienced and qualified in this particular field. Ask for a profile of the translator or better still ask for a sample of profiles and decide on the best fit
• Why is the translation so cheap from this agency? In some cases the translation rate may not include revision, hence the reduced fee. The translator may not be fully qualified either and cheaper to sub-contract.
• Does the Translation Agency use the latest Translation memory technology? This is very useful in the case of updates. The previous translation is re-used and hence reduces costs and ensures consistency.

Expansion of German Translation Services Department - One Stop Shop Translations

2010-11-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

One Stop Shop Translations has just announced the expansion of its internal German translation services department with the recruitment of an additional German translator. The recent recruitment of the German translator coincides with the expansion of the Spanish translation department showing the growth of One Stop Shop Translations over the past two months. The company operates a strict translation and revision policy where text is translated externally and revised in-house. The internal German translation team has now risen from one to two staff, solely dedicated to revision.

One Stop Shop Translation’s CEO, Mark Kieran says, “The expansion of the German and Spanish translation departments shows the growth and confidence of the company despite the current economic conditions. With further ambitious plans to expand the French translation department and employ a Chinese translator in-house we are looking forward to slashing costs while maintaining our high quality standards. All these developments are indeed very exciting and encouraging”

Now the company covers all German translation sectors such as Medicine, tourism, journalism, finance, real estate, marketing to name but a few..

Expansion of Spanish Translation Services Department - One Stop Shop Translations

2010-11-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

One Stop Shop Translations has just announced the expansion of its internal Spanish translation services department. The company operates a strict translation and revision policy where text is translated externally and revised in-house. The internal Spanish translation team has now risen from two to four staff, solely dedicated to revision.

One Stop Shop Translation’s CEO, Mark Kieran says, “With the recent surge in the English Spanish translation demand we had no choice but to expand our internal Spanish translation team to maintain our quality standards. It’s a really encouraging sign of the growth of One Stop Shop Translations over the past two years.”

Now the company covers all Spanish translation sectors such as Banking, finance, eLearning, Information technology, medical translation, business, legal and many others.

Medical Translation Services

2010-10-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

Medicine is an ever changing field due to scientific and technological developments. Consequently, there is always new terms being added to the medical dictionary. Due to the nature of medicine, medical professionals tend to use the original source term in the target language. This results in a lot of English terms being used in the medical lexicon, similar to all the English terms used in the information technology sector.

When these terms appear for medical translation later we are left with heterogeneous translations across publications. In some cases the medical students translation lacks sufficient knowledge of the target and source language while the professional translator’s translation lacks in-depth knowledge of the subject matter.

This goes a long way to explaining a doctor’s reluctance to adopt new translated terms into the medical lexicon. The next question is of course how can we navigate these difficulties. Firstly it is important that the amateur translator with a strong background in the specialist field have strong relations with a professional translator. Visa versa, it is important the professional translator have reliable contacts in the subject fields he/she is translating. In the perfect scenario we are hoping for a professional translator qualified and experienced in the specialist field he/she is translating.

Finding the perfect scenario is in reality a very tall order. This is mainly due to the fact that most medical fields are better paid than professional translation.
Extensive bibliographical research should always be done on previously published terms, making an effort to stick with the original choice made by the first translator (provided it makes sense). Consistent translations make the text easier to understand and facilitate the incorporation of new words into the terminology. Finally, if publishers and translation companies are committed to the services they provide, they will pay their professionals well. Poorly paid work leads to poor quality work. These measures will help improve the quality of medical translations, whether the terms are left translated or not.

Legal Translation Services

2010-10-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

Legal translation is extremely complex and should never be done by someone who is not qualified to translate legal documents accurately to the target language. A legal translator not only translates from one language into another but also from one legal system to another. The translator must understand local culture and have detailed knowledge of the legal system in the country for which the translation is intended.

The legal translator should also be a native speaker of the target language and have a fundamental understanding of the source language. Legal Mistranslations can have devastating consequences and even result in legal action against the company or person involved. A slight paraphrase can change the legal meaning of a document
On 13 November 2007, during the long-running media pursuit of the case of the missing English girl in Portugal, reporter Fiona Govan filed a report on ‘Madeleine McCann: Possible translation errors’ in the UK Telegraph.

“Inconsistencies in the statements given by the McCanns and the group of friends who were dining with them at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance may have been caused by errors in translation, it emerged today. Portuguese detectives investigating the case of the missing four-year-old have admitted that they are reassessing the original witness statements to look for inaccuracies in their translation.”

Terminology plays a key role and the legal translator should have a full understanding in this area and be able to adapt the text from the source language to the target language without losing anything in translation. This requires expertise and experience. Legal matters are constantly changing throughout the world and the legal translator must keep abreast with these changes.

When sourcing legal translators it is important that they fulfil the following criteria:
Familiarity with the relevant legal terminology

Knowledge of the legal systems, both of the source and target languages;

Confidentiality

Timely delivery of your translated documents.

