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STAR Group Top 10 Lessons for Translators

STAR Group Top 10 Lessons for Translators. January 20 th 2006. Agenda. 1. STAR Introduction 2. Top 10 Lessons for Translators 3. Q&A. STAR Group…. Europe's largest privately held translation vendor. Headquarters Switzerland, Founded1984. 800 employees in 35 global offices.

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STAR Group Top 10 Lessons for Translators

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  1. STAR Group Top 10 Lessons for Translators January 20th 2006 Translation Made Easy

  2. Agenda • 1. STAR Introduction • 2. Top 10 Lessons for Translators • 3. Q&A Translation Made Easy

  3. STAR Group… • Europe's largest privately held translation vendor. • Headquarters Switzerland, Founded1984. • 800 employees in 35 global offices. • One of the top 3 global translation companies. • Leading Translation Software since 1994 • Translation Memory, Workflow, Publication • SGML / XML publishing technology • Unique Focus on Technology and Services • Single source for translation services and tools. Translation Made Easy

  4. STAR Top 10 Lessons for Translators • Never miss a deadline • Specialise • Focus on customer needs • Analyse Terminology first • Organize your TM structure • Check segmentation before translation • There is no perfect translation • 100% Matches are not perfect • Proofread in context • Check your files before returning them. Business Factors Translation and ProcessFactors Translation Made Easy

  5. Lesson 1Never Miss A Deadline • Understand the reasons behind why translators can miss deadlines. • Time Required is more than a factor of word count. • Deadline considerations.. • Project Managers can move some deadlines… More to follow. • What is driving the PM’s deadline… • Need it now!, need it right! Translation Made Easy

  6. Lesson 2Specialise • Specialise. • In an industry. • In your native language. • You get more work from being a specialist in a particular area. • Agencies like to work with the same translator for projects/industry/customers. You build up expertise in that area including TM’s and Terminology. You become an asset. • You will actually rated on 3 key areas…. Translation Made Easy

  7. How agencies rate translators 1) Translation Skills 3) Industry Skills 2) Technology & Process Skills Translation Made Easy

  8. Style Accuracy Lesson 3Focus on customer needs • Its all about your customer needs! • Clients can have particular idiosyncrasies • Terminology • Writing Style • Formatting Guidelines • Spelling • Languages • It is all about meeting the needs of your customer (not the best translation!) (slider bar – accuracy and style) you have to be able to move that bar as required. Translation Made Easy

  9. Lesson 4Analyse terminology first! • How do you translate … “Wire by Wire” • Words you take for granted may not be so… • Borough Council Head… • “Rates of Payment” Form…. • Be translated literally • Remain in English as it refers to a specific form? • Translated with English term left in brackets (Rates of Payment) • Legal … “Leave to Remain”…(Will end up in court) • Don’t deliver the project with lots of questions…(Deadline) • Asking questions up front earns credit… Translation Made Easy

  10. Lesson 5Organize your TM Structure • Have multiple translation memories. • Single TM’s can fragment and get slower as the grow. • Customers can driver TM’s to fragment… • Context can drive this also… Translation Made Easy

  11. Organizing TM • Have ability to use your TM’s any way you need to. Translation Made Easy

  12. Organizing TM Client • Transit has the ability to search TM’s in a variety of ways. Marketing Technical General Translation Made Easy

  13. Lesson 6Check segmentation before translation • Check your segmentation first ! • In word files! • new lines, etc… • Segmentation issues…. • 1) make your TM valueless (fragments….) • 2) make translation difficult for you.(context…) • 3) harder translation – impacts deadlines… • An example….. Translation Made Easy

  14. Lesson 7There is no perfect translation • Translation is not about words – its about meaning and usage. • What is the purpose of the translation… • Ask what the translation will be used for. • Information, publication, use in court. • Medical translation (doctor, training information, surgical) • Who is the target readership? • Do we have to meet any standard ISO, other industry standard? • Will my work be proofread afterwards? • Any special terminology required? • Is the client going directly to print? Translation Made Easy

  15. Lesson 8100% matches are not perfect • A 100% match is not perfect! (TM’s can fragment) • Topical issue right now • some agencies pay you to proof them, others do not. • They are only suggestions from the translation memory. • Options • 1) Reuse the existing text exactly. • 2) Partly Reuse. • 3) Reject it entirely. Translation Made Easy

  16. Lesson 9Proofread in context • Proof read in context where possible • Remember someone has to read your final text!. • Readability and Style are just as important as perfect strings. • Always check against your reference material. • Finish the job the next day. • Your mind will be in a different frame. • So your quality will be better. Translation Made Easy

  17. Lesson 10Check your files before returning them • Do your QA Checks before returning files. • Transit (TM Tools) have built in checks. • Spell checking • Formatting codes • Terminology check • Client specific requests… • What type of page layout is required? • Any special instructions given? Translation Made Easy

  18. STAR Top 10 Lessons for Translators • Never miss a deadline • Specialise • Focus on customer needs • Analyse Terminology first • Organize your TM structure • Check segmentation before translation • There is no perfect translation • 100% Matches are not perfect • Proofread in context • Check your files before returning them. Business Factors Translation and ProcessFactors Translation Made Easy

  19. Contact Damian.Scattergood@star-ts.com STAR TS. Docklands Innovation Park, 128-130 East Wall Road, Dublin 3, Ireland Phone: +353 1 8365614www.star-ts.com Translation Made Easy

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