All about Technical Translation

 

                                                              

 

Basic language skills fall short in technical translation because it requires translating complex documentation in varied domains of finance, science, software, healthcare, and engineering. 

A technical translator also needs to be well-versed with the right set of terminology in both the target language and the source language so as to deliver the exact meaning of the documentation/communication as described or iterated by the respective organization. But in most cases, it is seen that technical terms have a common meaning between languages, which makes the job easier when taken professionally.

Key challenges of technical language translation

There are certain challenges in technical language translation and most of the language service providers try to address those challenges from the forefront.

The first one would be in terms of domain knowledge. Professional technical translation services in India incorporate a domain expert in their team, wherein the concerned personnel would translate the exact subjective meaning of the source language that needs to be translated into a secondary language. Secondly, the translation team also needs to understand the entire document that they are working on, otherwise, the resulting document would fail to match the meaning of the source.

In technical translation, word-to-word basis translation doesn’t happen. This is because each language has its bandwidth to describe a certain word, and that word may be a noun, preposition, adjective, etc. For example, if we look at any English-Chinese technical translation work by a professional translation service in India or the USA, we would see that it has taken less space to explain the same words that have been described in English. This is because Chinese has fewer syllables than English language. On the other hand, if we compare the same documentation but English-Japanese technical translation, then we would see that it has taken more space than the Mandarin-Chinese document. This is because the Japanese language has more syllables than Mandarin.

It also becomes a tough job when translating a sensitive domain technical document as the translator needs to interpret the information, curated to the target audience in terms of medical prescriptions/papers or safety instruction manuals. Think about an English-Korean technical translation job, where the translator needs to interpret an English instruction manual for a native Korean speaker. Here, the real challenge lies in the pronunciation of the Korean language because overcoming the language translation part is easy.

Types of Technical Language Translation

Given below are some of the generally utilized types of technical language translation-

●        User manual translation

This requires some specialized skills and knowledge of the domain. Technical translation services in India normally cover this service because, as we all know that user manual is a very form of selling a product. With the rise of Made-in-India products, manufacturing companies in India seek this service where they would find a domain expert relative to their product lineup.

This goes without saying that user manual translation incorporates the utilization of plain text, rendering it a good translation material of automated translation tools wherein an accuracy check is stationed right after post-editing by a human translator.

●        Translation of Patents

This is another area of technical translation where one needs to have a thorough understanding of structuring and filing patents as well as subjective expertise. This is because any patent document has both legal and practical aspects to it. For example, a Japanese company that has a patent filed in Japan needs to furnish the document in English; hence a stakeholder of the company would seek the best English-Japanese technical translation service so as to secure their innovation in non-native Japanese-speaking countries.

Subsequently, the translation team should have a certain level of artistry parallel with the right scientific and technical knowledge to prove them an effective patent translator.

●        CAD/CAM drawing translation

This also falls under the jurisdiction of technical translation services, because CAD/CAM drawings are full of technical notions such as dimensions, labels, visual elements, etc. In some cases, this translation resembles the translation of software strings.

●        Translation of Software strings- This is another hardcore technical domain where the translation services have to be offered by a domain expert of the particular software itself. While the user interface may seem effortless and easy to comprehend, the translation experts working on the project should be well-versed with software strings to pull this off. They should also know the expectations for both the source and destination languages in the region.

 

The Power of English and Identifying the Best English Translation Services

 

According to some genuine sources, the origin of English dates back to the 5^th Century when the invasion of Britain occurred. When we think about language, countries like the USA and the U.K. come to mind as places where it is spoken natively. But as a matter of fact, we know that over the years many other countries have adopted English alongside their native tongue, and below are some statistics given for its depth of inclusions-

·         It is noted that about 125 million people speak English in India which involves domains like industries, schools, colleges, businesses, art and culture, etc.

·         Nigeria being the most populous country in Africa has diverse language profiles. Over 60 million people speak English and they utilize it for business dealings and media communications

·         Pakistan also uses the language in schools and businesses and around 49 million people speak English.

·         Among 11 official languages, English is one of the languages in South Africa. As a result of British colonization, most of the population speaks fluent English.

With the rise of different countries adopting English, it becomes imperative that countries utilize this language as a universal medium to communicate among themselves whether it is in terms of business activity, military, exchange of technology, space exploration projects, or simple business exchanges. This is where the advent of English translation companies and their services comes in because sometimes we see that English is not the native language in all countries and they need proper translators who will guide them to understand the culture and language of the native-speaking countries and also vice versa.

As a result, there are hundreds and thousands of language service providers, and identifying them and managing the vendors is increasingly becoming difficult as it is becoming a full-time job in itself. Think about the number of translation services that a metro city like Mumbai in India would have just because there are several renowned MNCs residing and doing their businesses. Even it becomes a hectic exercise for a global organization to find the best professional English translation services in Mumbai because the domain of translation is rapidly evolving and innovative translation technologies are revisiting traditional service models frequently.

The above information and the case study bring back the most important question- how one would identify the best English translation companies when almost all of them provide complete translation services with a competitive price point? To make things easy, below are some tips that can help one to choose the right translation services-

·         Delivers instant Quote- If we look at a conventional English language translation service in India, we will notice that they rely on manual work for most of the tasks within the translation process. These involve file analysis in order to provide their clients with a translation quote. It’s typical to revert to the estimate within a day or two or maybe even more. However, time matters the most nowadays as it helps an organization to zero in on their decisions quickly to decide which service company to go for, so that there is no loss in business activity.

·         Competitive pricing- It’s one thing for an English translation company to advertise that they offer the best affordable certified translation services and quite another to have the minimum charge. Over time we have seen how a typical user manual comes with minimal wording (maybe 500 or less) and even digital content today continues to shrink in size which makes the ratings of the translation services hard to gauge. As a result, one must ensure that their translation vendor doesn’t end up charging a minimum fee for such requests because they can add quickly.

·         Translation samples- Many organizations provide translation samples to test a supplier to check the linguistic quality. This becomes only time-consuming but also ends up with the vendors who are misfits for the job.

·         Online translation- Traditional translation companies are deemed to be opaque in their working methodology and their customers never have the liberty to check the progress in real-time. Online certified translation services allow customers to check on the progress in real-time thereby reducing the time loss in business deals.

·         Accreditation in Quality- For example any English language translation service in India can claim that they offer the best translation quality. However, it is always advised for organizations planning to collaborate with English translation companies that are ISO-certified.