Accuracy and attention to detail

Accurate legal translations can be delivered only by highly specialised translators who have a comprehensive working knowledge and experience in the legal industry.
A good legal translator should also be a specialist in a particular legal area, such as:
International law
Civil law
Corporate law
Property law
Tax and accounting law
Insurance law
Patent law and etc.

Translation Quotes and the Hidden Costs

2010-10-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

Translation Quotes and the Hidden Costs

The world of translation can be quite misleading at the best of times but especially when it comes to the quoting process. The problem with translation quotes is that there is no standard for pricing the work. Some companies quote by line, others by line or character and others by word. Usually, the most reliable form to receive the quote is priced by word. Apart from being the easiest to count, it is the unit used with Translation Memory technology. The following article will help the discerning client to understand the translation quote process and awaken them to the possible hidden costs of translation.

Translation Memories

We mention Translation Memory technology as this has a significant impact on the cost of a translation. A translation memory, or TM, is a database that stores so-called "segments", which can be sentences or sentence-like units (headings, titles or elements in a list), that have been previously translated. A translation-memory system stores the words, phrases and paragraphs that have already been translated and aid human translators. The translation memory stores the source text and its corresponding translation in language pairs called “translation units”.

When translating later versions of collateral (software, documentation, multimedia etc.) the previously translated version can be re-cooped from the translation memory to significantly reduce the cost of the translation. In some cases a translation asset can be up to 80% translated already. Some companies do not offer this technology but the ones that do often charge different rates for the words that are 100% matching or already translated. While this is a normal practise, as the 100% matching strings need to be checked in any case, it is wise to be weary of this cost as the rates differ per agency.

Also, some documents like legal documents and software can be very repetitive. In normal practise these repeated words should be charged at the same rate as 100% matching words, however, in a lot of cases the client never sees these benefits.

Other Costs

Some quotes will not contain other costs and the client must ask himself:
• Is the VAT included?
• Does the quote include a project management fee and if not is there one? A lot of translation agencies will charge up to a 10% project management fee.
• Is revision included in the price per word translation rate? A lot of agencies will have a cheaper rate as there is no revision on the translation itself. The client has to ask oneself quality or price is more important.

These are just some of the pitfalls facing the client when requesting the quote. In all cases it is best to send the documents to the clients for quotation and shop around. Ask for the same quote from different translation agencies to draw your own conclusions.
Why not? It’s up to you to get the best value for your own money?

No recession for the translation services sector

2010-10-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

In today’s climate most industries are experiencing rapid or steady declines. The unlikely scenario of steady growth is occurring in the translation sector.
Studying the translation sector allows us to see the growth of society towards Globalization. The need to cross cultural barriers is at the core of modern business and in this process translators are revolutionizing global communications.

When analyzing the translation services sector a very common term used is language service provider (LSP). Other services provided by LSP’s include interpreting, localization, internationalization and supporting technologies. Interpreting involves the translation of one spoken voice to another. Localization is the process of adapting a product or service to a particular language, culture, and desired local "look-and-feel." Internationalization is the process of planning and implementing products and services so that they can easily be adapted to specific local languages and cultures, a process called localization. Supporting technologies are those that technologically aid a user in learning or honing his or her language skills.

The reason that there hasn’t been much data collected on LSPs until recently is due to the fact that most LSPs were privately held and were reluctant to divulge such information. Recently with acquisitions some LSPs have grown so large that they are now publically traded. The first data on LSPs was recorded quite recently, in the late 1990s, by the US Census and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Due to this lack of concrete information one can only make general predictions of the annual revenue spent on translation with a 9 to 21 billion dollars being a conservative estimate. Even without these concrete numbers to justify this figure there is no doubt that the importance of the LSP is increasing. Language options on websites, customer service calls and TV are testament to this.

According to Common Sense Advisory, the global language services market totalled $14.25 billion in 2008. Common Sense expects the industry to increase to around $25 billion by 2013, almost 11% five years. In the 2006 the US Department of Labor predicts a 24% increase in the number of US translators by 2016. To understand these statistics more we have a breakdown of the top 30 LSPs per territory.

Asia, $106.3M, 2.8%
Scandinavia, $130M, 3.4%
Rest of Europe, $637M, 16.8%
UK, $565M, 14.9%
USA, $2,334M, 62.1%

When considering these figures it is important to note that the LSP model is more developed in the UK and USA. For instance in mainland Europe there are a lot more sole translators.

While a lot of the growth can be attributed to globalization we cannot forget the importance of the internet. The internet has revolutionized the way that we exchange information and has exponentially increased the amount of information available. Translated information can reach any corner of the earth with the click of a button. The industry continues to grow as other countries, specifically those in Asia and the Middle East, follow this example in an effort to expand their audience reach to the United States and Europe.

