January 31st, 2012 - Posted By: Dave Summers
Sometimes we get caught up in the buzzword “technical”. But what does that really mean? Before attending a recent trade show, I had to really consider how I was going to sell the company, trying to explain what exactly it is that we do at PPI. In essence, I introduced ourselves as “technical translation experts” but to an outsider (or even an insider) that does not provide nearly enough depth.
You cannot make a product in a vacuum, not in this day and age. You have to document the procedure for how to use the product, how to maintain it, how to install it sometimes. You have to market the product in some way, place it in some kind of packaging and entice others to buy it. And sometimes your product itself is nothing more than a complicated structure of data.
Those materials you create for how to use your products? Manuals and inserts. Those materials you use to promote your product? Packaging and spec sheets. That internal data that your product is based on? PLCs and HMI screens, among others.
That’s what we do at PPI. If you make it and can document it, we can translate it. Simple as that.
Tags: t9n, technical translation, translation, xl8
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May 4th, 2011 - Posted By: Dave Summers
How translation memory alignment services can save you big on your next project.
Let’s say that your company has previously translated an important manual into six languages. The company you originally hired to complete the translations is no longer in business or refuses to share their translation memory with you (more on that in another post). You have made an important update to your manual and want to reuse the content contained therein for future projects. However, all you have is the manuals themselves. What do you do?
Simply put, you align the documents to create a translation memory by matching up source and target language segments. Not only does this procedure allow you to easily reuse content, it saves you quite a bit of money in the long term as you are not paying to translate the same lines of text each time you update your document. After the initial alignment, the translations will always be available for you in an easily accessible form, preferably as a TMX file.
At this point, you are likely wondering how difficult alignment is. The alignment process can become somewhat complicated at times with languages that the aligner does not speak. An experienced aligner can, however, work through thousands of segments of text in a day in a wide range of languages. The key is having the right tools, such as SDL Trados WinAlign or other proprietary tools that come as part of packages for computer-assisted translation tools.
PPI offers translation memory alignment as a service for our clients. We can work in any language, with any size file and with tight deadlines. Call or email us today for more information on how we can manage your next alignment project.
Tags: alignment, translation, translation memory, translation services
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April 28th, 2011 - Posted By: Dave Summers
Imagine you are a language vendor (translator, editor or proofreader). You encounter the following line of text in a list of error messages for a machine:
TQCOPIF unable to load a resource
Your only context is the list of error messages itself. You lack supporting material, as the client was unable to provide any. How do you translate “TQCOPIF”? What is the nature of the resource and how does it affect the concept of loading? These are key questions that impact the final translation.
This situation exemplifies a common scenario for language vendors. There’s a term that needs to be translated, but it is difficult to hone in on the concept given a lack of supporting context. What happens in the example above when TQCOPIF is only used once in the document and never properly explained? A sentence within a document containing the term is not always enough to determine the best possible translation, as in our example. Additional supporting material may be needed.
We always encourage our clients to provide us with reference material for translation projects, which can range from CAD drawings to large machine manuals and everything in between. These supplementary texts allow our language vendors to better understand the source text to improve the overall quality of the target text. They are especially useful for source texts containing highly technical terminology and those that lack a large amount of context, such as error message lists for mechanical systems.
Reference material could be in either the source or target language. While we often consider only the source (typically English for us), target-language reference material also greatly aids language vendors to situate their work within the target language.
The next time you need translation, ask yourself if can provide any supporting material. It can only help.
Tags: reference material, terminology, translation
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April 21st, 2011 - Posted By: Dave Summers
Scenario 1: I need this translation done today. I don’t care how good it is, I just need it done.
Our response: Sorry, we probably can’t help you with that.
Scenario 2: I have these documents that I need translated, and the deadline is in a few weeks.
Our response: We can have it ready for you by then, if not sooner.
When quoting a project, one of the most important considerations is always the project lead time. How we go about determining that may not seem apparent, so we’re here to take some of the mystery out of the process.
The above examples represent two very different project scenarios. In the first, for quality purposes, we don’t take on jobs where the deadline is so tight that it compromises the quality of the project. In the second, we can take on nearly any job with reasonable deadlines and oftentimes return your translations faster than you think.
For translation, we base our estimated lead time on three major factors. First, the time it takes to translate the materials. We generally estimate about 2,000-2,500 words can be translated every business day. Second, the time it takes to edit and proofread the materials. Editing and proofreading can usually be completed at a rate of 4,000-6,000 words per day. For longer projects, editing and proofreading can occur while translation is still ongoing, thus compressing the timeline. The third step involves formatting, desktop publishing and quality control checks. Completion times are based on similar projects, factoring in difficulty and size of the material.
If you ever have any questions about our proposed deadline, we are happy to explain how we arrived at it in detail. Our goal is always to get you the project before the completion date and ensure that you are only getting the best translation possible.
Tags: project, timeline, translation
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April 19th, 2011 - Posted By: Dave Summers
We sometimes get asked about how many languages we offer. There’s not a simple answer to this question.
