Nobody wants incorrect translation. Too many errors in delivered texts can only compromise the translation supplier and destroy trust in a customer-LSP relationship.

There are, however, certain types of errors that, if they occur, can promote the translation quality, clarify terminology use by pointing out mismatches and inconsistencies in translation resources (glossaries or translation memories).

Errors to watch

There are several critical areas that should be analyzed and reported by translation suppliers as a part of follow-up on everyday projects:

• dismissed glossary proposals
• ignored fuzzy matches
• unused exact matches
• glossary recommendations

Such post-analyses as well as comments and recommendations from the translators who handled particular projects help to keep translations and translation resources error-free and in line with clients' needs and terminology.

For example, if a translator didn't use a proposed glossary expression, he should report a reason why it was not used (such as if a glossary proposal does not fit context, spelling/grammar is incorrect, the proposal is in the wrong language or the translation incorrect, etc.). Similarly if the translator has ignored a fuzzy match (due to differences not relevant in particular target language, etc.) this should be reported as well.

Such issues then become valuable feedback to content managers.

Get follow-up reports!

Comprehensive follow-up reports should be generated for each translation project handled by your translation supplier. These reports are supposed to include the information mentioned above, including glossary and fuzzy match issues. As a result, using these reports it will be easier to keep glossaries, translation memories and other linguistic resources up to date. And compared to case-by-case handling of translation issues, this is a systematic approach that perfectly fits any quality management system.

To improve means to clean out mistakes, ambiguities and errors, essentially correct what is wrong – it could be our mistakes or incorrect proposals from your text memories.

The translation process – at least in technical translation – these days closely interacts with use of custom software and "translation resources" – glossaries, translation memories and style sheets, even lists of prohibited words and more. It is getting to be an ever-more difficult process with demands from the obvious to requests that would seem extreme to the 'poor person' translating, and eventually the 'poor person' having to confirm that the translation is correct. Just like soldiers learn how to navigate through a mine field, in translation we have our own "mine fields" that we must manage.

A golden plate with errors

The map to potential errors after a translation project is finished is a Comprehensive Aftercare report – at idioma, we will be happy to issue such reports for projects we handle.

These reports will tell you why we have dismissed glossar proposals (usually because of content), why a fuzzy match was ignored or why an exact match was changed.

Language is like a living being. There is no given translation for a given text. Language is dynamic and for translation content can always change depending on content. With a professional human translator in charge, you can rely on the translation being correct – especially when it has been reviewed by a second human translator, which is compulsory at idioma. We do not deliver machine translations.

Submitting your web pages to machine translation platforms, for instance, will seriously affect your image, and the message to potential customers.

Ask!

If you are not convinced and if you have doubts about proposed translations, you can use our Ask! service – this is a free online language query service where you can submit questions regarding your translation issues straight to our professional translators. It can be used to question and comment content in your translated documents, or to simply request additions and amendments in a completed delivery.

AfterCare reports on your projects

Our Aftercare with comments and recommendations from our native translators will help you keep your translations and translation resources error-free and in line with your needs and terminology. Not just for a single project, this care is thoroughly provided with every order you place with idioma.

For more information, please contact our project managers.

Aftercare. That magic something that distinguishes good and bad service providers in general. The more intense the client-provider relationship is, the more relevant data are generated, and this in turn helps the service provider improve and customize the client experience. In the translation business, though, where the translation process itself is being slowly taken over by machines, human support and aftercare services still is a core issue that makes a difference.

Our care starts before your order

Having 35 years of experience in translation and localization still give us an edge when it comes to the size of useful translation memories (TM) and glossary resources, especially since we focus on technical translation. With a significant part of Clients’ source texts already pre-processed within past projects, proper application of these well-maintained translation memories and associated glossaries significantly shortens the time and reduces the cost of translation projects. This is one reason why our care starts even before your order – always ensuring that you can benefit from our state-of-the-art expertise. idioma’s aftercare and extensive support also includes maintenance of your TM resources and ensuring it is error-free, and we strive to inform you via unique reports about text segment issues, such as inconsistencies, just to give an example.

Another feature of our Premium Aftercare is Last Minute Additions, enabling you to use our express translation service to translate small projects, such as text additions and amendments within 4 working hours (CET). And we don’t charge an arm and a leg for this help – if you need 5 words translated, you only pay for these 5 words, no minimums, no start-up fees or other hidden charges.

Ask! for premium aftercare

Ask! - Premium Aftercare service by idioma

Ask! is a service concept we offer to clients to place questions and other issues related to translations and localization in a convenient, organized way. It is available online, runs 24/7, and it can be used by anyone. You don't even need to have had your project translated by us to be able to benefit from Ask! And guess what… It's FREE! Use the service to question and comment content in your translated documents, or to simply request additions and amendments in a completed delivery, without drowning in e-mails and inevitably loosing track of the job flow.

Eventually, there are real human beings behind every single process we execute. And despite of the increasing use of machines in the translation process, here atidioma, we go beyond the algorithms to also emphasize the craftsmanship and care you take for given when e.g. visiting your hairdresser.

To learn more about our aftercare, please visit www.idioma.com