The growth of the translation services industry and the role the internet plays in promoting this growth consolidates an upward trend. With the online marketplace getting more diverse, the demand for translation is ever increasing. The scope for the development of the non-English speaking translation market is phenomenal.
The importance of the translation services sector is growing in importance to the extent that what officially existed as an unrecorded industry up until 20 years ago is now a thriving industry with an expected value of $25 billion in the coming years. The importance of man’s need to communicate will always drive the sector upwards.

Translation Services | Madrid Spain | Translation Quote

2010-09-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

Translation Services | Madrid Spain | Translation Quote

German Translation Resources from englishtogermantranslation.net goes live!

2010-02-22T02:06:00.000-08:00

englishtogermantranslation.net’s website has gone live offering German translation resources. The site has a collection of links from Employment to Travel resources.
The site is offered in English courtesy of One Stop Shop Translations.

englishtogermantranslation.net CEO, Mark Kieran says "Over the years I have always found it difficult to find German resources in English. We hope that the site offers the internet world a consolidated environment for the User to find German resources, a reference point for German".

The site is driven on reciprocal links and is very selective about the links uploaded to its directories.

English French Interpreting in Madrid from One Stop Shop Translations

2010-02-17T03:03:00.000-08:00

One Stop Shop Translations is now offering English to French and French to English for sworn, consecutive, whispered and business group Interpreting. While the company offers most other interpreting combinations it has an English to French Interpreting team of more then twenty specialised interpreters in their respective fields.

One Stop Shop Translation’s CEO, Mark Kieran says, “With the English French English interpreting combination being by far the most popular on the Madrid market, to due its status as a hub for international conferences, One Stop Shop realised the importance of expanding its interpreting team for this particular combination.”

Now the company covers all interpreting services and language combinations but most importantly it covers all specialised fields per combination.

English Spanish Interpreting in Madrid from One Stop Shop Translations

2010-02-17T02:54:00.000-08:00

One Stop Shop Translations is now offering English to Spanish and Spanish to English for sworn, consecutive, whispered and business group Interpreting. While the company offers most other interpreting combinations it has an English to Spanish Interpreting team of more then twenty specialised interpreters in their respective fields.

One Stop Shop Translation’s CEO, Mark Kieran says, “With the English Spanish English interpreting combination being by far the most popular on the Madrid market, to due its status as a hub for international conferences, One Stop Shop realised the importance of expanding its interpreting team for this particular combination.”

Now the company covers all interpreting services and language combinations but most importantly it covers all specialised fields per combination.

New Range of Interpreting Facilities in Madrid

2010-02-17T02:28:00.000-08:00

One Stop Shop Translation has released its comprehensive new range of interpreting services. The company now provides simultaneous interpreting, consecutive interpreting, sworn interpreting, whispered interpreting and interpreting for business groups. While the main language combinations are from English, German, French and Chinese to Spanish, One Stop Shop provides almost every other language combination. In most cases the most popular combination tends to be from English to Spanish and Spanish to English, however, in recent months the company has noticed a steady increase in the demand for Spanish to Chinese and Chinese to Spanish interpreting.

One Stop Shop Translation’s CEO, Mark Kieran says, “With Madrid being the geographical centre of Iberia and the administrative centre of Spain there is a huge demand for interpreting services. With our range of services and languages we hope to cover this gap in the market. It shows how One Stop Shop Translations has grown over the last two years in that it has the confidence to handle these new demands. We are more than confident that we can cater for any realistic interpreting combination”.

The company also provides Interpreting quotes online allowing perspective clients to compare their rates for competitiveness.

Translation Services | Madrid Spain | Translation Quote

2010-01-05T13:20:00.000-08:00

Translation Services | Madrid Spain | Translation Quote

Interpretación profesional ¦ Madrid

2009-10-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

A la hora de organizar congresos y eventos multilingües, es vital entender cómo se va a conseguir una comunicación fluida y ágil entre personas que hablan diferentes idiomas. El problema de la incomprensión mutua es tan viejo como la bíblica Torre de Babel, pero su antigüedad no justifica la falta de preparación para superarlo.

Primero. Hay que asegurarse de que toda la documentación esté bien escrita en todos los idiomas del evento. El hecho de no dominar un idioma no puede ser óbice a la hora de asegurar la calidad de las traducciónes. Es lamentable la cantidad de documentos que salen en un inglés macarrónico hoy en día, por culpa de la pereza de determinadas personas a las que no les preocupa ser comprendidas por los extranjeros. Por muy gracioso que resulte leer en un restaurante chino una traducción que incita a la risa, en un congreso serio da lugar a falta de confianza en los organizadores y, por ende, en la seriedad del congreso en sí, lo que no conviene a nadie. Si no hablas el idioma en cuestión, asegúrate de que un nativo lea la traducción antes de darle el visto bueno. Pocos documentos se publican en castellano sin que haya una segunda lectura, y la misma regla sirve para las traducciónes. El traductor traduce, pero un lector tiene que editar la traducción antes de publicarla.

