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How Will I Handle Your Translation Job?
My preferred way of operating requires a deadline "leisurely" enough to permit careful preparation and post-translation editing. Of course, this is not always possible, and if you have a rush job, I will do my best. But here is how I like to proceed, for optimal quality assurance:
- Read the entire source document, noting any terminology issues or special problems.
- Ascertain which references, online and other, will be most useful.
- Assemble any glossaries and translation memories that might be helpful for use with my CAT tool (currently OmegaT).
- If conversion from PDF is necessary in order to use a CAT tool, I use ABBYY PDF Transformer, which does an excellent job, including with Cyrillic texts.
- Translate the document as a first draft, using the CAT tool's spell checker.
- Consult with the client on any questions that arise. I need to know what you want.
- Review the entire document in the CAT tool, source text segment against target text segment, checking for any omitted or mistranslated words.
- Print out and proofread the entire document for fluency of English expression.
- Enter changes, spell check the final text, and deliver.
- You can help by letting me know: Do you want American English or British English? Do you have style preferences, with respect to capitalization, punctuation, or terminology? Do you have a TM from a similar previous job, a glossary of specialized terms, or a website that would be helpful to me?
- On the matter of certification: The United States does not certify translators, unlike many other countries. Private agencies, such as the American Translators Association, offer certification, but this has no legal standing. If a client requires certification of the translation of a diploma, for example, the translator will get it notarized, certifying that the translator believes the translation to be full and accurate. Any charges for notarization are to be borne by the client.
© 2010 Susan Welsh, All Rights Reserved.