Translation Industry Events. November, December 2018

Translation Events – November and December 2018

November 13-15

tcworld 2018 – tekomStuttgart, Germany

November 15-16

Translating and the Computer 40 (TC40). AsLing. London, UK

November 16-17

Discuss Interpreting (ISIT). Arcueil, France

November 15

TAPICC: Translation API Class and Cases. The International Multilingual User Group (IMUG). San Jose, California, USA

Noviembre 16-18

5.º Congreso Internacional de Correctores de Textos en Español. Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

November 17-18

PROFT 2018. 7th Translation, Interpretation, and Accessibility Symposium. São Paulo, Brazil 

November 16-18

EXPOLINGUA Berlin. CWE GmbH. Berlin, Germany

November 17-18

Canary Translators Conference. The Biz Muses. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

November 19-20

TAC Conference 2018. Translators Association of China, Beijing, China

November 21-23

Nordic Translation Industry Forum. Anne-Marie Colliander Lind, Cecilia Enbäck. Oslo, Norway

November 22-23

Tools and Methods for Corpus-Based Translation Science. TransBank. Innsbruck, Austria

November 28-30

Translation and Cultural Sustainability: Foundations, Fundamentals and Applications. University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

November 29-30

Cologne Conference on Translation, Interpreting and Technical Documentation. TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences. Cologne, Germany

December 5-7

XI Simposio Internacional sobre la Traducción, la Terminología y la Interpretación Cuba-Québec. Varadero, Cuba

December 6-7

ND Focus – Elia’s focus on Sales & Marketing. Elia (European Language Industry Association). Malaga, Spain

December 8-10

Sanskrit and Other Indian Languages – Technology JNU, Bhartiya Bhasha Manch. New Delhi, India

 

Should you choose a proofreading or editing service?

Proofreading vs. Editing: Which Should I Choose?

Proofreading and editing are often considered to be interchangeable terms but they are definitely not. Many clients that contact us for the first time are unaware of the differences between the two and unsure of which service they need.

In this post, we help clients and translators understand the differences between proofreading and editing. We also discuss costs and provide recommendations on which type of service a typical client contacting a translation agency usually needs.

What Is Proofreading?

By definition, proofreading involves a surface-level check and it should be done in the final stages of a document’s preparation. Although it is less comprehensive than editing, it still plays a vital role in the writing or translation process. Proofreading involves scanning for errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and syntax. A proofreader also focuses on checking the layout, making sure that the final draft is free of formatting and typographical errors. Although a professional proofreader might do light editing, they do not fulfill the role of an editor and, if they come across too many errors, they might return the document for further editing.

What Is Editing?

Editing requires a more in-depth review than proofreading. It involves a detailed examination of a document, including implementing changes that improve the text’s overall style and flow. An editor is typically either an expert on the subject matter handled in the document or has excellent research skills. This is due to editors also needing to check the terminology and facts in a document, highlighting discrepancies and asking any questions they may have to the writer or translator. The editing process also includes correcting any grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors.

Editing and Proofreading Costs

Editing and proofreading services are charged per hour or per word. At least 20% of a regular per word translation rate is usually charged for monolingual proofreading and up to 75% for bilingual editing (comparing the translation with the source text). The price depends on the quality of the document and how much research needs to be done. If few corrections are needed, the proofreader or editor may charge per hour, calculating the time it takes to complete the task.

Which Service Is Best for You?

When working with translations, proofreading is essential. Even though a translator may proofread their own work, a second pair of eyes is needed to deliver a high-quality translation that’s free of errors. If you hire a translation agency, the proofreading service is typically included in their price.

The document itself, its purpose, and its level of importance can influence whether you should choose a proofreading or editing service. If the author of the text is not a confident writer, native speaker or is unsure of the terminology they have used, an editing service is more appropriate. The same is true when multiple authors have contributed to writing a text and consistency is needed. Proofreading should be chosen if you only need a document that’s free of mistakes rather than improving the quality of the writing. If you have any doubts about which service is best for your needs, at Transpanish we can offer you free advice.