Segundo. Debe pensarse en el tema de la interpretación. Hay diferentes tipos de interpretación y diferentes tipos de intérprete. Desgraciadamente, pocos organizadores tienen tiempo para conocer a todos los intérpretes de su mercado. Y existe un fenómeno que suscita grandes problemas en la contratación a ciegas: Hay intérpretes que se creen muy buenos, pero nunca llegan a serlo, e intérpretes con poca autoestima, que nunca te van a reconocer lo buenos que son. Por eso, la figura del intérprete asesor es tan importante. Este intérprete debe ser una persona de plena confianza, capaz de elegir a los mejores para realizar la interpretación, teniendo en cuenta sus calidades técnicas y humanas, su combinación de idiomas y sus preferencias personales. (Dos intérpretes que se odian pueden echar a perder un congreso, por muy banal que parezca). También tiene que saber aconsejarte sobre otros aspectos relaciónados con la interpretación, como son las cabinas, los técnicos de sonido, las salas, el programa, etc. Hay que encontrar a un intérprete asesor con quien te sientas cómodo, porque la relación va a ser tensa en los momentos de mayor presión, cuando resulta necesario asegurar la flexibilidad para afrontar los cambios de última hora que suelen surgir en cualquier gran evento. Cuanto antes se produzca el contacto con el intérprete asesor, mejor. Así tendrá tiempo para conocer las características concretas del trabajo que tiene que organizar.

Los intérpretes aportan al evento algo más que un mero traslado de significado de un idioma a otro. El organizador tiene que ayudar al intérprete asesor a entender en qué consiste el evento, y aprovechar su experiencia para ofrecer los mejores servicios posibles a los asistentes. Por ejemplo: En una reunión de marketing, priman la calidez de voz y la convicción en la presentación. En una presentación de resultados, priman la rapidez y la precisión. En reuniones técnicas, priman los matices y los detalles, pero a veces también la interacción humana entre personas de diferentes lenguas que tienen que formar un equipo. El intérprete asesor siempre busca el perfil idóneo para aportar los intérpretes más adecuados a cada tipo de reunión.

El intérprete asesor también puede ayudarte a confecciónar el programa de la forma más eficaz para minimizar el trauma de la interpretación. Por muy útiles que sean, los auriculares son molestos y es mejor organizar las naciónalidades de los ponentes de forma tal que haya cambios frecuentes de idiomas y los oyentes puedan escuchar una ponencia a través de la interpretación, seguida por otra en su idioma nativo, para descansar. Y es antieconómico programar una ponencia interpretada por la mañana y otra por la tarde y tener que pagar a los intérpretes para trabajar una jornada completa, cuando se puede englobar a todos los extranjeros en una única sesión. En general, los servicios se tipifican según el siguiente esquema:

Interpretación simultánea

El ponente habla directamente al público a través de un micrófono conectado a los auriculares de los intérpretes situados en una cabina. A la vez que habla, los intérpretes ofrecen una conversión de sus palabras en el idioma diana. Las palabras traducidas pueden estar emitidas dentro de una red cerrada (por ejemplo, dentro de la sala) o de una red abierta (por ejemplo, un webcast). Por las responsabilidades mayores del webcast, los intérpretes suelen cobrar un plus por salir en vivo fuera del lugar de la presentación.

Esta técnica también puede servir para reuniones más interactivas, por ejemplo, Consejos de Administración. Según la tipología de la reunión, si sólo hay dos idiomas se pueden poner cabinas mixtas, en cuyo caso los intérpretes interpretan en ambos sentidos desde y hacia el idioma de la reunión y el idioma diana. Cuando hay más idiomas, se suelen utilizar cabinas puras en las que los intérpretes pueden traducir desde varios idiomas hacia un único idioma (como se hace en la ONU y en la Unión Europea). Ambos tienen sus ventajas y sus inconvenientes. Las cabinas puras requieren más espacio, pero suelen ofrecer mejor calidad, sobre todo en el estilo de expresión de los intérpretes. El intérprete asesor tiene que asegurarse de los conocimientos de los intérpretes y de su verdadero dominio de los idiomas. El organizador tiene derecho a pedir que tan sólo los interpretes nativos traduzcan hacia su idioma nativo, porque en el caso contrario se pierden las ventajas de la “pureza” del idioma. Cuando se hace la interpretación both ways (en ambos sentidos), es inevitable que cada intérprete tenga su preferencia por uno u otro idioma, y si la interpretación es correcta, el cliente no puede quejarse por los acentos o pequeños deslices sintácticos. No obstante, en general, con tiempo suficiente para hacer una contratación eficaz, un buen intérprete asesor va a conseguir los mejores para cada trabajo.

