Sunny greetings, dear reader!
As you know, some documentation, like help content, is dynamic and requires continuous attention. Optimizations and enhancements of the device or product for which the documentation is written lead to changes and additions in the existing content.
This includes creating new content such as release notes and support articles, all of which also need translation.
Don’t forget, any changes made to the content during translation will result in additional time and costs, as you will need to resend the content. Resending during translation may incur charges for all previously translated content and disrupt the translation process. However, as we all know, once we share written content, we suddenly notice all the errors and bits that scream for improvement. Just think of an email that has just been written and sent; if I reopen my sent email, I almost always spot errors that I did not see before sending. Delivering content to a third person seems to be the best-worst error detection method ever!
Events after translation kick-off
You can count on one thing after you’ve sent your documentation out for translation: if you’re working with an engaged translation team, they’ll have questions and may report source errors. If you don’t hear back from the team, either you wrote a masterpiece or their questions are stuck somewhere in the process. From my experience, there’s almost always something I like to report back to the writer. So, buckle up and be prepared to answer tough questions about your source content.
If you’ve made changes to your source, never forget to send the revised version out for translation.
Translation is delivered and now?
Phew, the translation is done. Now you need to start working again because your job is not over yet. Check if all your instructions were followed and that nothing is out of place. Are all URLs working? Is your brand name spelled correctly? Did they use the terminology from the glossary? Did they follow your style guides? Run a grammar and spelling check. Check the obvious, and if you find flaws, be alert that you might need to send it back to the translation vendor or reach out to the translator again to have it revised.
You might happen to have a colleague who speaks the language of your translated content and can check the translation to give you their opinion. This is only a semi-good idea. Let me tell you why. Here’s an example: Just because you have two working hands and know how to hold a screwdriver, that does not make you an engineer. The same goes for people who read content in their mother tongue – they are not necessarily adept at writing, grammar, spelling, syntax, or understanding cultural relevance. However, their feedback can indicate if the translation is very poor or of great quality. Don’t have them correct the translation directly. If you work with a translation agency, they most likely use a translation memory. A translation memory saves the source with the corresponding translation, sentence by sentence. If you change it in the translation on your end without informing the agency, they still have their version in their memory. If you want something changed, let them know so they can update it on their end or advise you if it’s a subjective change that doesn’t necessarily require action.
If you have a UI project, check if everything looks and works as expected. You might need to integrate the UI translation within the product and have the translator conduct quality assurance and testing. For presentations, ensure the layout remains intact. If it’s a subtitles project, verify if the length and timing are suitable, and so on.
If you’ve read all parts of “Writers lost in translation,” you should now have a good sense of what to include in your planning when incorporating translation and what’s generally required if you’re managing the translation effort yourself.
Writers lost in translation series
- Translation and time planning
- Documentation life cycle and translation timing
- Preparing content for translation
- Things that can happen after translation kick-off and completing the translation project