Final Recommendations

While you might think it’s simpler and less costly to ask a friend or colleague to review your document, professional proofreaders and editors have a firm understanding of the nuances of the language your text is written in and are prepared to identify and eliminate any spelling and grammatical errors, as well as any inconsistencies in terminology or formatting. Proofreading and editing is what they do for a living and they have an eagle eye for mistakes than an average reader would overlook.

Last but not least, don’t send a document translated by a machine translator for proofreading and editing. These documents almost always need to be retranslated and, as a result, the translator will charge their standard translation rate.

Translation Facts

Ten Translation Facts for International Translation Day

30 September is International Translation Day, held on the feast day of the patron saint of translation St. Jerome. Getting into the spirit of things, this article celebrates International Translation Day by exploring some of the most intriguing translation tidbits.

  1. The Patron Saint of Translation Made a Monumental Error

From 382, St. Jerome spent 23 years of his life translating the Bible into Latin. Proficient in Greek and Latin, St. Jerome moved to Jerusalem and developed his grasp of Hebrew to translate the Bible from the original Hebrew source. However, even saints make mistakes, with St. Jerome mistakenly translating the Hebrew for radiance as horns, leading to many images of Moses subsequently showing him with horns.

  1. One Translation Error Left a Man Paralyzed and Cost $71 million

In 1980, Cuban-American baseball star Willie Ramirez was rushed to hospital after having severe headaches and slipping in and out of consciousness, with worried family members believing he may have food poisoning. Due to a staff mistranslation, the hospital believed that the Cuban Spanish term intoxicado meant intoxicated and treated Ramirez for a drug overdose, while overlooking a haemmorage that left him paralyzed and the hospital then having to settle a lawsuit for $71 million. You can read more information about this incident here.

  1. The Jehovah’s Witness Website Is Available in More Languages than the Bible

While the Bible is indeed the most translated book in the world, available in more than 500 languages, this Jehovah’s Witness website is available in more than 600, including Congolese sign language and several dialects of Swahili and Thai. Harry Potter, in contrast, is available in just over 70.

  1. Google Translate Reads Mystery Novels to Learn

While there have been attempts to develop machine translation since the 1940s, machines are still a way off from being able to replace humans. Google Translate is probably the best-known machine translation tool with often funny and frustrating results. The software learns by reading vast amounts of translated materials and finding patterns. This material includes UN and EU documents and also large amounts of mystery novels.

  1. There’s a Good Reason Why Google Is So Fond of Mystery

The most translated author of all time is Agatha Christie, not surprising when you remember that the English writer behind Poirot and Miss Marple is also the best-selling author of all time. Following Christie is the French science-fiction pioneer Jules Verne and then the great bard William Shakespeare.

  1. The Leading Target Language on UNESCO’s Database for Book Translations Is German

On UNESCO’s Index Translatorium book translation database, out of 7,000 languages, German is the leading target language, followed by French, Japanese, Spanish, and English. In regard to source translation languages, English is the world leader, followed by French, German, Russian, and Italian.

  1. As the World Gets Smaller, the Translation Industry is Growing

Recent estimates show that the translation industry is estimated to be worth $40 billion with around 330,000 translators working around the world. It is predicted to grow to $45 billion in value by 2020.

  1. The First President of Tanzania Translated Shakespeare into Swahili

While many writers like Javier Marías, Haruki Murakami and Vladimir Nabokov have translated English works into their own languages, surprisingly, the controversial Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere has also done so, translating Shakespeare’s works into Swahili.

  1. Translation Is Thousands of Years Old

The first known translation is of the Sumerian epic The Epic of Gilgamesh, dating back to around 2100 BCE. As language itself is much older than writing, by about 195,000 years, it is likely that interpreting also long predates translation.

  1. A Mistranslation Caused Widespread Panic About Nuclear War

In 1956, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev told Western dignitaries at a conference “We will bury you”. This was taken to mean that the USSR intended to destroy the West, leading to a diplomatic crisis in the height of the Cold War. It’s events like this that show the importance of cultural context in translation. Khrushchev was actually making a Marxist reference to the saying “The proletariat is the undertaker of capitalism”, which his interpreter assumed the dignitaries would get. They didn’t.