A better question would be how many language pairs we offer. When discussing translation, the question always concerns language pairs (or combinations), not simply languages on their own. Translation always happens in a direction. There is always a source language and always a target language. Many translators can work with multiple language pairs, though we highly prefer those translating into their native language(s).
That said, we have an extensive database of hand-picked, highly qualified language professionals whose fields of expertise run the gamut from literature to highly technical material. Most of our translators speak English as a second language, as our clients are mainly located in the US and need translation out of English. The languages represented extend from Afrikaans to Zulu and everything in between.
What happens when we don’t have someone in a language pair you need? We do our research and find someone for you. We have the resources available to locate language professionals in nearly any language combination you can imagine while keeping project costs to a minimum.
Need a translation into Quechua? Georgian? Wolof? Kannada? Uzbek? Cape Verde Creole? You’ve come to the right place.
Tags: language, language pairs, translation
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April 15th, 2011 - Posted By: Dave Summers
Having studied translation at the Masters and doctoral level and having been involved in the language industry for a number of years, I tend to forget that there is a knowledge gap between those who are in the industry and those who are not. It’s the same for any other field, as I couldn’t tell you the first thing about the rules of cricket or how to sous-vide chicken.
One of our favorite local translators (and Kent State grad), Jill Sommer (@bonnjill), brought up a situation in the show The Good Wife where the concepts associated with translation and interpretation were confounded. Simply put, you can’t interpret a written text, just as you can’t translate a spoken word. On one of the most popular shows on television, with numerous people reading the script, the fact that translation deals with the written word and interpretation the spoken word was never caught.
Just as you require the use of correct terminology in your field, we do too in translation. Terminology is one of the fundamental building blocks of our working lives and the ability to keep track of it is the mark of a highly skilled individual in a field. That goes not only for English but for any other language too.
You don’t always know what you need when requesting a service like translation or technical documentation. But we’re here to help and are willing and able to work with you to determine exactly what you need for any project.
Have a great weekend.
Tags: interpretation, terminology, translation
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April 13th, 2011 - Posted By: Dave Summers
One of our most common language requests is for Spanish. Our first question is always: What kind of Spanish do you need? The answer may not be as simple as you think.
The list of potential locales for Spanish includes the following:
Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Puerto Rico
Spain
Uruguay
Venezuela
Now ask yourself again, if I need a document translated into Spanish, where is the document going to be used?
We all know that languages vary greatly depending on where they are being used. You can’t go to England, ask for chips, and expect Pringles. The same goes for many other languages around the world, though we don’t actively think about them unless we have a specific reason to. Terminology can vary widely even within a country and can have a major impact on how individuals interpret your documents. Translation and localization, it can be said, force us to consider the impact of geography on language.
A word of advice: Be proactive when it comes to language locales. Know exactly where your product is being deployed and the type of audience you expect to have. With this little bit of knowledge, the translation process clarifies that much more.
Postscript: Among the most common languages where locale plays an important role are the following: Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Malay, Norwegian, Portuguese, Quechua, Romanian, Spanish and Swedish.
Tags: locales, spanish, target language, translation
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April 6th, 2011 - Posted By: Dave Summers
Sometimes we get too caught up in our work, in the never ending quest to meet deadlines. Every now and then it helps to take a step back, to appreciate our lives beyond the office, even if we’re still at the office.
We had a moment like that yesterday. One of our coworkers found a dog running around with only a collar. No ID and as it turns out no microchip. We still haven’t figured out how the dog ended up wandering around all by itself or why he was running around with no ID. We feared that he had been abandoned. But his mere presence in our office brightened our days despite the gloomy weather. In a few hours he went from captivating critter to office mascot.
As it turns out, the owner had been looking for her lost dog all day, but the right people never got in contact with each other. The communication breakdown may have scared the owner, but it had the unexpected consequences of helping to bring our office closer together. In the end, we may have lost our mascot but gained so much more from the experience.
Tags: mascot, office, translation
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April 5th, 2011 - Posted By: Dave Summers
One of the most frustrating things about starting a new job is trying to understand the file structure that is used by the company. It usually varies by client and even creator. The best organizations maintain a strict file structure that allows anyone working on a project to locate files efficiently. This in turn enables easy reporting to clients.
At PPI, we have developed a unique file structure for translation projects that allows us to easily keep track of files while not being overly complicated. This setup has worked well for us in a wide range of projects and is easily adaptable. While we sometimes create subfolders depending on the type of project (for example, for client reviews), we always start with the following basic setup:
0-Source files
1-Files for translation
2-Files for editing
3-Files from editor
4-Files for formatting
5-Files for review
6-Final files
POs
Quote
Reference
You will notice that the numbered folders mimic the basic steps in the translation process. You start with source files, which are usually manipulated for use by our language vendors. After translation and editing, there is a series of formatting and review steps which finally lead to final files for the client. There are also additional project folders which contain material not directly involved in the translation, including all reference material and quote information.
Do you have a basic file structure that you use for your projects? Is there anything that you would add or remove? Let us know!
Tags: folderstructure, translation
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