Chuchotage

Es una variante de la simultánea en la que los intérpretes no utilizan cabina, y/o susurran al oído de uno o (como mucho) dos oyentes en el idioma diana, o utilizan un infoport (micrófono con transmisor) para atender a hasta diez personas que están conectadas por auriculares con receptores. Es un estorbo para la reunión. Los intérpretes tienen que estar físicamente presentes y se oye el murmullo constante de su interpretación, pero es eficaz para reuniones pequeñas y no especialmente formales.

Interpretación consecutiva

El ponente habla mientras el intérprete toma notas escritas, para luego leerlas en voz alta en el idioma diana. La consecutiva real conlleva una técnica muy ardua y los intérpretes tienen que ser capaces de reproducir sin perder detalles un discurso de hasta veinte minutos.

Esta técnica se utiliza tanto en ruedas de prensa como en negociaciónes y por teléfono. Hay que tener en cuenta que alarga la reunión más del doble, por lo que no es aconsejable en reuniones muy interactivas; pero en negociaciónes puede ser útil para que el cliente compruebe la exactitud de la interpretación y aproveche para escuchar dos veces lo dicho. Por teléfono, se utiliza a través de las conference call, para llamadas entre personas que no tienen un idioma en común. (Se puede hacer en simultánea también, pero el sonido no suele ser de suficiente calidad, y el orador no tiene la posibilidad de volver a escuchar sus palabras, por si quiere añadir o matizar detalles). Hay muchos intérpretes de simultánea que no hacen interpretación consecutiva. Aunque la gente suele pensar que cualquiera lo puede hacer, en realidad, requiere mucha formación y una personalidad extrovertida.

Interpretación acompañante

Cuando una persona necesita ayuda con el idioma, pero no es una situación formal, se puede contratar a un intérprete acompañante, si no prima la calidad. El intérprete asesor debe saber distinguir entre la interpretación consecutiva, que resulta bastante cara, y la interpretación acompañante, que no necesariamente tiene que costar tanto. Por ejemplo, se pueden encontrar estudiantes bilingües dispuestos a ir con los acompañantes de los congresistas a visitar museos, ir de compras, etc.

Pero ojo a la hora de meter intérpretes acompañantes en situaciónes desconocidas. No siempre es posible fiarse del cliente que alega que son “conversaciónes que no necesitan interpretación profesional”. A veces tales “conversaciónes” luego resultan ser negociaciónes con muchos matices muy importantes y mucha terminología técnica. O pueden ser procesos de Due Diligence, en los que los auditores entran en una empresa para hablar con los directivos de asuntos que requieren experiencia en la materia.

Conclusión

La comunicación humana puede funciónar bien si los problemas se identifican de antemano y se ponen los medios para superar barreras. En los congresos y demás eventos, las barreras más obvias son los idiomas. Una buena interpretación puede hacer que el evento sea todo un éxito. Una mala interpretación lo puede hundir.

Al igual que en la vida misma, si reflexionamos sobre el tema de antemano y nos hacemos asesorar por personas de suficiente experiencia, podemos conseguir resultados magníficos. A veces una buena interpretación vale más que la versión original

Spanish translation Differences

2009-09-17T04:54:00.000-07:00

Like popular European languages such as Italian and French, Spanish is derived from Latin. However, we must also bear in mind that other languages such as French and Arabic have had a strong influence on the Spanish language. When Spanish explorers "discovered" Latin America, the Spanish language used by the early settlers evolved into a distinctive dialect of Spanish with its own flavour and style. This new dialect of Spanish married the European and South American cultures to become what is generally called South American Spanish. Latin American Spanish is now spoken all over South America in places such as Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador with each country again having it's own specific nuances and dialects.

The differences between Latin American Spanish and European Spanish are in many respects similar to the differences between American and English meaning that Latin American Spanish speakers and European Spanish speakers have no difficulties understanding each other. The major differences between the two spoken dialects are as follows:

Spaniards tend to pronounce the z and the c before i or e like the "th" in "thick," while many Latin Americans pronounce it as the s. Also, some South Americans and in Argentina in particular, often pronounce the ll and y like the "s" in "measure." They also tend to drop s sounds, so está sounds like etá. In parts of South America, the j sounds like the "ch" in "loch" while in others it sounds like the English "h." Finally, the l and the r at the end of a word can sometimes sound alike. All of these pronunciation differences coupled with a slower pace and softer tone when speaking Latin American Spanish enable is to tell very easily where someone is from.

When it comes to South American Spanish translation and Spanish translation the differences are again very subtle and a Spaniard will generally have no problems understanding a South American text but there are some differences on grammar and vocabulary making it more logical to employ a native South American Spanish translator to translate texts specific to a particular South American market.
On grammar, two of the major differences that the Spanish translator will take into consideration are the leísmo of Spain and the use of the pronoun vos in some areas instead of tú. Secondly, vosotros is often used as the plural of tú (the singular familiar "you") in Spain, while in Latin American ustedes is used.
Vocabulary is where the major differences lie and can differ vastly even within South America emphasising again the importance of hiring a translator native to a particular locale or market. As they say there is no substitute for local knowledge.