Translation Industry Events

Translation Industry Events – September 2018

September 3-7

3rd International Translation Technology Summer School. KU Leuven. Antwerp, Belgium

September 3-8

MT Marathon 2018. Institute of Formal and Applied Linguistics, Charles University. Prague, Czech Republic

September 4-7

Content Marketing World. Content Marketing Institute. Cleveland, Ohio, USA

September 10-12

42nd Internationalization & Unicode Conference (IUC42) Object Management Group. Santa Clara, California, USA

September 12

Global Ready Bootcamp – San Francisco. Smartling. San Francisco, California, USA

September 13-14

ND Focus – Elia’s focus on Project Management. Elia (European Language Industry Association). Porto, Portugal

September 15

SLAM! Scandinavian Language Association. Malmö, Sweden

September 17-18

XTM LIVE. XTM International. Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Global Ready Bootcamp – New York City. Smartling. New York City, NY, USA

September 20-22

ATC Language Industry Summit 2018. Association of Translation Companies. Cardiff, UK

September 20

The Language Services Industry Today. The International Multilingual User Group (IMUG). San Jose, California, USA

September 24-26

National Identity in Translation. Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, University of Rzeszów. Lviv, Ukraine

September 25-26

International Translation Day 2018. ProZ. Online

September 25-27

Technical Communication UK. Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (ISTC). Daventry, Northamptonshire, UK

September 26-28

eLearning Africa 2018. ICWE GmbH, Rwanda Convention Bureau. Rwanda

September 26-27

NORDIC TechKomm 2018. tcworld. Copenhagen, Denmark

September 27-28

International Migration and Communication Congress. Translation Studies Department, Sakarya University. Sakarya, Turkey

September 28-29

Fit-For-Market Translator and Interpreter Training in a Digital Age. Centre for Interpreter and Translator Training of the BME. Budapest, Hungary

September 29-30

IAPTI 2018. International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters. Valencia, Spain

 

Gender-Neutral Language in English

Guide to Translating with Inclusive Gender-Neutral Language in English

While English doesn’t tend to gender its nouns, in contrast to many other languages like Spanish (which has its own approaches to inclusivity, see this article in Spanish), gender still subconsciously plays a key role in the language. From mankind to kingdom, countless words in the English language are charged with gender associations without speakers often meaning to make any sort of comment by doing so, a fact that translators should consider in their work.

The issue here is not related to the intended meanings of the words, but the often-discriminatory histories and ideas they reflect, risking leaving some feel left out of the human story. As the world becomes more inclusive and open-minded, its languages – metaphors for inclusivity, adaptability, and communication – evolve too, promoting gender-neutral language.

Why Use Gender-Neutral Language?

When gender-neutral language is discussed, transgender and non-binary issues follow soon after, which is perfectly understandable considering the growing awareness of these people and the struggles they face. However, gender-neutral language isn’t just a matter of including transgender and non-binary people, it’s about including everyone.

A great example of the potential usefulness of gender-neutral language is when you’re unsure of whether someone you’re translating material about is male, female, or non-binary, or perhaps from a culture with naming conventions you don’t understand. Using gender-neutral pronouns like they/them/their here is a major advantage of the English language that not only covers all possible bases but protects both you and the addressee from potentially awkward situations.

A Cultural Shift

It’s not just about pronouns. Gendered language and its role in the English language can be seen everywhere. Consider the words of Star Trek’s Captain Kirk “Where no man has gone before” in contrast to Jean-Luc Picard’s “Where no one has gone before” some decades later. The implication shifted from that this was man’s adventure, to everyone’s adventure. Language changed in Star Trek, reflecting changes in society – changes that are still happening today and that translators should bear in mind when trying to be inclusive.

How to Approach Gender-Neutral Language

Contrary to popular myth, the English language has had a gender-neutral alternative to he and she for centuries, making gender neutrality relatively easy. While there are pronouns that some non-binary and trans people may favor and that are polite to use if they make them known, the simple gender-neutral singular they/their/them pronouns have been used by everyone from Chaucer to Shakespeare and are absolutely not exclusively used for plurals. English has great built-in gender-neutral options that should be used if there is ambiguity or when gender is not important.

