7 Things to Consider for Your Translation Project

Language translation is becoming a much-in-demand service due to several factors including globalisation, legal and regulatory requirements, Brexit and technology developments, among others.

If you are planning a project that involves translation, take a look at the seven key areas we have put together for you to focus on when planning your project.

1.?????What is The Purpose of the Project?

The purpose of the translation may be to meet regulatory requirements e.g. food labelling to meet Brexit requirements or it could be specific industry terminology like medical which uses specialist vocabulary. The process is often not as simple as swapping one word for its’ immediate translation but considering your target audience and the culture in order to achieve meaning and impact.

2.?????Detail the Project Requirements

The first step is to scope the project requirements and the key question to answer at this stage is what type of content is being translated; is it a manual, video, app, website, or book?

Due to technology needs, you may have digital and non-digital formats that need some redesign or reformatting to target your destination. You may also need to look at future-proofing - if you have a physical manual, for example, that may need to be available in a digital format and to be shared online at a later date.

The scope is important as the scale of the task might be bigger than you first envisaged and that could increase costs. You might need to do a phased implementation to manage chunks of the project and have several release increments to do market testing before refining and having a final release.

3.?????Create a Project Timeline

You may have a tight deadline, in which case agile project methodology may be needed to deliver on time and with the right quality and this will also cost more as extra resources would be needed. The best method, in this case, is to reduce the features to get on-time delivery without compromising quality and you can create phases to the project so that you can implement incrementally e.g. if you have several formats do the physical version before the digital version or vice versa and release the other version later.

However, the best method is always to plan ahead with the detailed project requirements so that ample time for proofreading, amends, changes in scope and formats, multiple translations etc. can be accounted for and built into the scoping, quality checks and feedback amends.

4.?????Project Specific Requirements

When looking at your scope consider the amount of proofreading that needs to be done, for example, a second translator may be needed to review the clarity and terminology is locally correct and in line with your communication objectives. This may also require an in-house and agency collaboration so that elements such as brand messages and themes are translated correctly.

5.?????Special Requirements

Part of the scoping element would be to look at special requirements such as regulatory legislation and an example of this would be food labelling where the type of product, where it is being sold and the number of SKUs would all have an influence on the project requirements and deliverables.

6.?????Formats of Translations

Special Needs:?You may have translation requirements that require a special format for disability needs such as Braille, extra-large texts, easy read guides etc.

Transcription:?This will require an appreciation of the audio length, quality of audio and formats.

Multilingual Voice-Overs:?This impacts how your project will look like as you will need to consider the style of the voice-over and the language it is being delivered in.

Interpreting:?When using an interpreter, it is important to take into account location, length of time, certifications, and experience for your project.

Transcreation:?This involves creating marketing assets from conception, from advertising to slogans so they meet brand objectives. You want to evoke the same emotion cross-culturally with impact.

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7.?????Consultancy

You may have the need for a consultant to help you prepare, implement and project manage your translation requirements. This can be very useful if you use an expert to manage first-time and complex projects that require the complexity and scope to be identified fully before embarking ongoing into translation services. The consultant can also help manage the project to completion.

We hope you’ve found this article a helpful guide for your upcoming translation project needs. Getting your message across in another language whether that is labelling, manuals, POS, documents, electronic media etc. is what we do efficiently and effectively at K International. We are?ISO certified?along with many other credentials, which is why we’ve become the preferred translation company for many businesses. If you have a project coming up and need some advice on how to achieve it, we’d love to hear from you.?