Here are some of the misunderstandings that can arise from not hiring a native speaking translator to a specific market.

A Spanish translator may translate "to step on" as "pisar" while this maybe understood as "to have sex" in Latin American Spanish. A Spanish translator may translate "car" as "coche" while this maybe understood as "baby stroller" in Latin American Spanish. A "lápiz" is a pencil or crayon everywhere, but a "lapicero" is a pencil holder in some areas, a mechanical pencil in others, and a ball-point pen in others. There are also a number of blatant differences, such as a computer being an "ordenador" in Spain but a "computadora" in Latin America. Even within Latin Spanish we have the example where a Chinese restaurant is called a "chifa" in Peru and Chile but this word is very uncommon in other dialects of South American Spanish.

All in all, when sub-contracting your translation services for Latin Spanish do your research and ensure that your translator is not only a native South American Spanish translator but also native to the particular area/locale for which your text is being translated.

Translation as a career

2009-06-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

There are two main types of translators: translators who work with anything written or published, and interpreters, who listen and translate a voice as it is being spoken. Translators may work on software, internet related materials or a variety of documents, including legal, business-related, technical, or “literary” texts, and is generally paid by the word. Interpreters are normally paid by the hour at business conferences, courts or government proceedings. Simultaneous interpreting is probably the most difficult discipline of translation as the interpreters need to be highly trained and fluent to interpret the voice of the speaker in real time. While translators can find their profession very challenging, it can also be quit tedious churning through word after word of, for example, technical texts. Translators, on the other hand, on the other hand have significant advantages in that they have time to polish their final product revising their translations with dictionaries, glossaries and other reference tools. A variety of working environments exist for translators such as various translation environments for software translation and website translation that include translation memories and glossaries. It can often take significant training for the translator to get fully up to speed with these tools.

Simultaneous interpreters must have very versatile backgrounds. A strong business background may be extremely useful to the simultaneous translator. Many companies offer 60 hours worth of training for these translators once hired. To become a technical translator, applicants must pass an exam and receive special certification. These translators must also posses excellent technical writing skills. Thankfully, many companies offer test preparation classes to ready applicants for the exams. Court translators generally need to be certified by the governments of their countries and need to pass exams for this certification. Other translators work in academic fields either studying or interpreting foreign texts. This is where there is often the most room for creative expression. However, it is also the area most likely to be widely scrutinized.

The route into translation is very structured and predictable, particularly for employment in the United Nations or other government agency. Those seeking the greatest opportunities for employment should be fluent in English and in one of the official languages of the United Nations; French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, or Chinese. There are, however, numerous job opportunities for those possessing fluency in other languages. Applicants should have a language degree, preferably a B.S., B.A., or Masters. Employers prefer candidates who have exceptional fluency in at least two languages, though; many language combinations can often be off-putting for an employer due to the lack of specialization in a combination they are looking for. This may often also be the case for the field a translator may specialize in. A translator specialized in a particular field and language combination for ten years is often more likely to be chosen over a translator who has several working combinations and fields for the last ten years.

Candidates should be fluent in at least two cultures. Cultural study is an area that potential translators cannot overlook as it is invaluable to understanding the nuances of any work to be translated. However there is no substitute for living in the particular target language country.

During the first year of employment an average of only five percent of translators leaves the field. This incredibly low drop-out rate is due largely to the fact that translators often sign two-year contracts with their employers. Otherwise, the effort exerted in obtaining the job is often enough incentive to remain. Finally, there are few surprises in a career in translation, as the applicant is well prepared for this position from his experience in school, the tests and interviews, and the training programs for new interpreters.

Free Blog Translation Widget

2009-04-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

One Stop Shop Translations has recemtly launched it's sister site http://www.translatemefree.com. The website website has gone live offering a customizable translation widget in over 30 languages. There are three different designs of the widget and 15 languages available on the website. Tailored design of the widget and addition and deletion of languages are available free upon request.

Translatemefree CEO, Mark Kieran says "this translation widget is an ideal way for those without a budget to translate their website or blog into various languages. It is also unique in that translatemefree offer tailored designs upon request so that the design fits seamlessly into your website design. While the widget translations are only 60-70% accurate the general gist of a text can be understood".

In addition to the free website translation widget the site offers a human edited directory. The directory contains all the latest links for the translation industry professional.

Hiring Translation Services and Due Diligence

2008-12-23T03:37:00.000-08:00

As a translation services manager on the client side you are probably aware of the many questions you should ask when hiring translation services companies. Your department is centralized with linguists and project managers specialized in the area. But often, especially in many smaller companies, employees are tasked with sub-contracting large translations under the assumption that their task should be simple thus ignoring due diligence and causing mayhem.
Typical problems often ignored include differing file formats requiring different engineering tasks and ensuing costs. On the linguistic side there are many considerations to be taken into account to ensure quality such as the volume and deadline, the translation agency quality procedures and the flavor of the language into which the document is being translated.

