 
Before you start a translation project:With most things in life, good preparation tends to improve your chances of a better final result. And this is also true of translation projects. Translation process:Think of translation as re-authoring in another language. It’s not a mathematical word exchange process, rather it requires the source text to be understood and re-written in the new language. It’s a process which requires as much care, attention and energy as writing the source text. Source text authoring:Keeping it simple is the best approach. Avoid colloquialisms and expressions which are definitely local and will not be understood by a foreign audience. Websites:From a design point of view, issues to bear in mind are similar to print. The long words used in some languages such as German can cause problems for menu buttons etc. if this is not anticipated. If your site has a content management system (i.e. you can make changes to it yourself), check with the web developer whether it will support all of the fonts required. Japanese and Chinese for example are double byte characters which will not necessarily display as required unless the site has been set up for this. Similarly, Hebrew and Arabic require display from right to left and this facility is not usually standard in English websites. Online booking/enquiry/selling systems – if planning such a feature with the intention of creating a multi-lingual version in the future, ensure that the supplier has adequate experience. Translating a system which has been designed without anticipating the needs of a multi-lingual version can be very difficult. Your translation provider should be able to discuss this with you in detail. Technical translations:If you use authoring software, you should talk to prospective translation providers about file formats to ensure that file compatibility issues do not arise. Glossary:If you do not yet have an official glossary of terminology, now is the best time to start. A glossary of source text terminology which is binding and includes a robust process for reviewing additions or changes is a great starting point for creating a multi-lingual version of the glossary. (your translation provider should be able to tell you how to go about doing this). Such a glossary is a huge benefit to the translation process because it means that approved terminology can be consistently used throughout. Design:Most European languages expand by around 20% compared with English. Space should be allowed for this when designing documents which will be printed in non-English European languages. Bear in mind that drawings and technical details may need to be amended to suit the target market. For example, an installation manual for a product being sold to a country where houses are constructed solely from bricks. If the drawings in the manual show a house wall which is constructed Kiwi style using wooden studs and dwangs, the end result will not be very effective. Documents to be printed:The preferred artwork to use is Adobe Indesign because it is compatible with all languages. Not all other artwork programs are compatible with all languages such as Asian, Arabic or Hebrew. Printing plate costs can be minimized for the foreign language versions by planning for all translatable text to be on one plate, e.g. the black plate. This means that only one set of printing plates is required for the graphics/colour areas for all languages. This approach can also minimize printing costs: “blanks” can be printed, i.e. A colour run minus text. These can then be stored and short one colour print runs, over-printing the blanks arranged as required for each of the foreign languages. Avoid trying to create white Asian characters against a dark background or picture (reverse out printing). The very thin strokes of Chinese and Japanese characters will not reproduce well in such circumstances. Before you start:It definitely pays to talk to your translation provider to talk through your plans and agree on the most efficient way forward.Discuss your plans with your translation provider – they can save you time and money by getting it right first time. Useful links;More about languages and countries>> How do I get started?
|