SIngular They - AlternativesEnglish Makes It Easy

While many languages insist on marking a difference between male and female doctors, lawyers and so on, English generally doesn’t and makes gender-neutral terms easy and natural to use. If there are gendered terms like businessman or policewoman, then this can be changed to businessperson or police officer. Other quick tips include “humanity” over “mankind”, “everyone” over “ladies and gentlemen” and “Good morning/afternoon” over “Dear Mr./Ms.”. The choice of vocabulary in the English language is vast and there’s almost always a natural gender-neutral option if you consult your thesaurus.

Inclusivity Is Key

This isn’t saying that gendered terms should never be used in translations. That would sound unnatural and they have to be used sometimes. The point is to encourage inclusivity through language as translators whenever the gender is an unimportant factor in a piece. There’s an argument to be made that language, along with history, has sided toward the role of males and overlooked females. But we are now at a point with greater inclusivity than ever before so it’s important to consider the role of language as it evolves to become more inclusive alongside us.

Boost productivity - Translators

Essential Concentration Tips for Freelance Translators

With advances in technology, more and more translators are taking the leap into freelancing, and while working at home offers both more professional and personal freedom, it can sometimes feel akin to working in a theme park filled with distractions just waiting to take you away. As translation is such an intellectually intensive field, concentration and focus are essential – even a tiny mistake could have potentially disastrous consequences for your clients. While a loss of focus may at times seem inevitable, these strategies will help you to stay alert and deliver the high-quality translations your clients deserve.

Free Yourself from Distractions

When you’re working on a project, close any possible distractions that may be open, only leaving essential translation websites open instead. If you don’t trust yourself, consider using a service like FocusMe, which takes away distractions for you. In the same way, if you find yourself getting distracted by your phone or tablet, leave it in another room and only check it during breaks. This brings us to our next point.

Allow Yourself to Take Breaks

It’s human nature to get distracted and to find your mind wandering, and while some lucky translators may be able to just power through this, others can’t and find themselves drawn into a spiral of procrastination. The important thing here is to understand that this is a natural human response and not something to feel guilty about – you’re not at school anymore. Instead, recognize it professionally and plan around it.

One great technique is regulating your working day by using breaks as a reward, with one famous example being the Pomodoro Technique. With this, work solidly on your project for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break to unwind. This not only helps to alleviate guilt but keeps your mind active too. Another good idea for a break is to tidy up your workspace: a cluttered environment is a cluttered mind after all.

Take a Nap

If you find yourself getting tired, consider taking a quick power nap for around 15 minutes. This should also help you feel more alert, but make sure to set plenty of alarms. Whether you’re having a nap, a coffee or a quick check of your favorite websites, make sure to take regular breaks to avoid being overly stressed out: otherwise, both you and the quality of your work will suffer.

Plan Ahead

Work-related stress and anxiety can affect your concentration and, therefore, the quality of your translations. Thankfully, it’s easy to remedy this through simple planning. Either the night before or every morning, create a list of tasks you can complete within a reasonable timeframe in the working day. This helps you not only to be less overwhelmed in busy periods but also makes sure you stick to deadlines and keep your translation clients happy.

Respect Your Body

This goes for anyone who works on a computer, whether freelance or not. Make sure you’re sat with good posture and that your screen isn’t too bright. This will help avoid back pain and headaches that could potentially affect your concentration. Consider investing in ergonomic mousepads and keyboards to prevent common injuries, and don’t forget to get up and stretch every now and then – people aren’t designed to sit in one position for hours a day.

Recognize the Importance of Your Work

The key is to understand how you work best. If you know you’re prone to procrastination, it’s your responsibility to adapt the way you work to make sure you keep your clients happy. It’s natural to get stuck in a rut sometimes but remember that you’re providing a very valuable service and what may seem like a dull project to you may mean the world to your clients.

Talented Translators

Strategies to Retain Talented Translators

In a previous post, we mentioned what freelance translators should do to keep their translation clients happy, but what about the translators’ expectations?

As organizations become increasingly reliant on contractors and freelancers, they need to consider how to attract and retain them. Many clients think that because their translation projects are only temporary, there isn’t much point bothering to retain a translator. But if you’ve decided to collaborate with a translator on a contractual basis, remember that it needs to be a harmonious relationship. Making sure that you get your message across clearly and accurately is essential for both the client and the translator.