The following is a series of questions and answers to consider when outsourcing your translation services needs:

1. What is the source language and target of the document? One must bear in mind that certain language combinations are harder to come by than others which has a bearing on availability and cost. Translating from English to French is a much easier outsourcing process than from Zulu to French.

2. What is the flavor of the target language? For instance a French translator from Paris translating into Algerian French can lead to a lot of quality issues.

3. What is the reason for the translation? For instance in the case of a legal translation, does the translation need to be sworn or certified.

4. What is the standard required for the translation? Will it be published and be the corporate face of the company or is it just for internal purposes only?

5. Is there a particular style of the translation? For instance does it have to adhere to an in-house style guide? Are there particular terms for the translation to adhere to? Perhaps the layout has to adhere to a particular in-house style?

6. What is the field of translation? Is it a legal, business or medical translation? In this case ensure the translator has the relevant experience translating in this particular field, ask the agency for a translator profile.

7. Check and see if you can provide the translation services company reference material such as previous translations, glossaries etc.

8. What format is the document in? Depending on the format there maybe additional engineering costs for the target language. Do you have the capacity to do these tasks in-house or is it more cost beneficial and realistic to outsource these tasks? Ask for a quote and ensure that you understand the additional engineering costs that are involved and decide from there. If you have done your homework in advance you will often get a feel for the level of professionalism and expertise that the client has.

9. Be aware of the translation metrics involved in translation and it’s engineering tasks. If your deadline is too soon you may have to realize that this will have an effect on quality and consistency

10. Will you have to send updates of the files after the agency has started translating? Has there been a system devised to cope with these updates between you and the client. Are you prepared for an elevated translation quote due to the updates and advised your boss?

11. Do you require Translation Memory technology to be used by the vendor? Are their Translation memory rates as competitive as other vendors? Shop around and get other translation quotes.

12. It often helps to proofread the source text before being sent to translation. This avoids updates and poorly written texts which lead to poor translations

13. Is copyright to be retained or transferred?

14. What are the payment terms?

15. Is there a set of business terms and conditions?

Translation Memory Demonstration - One Stop Shop Translations

2008-10-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

Choosing a Translation Services company or Machine Translation

2008-10-27T14:54:00.000-07:00

As we are all aware the translation industry is awash with translation tools such Spell checkers, translation memories and automated glossaries. But is the feasibility of machine translation a reality in this day and age. By explaining the doubts and limitations of machine translation I hope to clarify to clarify some of the preconceived notions that the general public may have about the field and aid them in deciding on Machine translation or a translation services company.

The notion of computer translation is not new. In fact shortly after World War II the American Government had already began investing considerable resources in the field without the slightest doubt that the concept was not a reality.Some common terms in this field indicate the some of the difficulties that those pioneers of machine translation were to encounter, for example the difference between machine translation which is the translation of text by a machine and Computer Aided translation which is the translation of texts by a translator with the aid of translation tools. Under Machine translation there are three types of system namely Batch, Interactive, and Interlingual Approaches. A Batch method has coded rules to `decide' on the best translation. There is no need for a translator.

With an Interactive system the translator is present and decides on the translation options provided by the translation system.

With an Interlingual approach the source translation is translated to an intermediate language that is used to translate back and forth between the source and target languages.CAT and MT software these days use either the Batch or interlingual approach.

With MT translation most texts tend to have a 70% accuracy e.g Google translate. Most experts now concede that 100% accuracy is not possible. Three terms that crop up are Fully Aandutomatic High Quality Translation which is in my view is impossible to achieve, Fully Automatic Low Quality Translation and Partly Automatic Medium Quality Translation. The percentage accuracy claims of Machine translation is open to debate as there is no universal standard to measure this and accuracy claims tend to be very subjective.

When to use Machine Translation over Translation Services companies. There are five important criteria when choosing whether to use machine translation over translation Service companies.

1. Subject matter. Here the computer can have an immense advantage especially in regard to technical texts. In the case of a field like Life sciences where the vocabulary is very specific, the Machine Translation system can have a terminology Database built up over years which is impossible for a Translation Service company to compete with. Of course the quality depends on the amount of work and quality of the work put into the Machine translation’s dictionary.

2. Speed. Speed is an area where the computer reigns supreme considering that the average translator translates at a rate of 2,500 words per day.

3. Level of accuracy. We already discussed the levels of accuracy. If a text is solely for information then a fully automated translation is feasible but if we need 100% accurate translation the amount of time spent post-editing the MT system can often outweigh the benefits of using this system.

4. Consistency of vocabulary. Again the computer is excellent when it comes to consistency. One centralized MT system ensures consistency as opposed to a Translation vendor outsourcing a large job or different jobs over time to different translators. It is often the case that no two translators translate a sentence in the same way. Of course, the success of the MT depends on the preprogramming done beforehand.

