WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO AN EFFICIENT QUOTING PROCESS?

TOPICS

— Why are some languages more expensive than others?

— Why don’t we start the translation process before final sign-off of English?

— What affects the cost, consistency, and turnaround of typesetting?

— What are the benefits of using a translation bureau for the entire process?

— What are the variables in translating and typesetting an entire project?

— What are the best practices for the client review process?

— What are the benefits of a translation bureau managing the client review process?

— Who should be selected as the client reviewer?

— Why is the glossary so important to the quality of translations?

— What are the differences between subtitling, open captioning, and closed captioning?

— What are the differences between voiceover and dubbing?

— What can affect timing?

WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO

AN EFFICIENT QUOTING

PROCESS?

—When the translation bureau has the accurate scope of the project, a

quick and fairly accurate pricing at the beginning of a project can be done.

—Efficiency can suffer when projects need to be requoted due to scope changes, changes or additions to files, or when providing separate pricing for each deliverable.

WHY ARE SOME

LANGUAGES MO

_RE

EXPENSIVE THAN

_OTHERS?

— _{The market dictat}

es pricing. Number of available transl

ators, number of competitors, and

cost of living in countries where a _language

is spoken can resul

t in different prices for different languages.

— _{There was once}

a project translated to Swampy Cree, _{an American}

Indian language.

Because only a few people coul

d translate this language,

the translation cost_{s were} about 10 times mor_{e than many} other languages.

WHY DON’T WE START THE TRANSLATION

PROCESS BEFORE FINAL SIGN-OFF OF ENGLISH?

there is a greater risk for error. For example, changing just one word in a dialogue question may affect an element on the visual, a card, and the facilitator’s guide.

—Correcting errors takes time, costs money, and jeopardizes quality and consistency.

—Golden Rule of Translations: Never begin translation until after the English versions of materials have been finalized and signed off by the client.

WHAT AFFECTS THE COST, CONSISTENCY, AND

TURNAROUND OF TYPESETTING?

—Typesetting is incorporating the translated text back into the source document and formatting it so that it resembles the original file.

—Typesetting costs are dictated by the complexity of each project.

—Languages that use the Latin alphabet, such as Spanish or French, can typically be typeset more quickly than character languages, such as Mandarin.

—Typically, more than one typesetter can work on a project. Therefore, the completion of language translations may be staggered in the timelines.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF

USING A TRANSLATION BUREAU

FOR THE ENTIRE PROCESS?

—Using a translation bureau to translate and typeset the materials will lessen the internal coordination Root must do. The bureau will communicate directly with the local

reviewers (native speakers who review the materials after they have been translated).

—Root does NOT do typesetting of paper projects; the translation bureau does this.

—When the client assigns another bureau or an internal employee to do the translation, consistency issues can arise. This can incur additional costs and may take more time than was planned.

—For translations, the client does not pay for any duplicate words more than once.

—For typesetting, there are costs associated with extracting and typesetting files.

—Translating the entire project at once is more efficient and saves money versus translating different parts of the project at different times.

WHAT ARE THE VARIABLES IN TRANSLATING AND

TYPESETTING AN ENTIRE PROJECT?

WHAT ARE THE BEST

PRACTICES FOR THE CLIENT

REVIEW PROCESS?

—Provide the client with a basic overview of the process

—Select local reviewers at the start of the project

—Inform the client and reviewer about the timeline and review deadlines

—For reviewers, adhere to instructions for working directly in the files and with the correct tools in providing mark-ups

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A

TRANSLATION BUREAU MANAGING

THE CLIENT REVIEW PROCESS?

—Without Root acting as the middleman, the

translation bureau will be more efficient because the translation process is streamlined.

—It helps for Root to introduce the translation bureau contact to the client/project lead. This helps clarify Root’s and the bureau’s project manager involvement.

—Everyone can spend less time on communication and the bureau can spend more time on

WHO SHOULD BE SELECTED

AS THE CLIENT REVIEWER?

Someone who…

—Is a native speaker of the language

—Has project and process familiarity

—Is informed about review timelines

—Understands the methodology and context

—Has strong grammar skills

—Has the capacity to dedicate time to the process and be accountable for deadlines

WHY IS THE GLOSSARY SO

IMPORTANT TO THE QUALITY

OF TRANSLATIONS?

— At the beginning of the translation process, the translation bureau creates glossaries to establish preferred translation of company-specific

terminology. The glossaries are reviewed and approved by the local reviewer before starting the rest of the process.

— What the bureau looks for during the review stage is an assessment of the terminology, principles, and concepts that are specific to the industry.

— Adhering to the glossary helps keep the process on track and on time during the translation and review stages.

— Changes to terms that have already been

approved can slow the whole translation process.

CHIEF

QUALITY

OFFICER

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES

BETWEEN SUBTITLING, CLOSED

CAPTIONING, AND OPEN

CAPTIONING?

—Subtitles generally display only what is spoken by a character.

—Closed captioning refers to subtitles for every sound (even falling objects and onomatopoeias), while subtitling refers to spoken words only.

—Open captions are always in view and cannot be turned off, whereas closed captions can be

turned on and off by the viewer. For videos that are displayed on television sets, a device called a decoder must used in order to view closed captions.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN

VOICEOVER AND DUBBING?

— Voiceover is the transcribed and translated content recorded over the original audio using a single voice.

—This method is most commonly used for documentaries, training materials,

e-learning, and news broadcasts.

— Dubbing involves the content being recorded by a cast of professional voice actors. The original audio is replaced or mixed with the correct “dubbed” version. In this method, the right word choice is crucial because the

translated content must synch with the lip movement of the actors on screen.

—This method is mostly used for films and TV shows.

WHAT CAN AFFECT TIMING?

—Turnaround is determined by word counts, typesetting complexity, and quality

assurance checks.

—While there are many variables and

people involved in the process, Root and the translation bureau will work with the client to meet reasonable deadlines.

Delays may occur when:

—Clients do not adhere to client review dates.

—Additional quality checks need to be done due to changes in the content or files that occur after translation has started.

OVERVIEW:

WHAT MAKES IT WORK WELL?

Allowing the translation bureau to

communicate directly with the local reviewer to resolve terminology issues makes the process more efficient and collaborative.

Setting realistic expectations, deadlines, and client review dates throughout the translation process leads to smoother execution, less confusion, faster turnaround, higher quality, and client satisfaction.

WHAT MAKES THE PROCESS

WORK WELL?

Example:

The translation bureau received a client’s local reviewer information at the start of the project and they were in touch from the beginning of the

glossary translation.

When the client made changes to the glossary, the bureau project manager was able to reach out

directly to the reviewer. They promptly determined a course of action to ensure the new terminology was adhered to throughout the translation process.

After the translation bureau translated and typeset the materials, a thorough quality check was

performed to prepare the files for the client’s local review. The local reviewer adhered to the deadline and confirmed the files didn’t need any adjustments. This project was finalized in about a month.