Below are some crucial points that you should bear in mind to keep your freelance translator or contractor happy.

Communicate clearly

If you work with a translator remotely, you’ll want to make sure that you communicate your needs and expectations clearly from the start. This will prevent confusion and save you time. Remember that freelance translators or contractors are not part of your organization and need relevant information to deliver a quality translation.

The clearer your instructions, the more likely the translator will continue accepting jobs from you.  They will also feel like a part of your team and will be motivated to give you their best.

Be responsive

In communication, responsiveness is essential. Many issues can arise in a translation project: a term may need clarification, there may be parts missing, documents may not open correctly, and so on. Efficient translators like to work with companies that respond to their queries and address issues in a timely fashion. That email you are not answering might cause delays in your translation or in other projects of the translator.

Quality checks and revisions should be done by native speakers

There’s nothing more annoying for a translator than receiving corrections full of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. If you have someone from your company review the delivered translation, make sure that the person proofreading it is both an expert in the subject matter and a native speaker of the target language (the translation language). It will be a waste of time for both you and the translator if the documents keep coming and going with bad corrections and the translator constantly explaining why the translation is correct.

Provide feedback

Feedback is a crucial part of the translation process. Honest reviews can provide a way to identify weaknesses and strengths which will, in return, make future projects run more smoothly. In addition, with your feedback and corrections, glossaries can be improved, and the translator can find the right tone for your message. If you’re looking for a long-term relationship with a translator, you shouldn’t keep your thoughts on the translation to yourself. That being said, feedback should be fair. If you only point out what’s wrong or provide harsh feedback, it might lead to negative results. The translator might think that they aren’t suitable for the job or lose confidence in what they’re doing. Moreover, in the case of translation agencies, if a project manager reads negative feedback, they may decide to hire another translator, making it a bad decision for your project.

Be patient and respect deadlines

Meeting deadlines is a cornerstone of a successful translator. Once your translation project scope has been analyzed properly, the translator will provide you with a quote with basic information, including the deadline. If you have a strict deadline, you must be crystal clear about the date and time you need the translation back. Be aware that while translators have to respect deadlines, so do you. If it’s 10.15 AM and the translation needs to be delivered by 11 AM, refrain from contacting the translator asking whether the translation is ready yet. Those 45 minutes could be crucial for the translator. They could be doing the final check of the translation or polishing the text before delivery. If you insist on asking “is it ready yet?”, you could be distracting them and cause mistakes.

Pay on time

Just like a traditional employee, freelance translators and contractors need to receive their money on schedule. Late payments will not only make translators unhappy but can also give you a bad reputation. If you’re having unexpected problems and need to delay a payment, be up-front about the reasons and communicate them to the translator. Most will understand, especially so if this isn’t something that happens frequently. The same as deadlines, payment terms should be agreed upon before beginning a project.

Hiring a freelance translator or contractor can be a win-win situation as you avoid overhead costs like insurance, sick time, paid vacations and a fixed monthly salary. When you find the best talent that aligns with your business needs, you should do your best to retain them. If you think of your translators as part of your team and provide clear information, consistent work and pay fair rates on time, you will be able to count on highly skilled translators who will help you make your business flourish.

Contact us for a free translation quote.

Translation and Localization events - June 2018

Translation events – June 2018

June 1-2

Wordfast Forward 2018. Wordfast. Cascais, Portugal

June 4-5

L10N PM Certification 2018. The Localization Institute. Warsaw, Poland

June 5-6

Game Global Forum Warsaw. Localization World, Ltd. Warsaw, Poland

Legal interpreting—Challenges and Solutions in the US and Europe. AIIC Committee for Legal Interpreting. San Francisco, CA

June 5

Global Ready Bootcamp – San Francisco. Smartling. San Francisco, California, USA

June 6-8

LocWorld37 Warsaw. Localization World, Ltd. Warsaw, Poland

June 6-7

II Congreso ANETI. Asociación Nacional de Empresas de Traducción e Interpretación. Madrid, Spain

