Translation Review – How to Keep it Objective and Constructive

Even though customers pay for professional translation, they still want to feel assured that what they are getting is good quality.

This is completely normal. If someone does not speak the target language, they must trust someone else’s work without being able to check it. If you hired a plumber and your pipe stopped leaking, chances are they did a good job. Determining quality is not as easy with translation.

Plus, translation, a distinctly creative activity, is as subjective a field as they come. Ask five translators to translate the same document and you will receive at least five different versions of it.

How to go about keeping your peace of mind about professional translation?

First, get to know your translation vendor and their process. Find out how they hire and verify translators. What does their quality assurance process look like? Does a separate editor review the translation after the translator completed their part? Do they complete a pre-delivery check? Do they follow a specific process designed for your company and your translation projects?

There are other questions you can ask but the point is that the better you know your Language Services Provider, the more at ease you will be with their work. Or, if their translation service is not up to your expectation, it will become obvious that you should go shopping for a new resource.

If you still feel you must somehow verify the translation received, perhaps by asking a bilingual employee for help, follow the steps below.

Constructive Review

1. Review the file side by side with the original AND and take into account any reference material, set terminology, and specific translation instructions.
2. Translators always take into account the target audience for the translation – who they are, where they are, what is their level of education, etc. Do the same as you conduct your review.
3. You might want to take the resulting document back to your vendor. If so, use the “Track Changes” feature in Word so they could easily see the revisions. It is a good idea to give them the opportunity to accept or reject your changes.
4. Strive to be as objective as possible and do not make any preferential and/or stylistic changes unless doing so increases the accessibility to your particular audience. Never make changes just because the new solution “sounds better”. Instead, focus solely on errors in grammar, usage, punctuation, proper tense, inconsistencies, etc.

The final, and perhaps the most important point, is that it is completely acceptable to review a translated document and NOT find anything that must be changed. The person conducting the review must be instructed in a way that tells them this is a possible and acceptable outcome. Otherwise, since they were asked to review the translation, they will feel compelled to “find something”. Perhapsf just to prove they have done their job. This will almost certainly result in resentment and unnecessary work for you and your vendor.

A professional translation service is all about trust. You will do your part of building trust if you help your vendor keep reviews objective and constructive.