Further to my inaugural post on this blog, a colleague, Marianna, has decided to flesh out some of the details, and they go like this…
“Preparing a document for translation may be, sometimes, a tricky and potentially overwhelming job, depending on how important the project is, and how vital, say, specific terminology or marketing flair is to this particular translation. We realize that you may need a little guidance from a professional translation company, as our mission is to make translation as hassle free as possible for everyone, leaving you to concentrate on your main business affairs.
Bien sur, this is not an exhaustive list. So, if you want to send us any of your own tips, leave a comment here or email us.
Think globally…
Have in mind an international audience: Use simple and clear words to express your thoughts in your documents. Try to avoid slang and locally used phrases as these make your documents very difficult to translate.
Edit as much as possible…
Simpler documents are easier to translate and more effective in conveying the right message to your audience. Try to condense the meaning of your document into fewer lines, in other words avoid using 100 words when 50 will do the same job for you.
Avoid acronyms…
If you use any in your text, make sure you explain them the first time they appear.
Leave some white space…
It is worthwhile using some white space in your documents as, often, translated texts expand and are longer than the original version. This is especially true for Spanish, Italian and other Romance languages, and particularly pertinent if you want your translated text to be typeset. Leaving enough white space in your document makes it easier for the translation and postproduction team to maintain your original layout and overall design on the target text. Also, there are languages written RTL (right to left), and this may require some documents to be re-formatted. “
6 October 2008 10:34