June 9-10

SENSE 2018. Society of English-language professionals. Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

NAJIT 39th Annual Conference. National Assn of Judiciary Interpreters & Translators (NAJIT). San Francisco, CA, USA

June 13-14

TAUS Industry Leaders Forum 2018. TAUS. Amsterdam, Netherlands

June 13-15

Translating Feminism: Multi-disciplinary Perspectives on Text, Place and Agency. Leverhulme Trust International Network. Glasgow, United Kingdom

June 15-17

ABRATES IX. Brazilian Association of Translators (ABRATES). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

June 16

Workshop: Translation of Official Documents. Austin Area Translators & Interpreters Association (AATIA). Austin, TX , USA

June 20

Translation Workshop: Avoiding Interference in English>Spanish Translation. Upper Midwest Translators & Interpreters Assn (UMTIA). Minneapolis, MN, USA

June 20-22

IV Congreso internacional sobre investigación en Didáctica de la traducción. Barcelona, Spain

June 21

Netflix Globalization. The International Multilingual User Group (IMUG). Los Gatos, California, USA

June 30

Computer-Assisted Translation Course. Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Monterey, California, USA

June 30 – July 1

IJET-29 Japan Association of Translators. Osaka, Japan

Freelance translators and translation agencies

Ten rules to make sure you stand out to translation agencies

In a globalized world with literally hundreds of thousands of professional freelance translators out there competing for work, you’ve got to stand out from your competition. But how can you make sure you get hired again and keep your translation agency happy?

Here are a few tips to make your translation client fall in love with your services.

Ask yourself whether you are a good candidate for the translation

Before accepting a job or potentially wasting your time applying for a job, think carefully about whether you meet the requirements. Do you have experience with the subject matter? It’s better to refrain from translating a document you have no experience in at all than to lose a client when they realize you’ve done a sloppy job. Also carefully consider whether you’re able to meet the deadline.

Answer requests ASAP

Translation agencies count on reliable and readily available translators. If you’re approached by a new client, you will definitely start off on the right foot if you get back to them quickly and professionally. It’s a good idea to make sure that regular clients are able to reach you by providing them with alternative ways of contacting you, such as your WhatsApp or Skype details.

Dont make promises you cant keep

Agencies like working with freelancers who are prepared to meet their expectations and follow their schedules. From time to time, you’ll be approached by clients that have specific requirements. For instance, some agencies may need a freelancer to be available five hours per week for ongoing assignments or they may need to know well in advance if you will be available for a project that’s starting in a month’s time. Don’t commit to anything you can’t accomplish. Your client will have a hard time finding another translator if you’re not actually available like you promised and will have second thoughts before hiring you again.

Check files

Prevent unexpected problems. Once you’re sent the files for a translation, open them immediately to make sure that they open properly and that they are the right files. The same is true for translation packages; check that everything is fine, including translation memories. Translators can have heavy workloads and may only realize that there’s a problem with the files when they have just a few hours left to translate them – all because they didn’t take the time to check them when they were received. Also, bear in mind that the translation agency might not be in your time zone so the sooner you report a problem the better.

Check POs

If you’re sent a PO or agreement, verify that the word count and the rate you agreed is correct. Also, make sure to check that the currency is correct. Any discrepancies should also be reported immediately.

Meet deadlines

Remember that when a client says that a translation needs to be delivered by tomorrow, 3 pm ET, you can’t deliver it tomorrow at 6 pm ET. Translation agencies have strict schedules and parallel projects to finish. Most of them have their translations reviewed by another translator and they need time to proofread files and do a quality control before delivery. If you have a problem, notify the agency well in advance of the time you’ll be delivering the translation. Give yourself extra time when you state the new deadline as it would be terrible to miss it twice.

Develop a Quality Assurance (QA)  process

Don’t send draft translations. Although translation agencies have their own QA procedures, it’s your job to provide an error-free translation. Many reviewers charge on an hourly basis and it will, therefore, be more expensive for an agency to review a translation that hasn’t been proofread by the original translator. Your QA process should include deleting double spaces, checking the format and, of course, checking the spelling. Don’t change file names, simply add the international langue code at the end. For instance: “name ES.docx.”