5. Cost. Bearing in mind that the computer can tick all the right boxes for speed, consistency, level of accuracy and subject matter one has to bear in mind that successful Machine translation systems require substantial investment to populate them with high quality and a high volume of content which, of course, has to be passed onto to the client of a Translation Services company.

It’s pretty evident from the above points that the computer can yield impressive results but what we must realize is that current MT systems will not give 100% accurate translations. If this level of accuracy is required it’s always best to hire the services of a translation company.

Choosing A Translation Services Company

2008-07-31T10:16:00.000-07:00

I am often surprised to hear that Localization managers are not happy with the level of service they are receiving from their translation vendors. Frequent complaints about missed deadlines, poor linguistic quality and unresponsive project managers seem to be the norm. Then when I ask about their prices I wonder why they wish to stay with the same translation services company when receiving such a bad level of service. To add insult to injury when the words Translation memories or translation savings are mentioned they seem unaware of the idea. Similarly with Managers complaining of prolonged schedules the same question springs to mind, “Why stick to the same vendor with such a poor level of service”.

The main reason why these Managers are reluctant to change is the risk involved which outweighs the unknown reward. To lower this risk and have visibility of the partial benefits of two or multiple vendors why not protect your Translation assets thus ensuring full independence when out-sourcing. While maybe being a little more labor intensive the multiple vendor model keeps current vendors more competitive and allows you to easily draw comparisons on the level of service you are receiving. How can you possibly tell how fast your vendor is, the competitiveness of their translation prices and the efficiency of their processes with a single vendor model?

Implementing the multiple-vendor model?

The first thing to do is to request your Translation memories. At One Stop Shop we acknowledge the importance of our clients requesting Translation Memory imports to protect their intellectual property while at the same are not worried about entering the competitive vendor model because of the confidence we have in the level of our service.
Remember you have every right to your TMs as it is your intellectual property.

1. Phase in alternative Vendors.
Ask One Stop Shop Translations for a quote here and your current vendor for a quote. If you have supplied us the TMs you will have a direct comparison of the price per word rates and the savings from using the TM. If the TMs are not supplied at least you will have a comparison of the translation rates which will not let you down. You, you will have clear visibility on additional services you are being charged for e.g. Project Management

2. Hire One Stop Shop Translations on a test project
This is a good way to measure our quality and customer service.

3. Phase in more projects to One Stop Shop Translations
Provided you are happy of course phase in more work to your second vendor.

Quality, Turnaround and Cost
All vendors profess a quick turn around, high quality and unbeatable prices so at least now with the multiple vendor model you can draw your own comparisons. It may be helpful to keep a checklist or post-project feedback form to collate all criteria scores over a period of time. Apart from the quality, price and turnaround other effective criteria that may be selected are responsiveness, relationship, due diligence, reporting and technology.
One Stop Shop Translations can help you draw up these checklists free of charge and help you phase in a higher level of translation services.
With regard to quality you may not have the luxury of your country reviewers to judge this but there are other methods which One Stop Shop Translations can guide you through. Extensive quality criteria are always recommended.
With regard to cost, apart from having lower rates One Stop Shop Translations have no hidden costs with regard to the pre-project quote, that’s right, no Project Management costs, no update costs within reason. Due to our due diligence One Stop will negotiate any grey areas of the project at the Quote stage, still remain competitive and avoid any nasty surprises for the client with the invoice.
At all stages the client has to right to the analysis files (Trados, Catalyst, FrameMaker etc.) and will receive a clear explanation if there are still in the dark.

Choosing One Stop Shop Translations
While there are many translation services companies to choose from, we will distinguish ourselves from the competition by our friendly and highly qualified people, free consultancy and Project Management services and our expertise in your industry. We would love the opportunity to demonstrate these things to you and describe how we've been able to help other clients in your position make a change for the better. To schedule a discussion with One Stop Shop Translations, please call +34–91-365-9608.

Mark Kieran,
Director,
One Stop Shop Translations S.L.
mark.kieran@onestopshoptranslations.com
www.onestopshoptranslations.com
(Madrid) 0034 91 365 9608

One Stop Shop Translations

2008-07-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

Professional Translation Services
All your translation services in One Stop. With over 5,000 specialist translators based world wide we're in a ideal position to translate any type of text whether it's Science, Legal, Business, Marketing, or any other field One Stop Shop Translations uses only native translators for each target language. All translation projects go through a cycle of translation and revision. With over thirty years experience we cater for up to 140 languages.

Translation Company Profile
One Stop Shop Translations was founded by three seasoned localization professionals striving to make their own mark on the industry. Drawing on a rich background of Localization Project Management skills, engineering skills and linguistic skills the three have ambitions to make One Stop the largest vendor in the business by the year 2018.

Mark Kieran,
Director,
One Stop Shop Translations S.L.
mark.kieran@onestopshoptranslations.com
Translation Sercices
(Madrid) 0034 91 365 9608