Be open to comments

Your job isn’t over when you deliver the translation. The agency will have your translation proofread or checked. You will usually receive the tracked changes and comments. Carefully review all the changes and make sure you reply to all comments. Don’t panic when you receive revisions – all documents will always need a few changes to be made and it doesn’t mean that you’ve done a bad job. If you disagree with a change, say so. Don’t just reply to the email with a “Received. Thank you.” Your project manager needs to know that you’ve read the proofread document and that you agree with all the changes. If you’ve made a glossary, update it for future translations.

Pay attention to invoicing

Prepare your invoice as soon as you finish the project and send it to the contact provided for payments. Some translation agencies require specific information such as the PO, date delivered, etc. Remember to include all the information and specify your preferred method of payment.

Go the extra mile

Translation agencies are sure to keep choosing freelancers who go above and beyond the call of duty. Successful freelance translators are passionate, pro-active and put 100 percent into every single project. If you show your client that you love your work and you make your own suggestions on how to make the project successful, they’ll be impressed.

PDF Translation

How do I translate a PDF file?

If you are a translator, you may already have had a client ask you to translate a PDF document.

But what exactly is a PDF file? PDF stands for Portable Document Format. It is easy to open on various devices and is a standard file used for sharing business documents. Translating with a PDF editor means you’ll likely have to do some reformatting since the translation will have a different word count (texts written in Spanish, for example, are typically 20-30 percent longer than texts written in English). There may also be graphics, images and tables with text inside them that will have to be reformatted to accommodate the new word count.

Do you need to deliver the translation with a format identical to the PDF file?

There is a chance that the client doesn’t need a file with an identical format. They might just want the translation sent to them in a Word document and have someone internal do the PDF formatting with the translated text. Do not assume that they want you to take care of the formatting just because the document they sent you is a PDF file. Ask them first and find out exactly what they need.

If the client has decided they want you to do the formatting, here is what you need to do:

Establish how the PDF was created

Is it a simple file created from a Word document or was it created with a graphic design software such as InDesign? Or is it a scanned document? If it was created with a Word document, the conversion will usually be pretty simple. To find out which application was used to create the PDF: Click (in Adobe Acrobat) File> Properties> Description. Under Application, the program used to create it will be listed (e.g. MS Word, InDesign).

Choose the best PDF translating method

Direct translation– If the PDF file is not a scanned document, it is possible to translate directly in a PDF editor (such as Adobe Acrobat) by overwriting the text. As mentioned above, the word count in the translated version will be different, which means you will need to work out some formatting issues. With a direct translation, this can be a challenge as formatting options are limited with PDF editors.

Retyping– This is basically the only option for scanned documents that are converted badly with an OCR software since you cannot edit the text using a PDF editor. For other types of docs where the text can be edited, retyping would be the most time-consuming way to translate a PDF file, potentially adding hours to your translation time.

OCR software– OCR (Optical Character Recognition) programs are not free but they are ideal for challenging formatting issues. They allow you to convert PDFs to editable documents. It should be noted that, in most cases, you will need to fix the format after converting and exporting PDFs to Word. You should learn the basics of the OCR software you use. There is a way to choose how blocks will be read by the OCR software. For example, you can choose the program to read a block as an image, table or text.

Computer-Assisted Tools– Programs such as SDL Trados allow you to extract the text from a PDF to be translated in their interface but will not help when it comes to formatting issues.

PDF readers and editor– PDF readers and editors programs allow you to copy the text to the clipboard or copy and paste text manually. The paid versions let you convert and export files. This option is not ideal for complex formatting.

How to charge for a PDF translation

If you are presented with a PDF file with a complex format, ask your client if they can provide you with the source file. If they cannot and want you to deliver a translation with an identical format, in order to calculate your price for the client, you should consider how long it will take you to reformat the file with the translated text and if you will need to use a vendor (such as a graphic designer) in order to do this successfully.

A final tip

For those who work with PDFs frequently, a PDF editor such as Adobe Acrobat Professional is recommended, however, there are also cheaper options so shop around before you purchase one.

Do you need to translate a PDF? Contact us for a quote!