The most common questions potential clients ask us about technical translations are:

   1. How do you ensure that your technical translations are correct?
   2. What can we as the client do to reduce technical translation cost?

• Linguistic accuracy we ensure by

   -   working with a translator that is a native speaker of the target language,
   -   who lives and works in the target country;
   -   the quality control process that all our technical translations undergo.


• Technical accuracy we guarantee by working only with a translator that has an educational background and/or practical experience in the technical subject of the text.

Yes, there is a great deal that you as the client can do to minimise translation cost.

To get all the details, please download FREE Report #1 - An Expert's Guide to Technical Writing for Translation to the right of this page.

Just briefly, please consider this. The total translation cost is commonly calculated by the number of words to be translated PLUS an estimated management time. If your documentation is formatted with an uncommon authoring tool that makes it difficult for us to process, or the author used terminology inconsistently, for example, the management time (and thus the cost) will increase to overcome those obstacles. The more obstacles to translation you can remove, the more you can help reduce the translation cost.

The following guidelines will increase the comprehensibility of your text and make translation cheaper for you:

• Use words with a precise meaning
  
  Unambiguous terminology aids understanding. For example, use 'Install the application' rather than 'Set up the application'.

• Use the same term to express a specific meaning
  
  For example, do not use 'remove' and 'delete' interchangeably.

• Include 'optional' words
  
  There is a tendency to omit words in sentences, which increases the chance of misunderstanding. For example, 'You can change the sysdb file using the BRG utility.' This can mean either:
  'You can change the sysdb file that uses the BRG utility.' or
  'You can change the sysdb file by using the BRG utility.'
  
  Also, make sure to include articles such as 'a', 'an', and 'the' to add clarity.

• Use more punctuation, not less
  
  This reduces confusion for both the reader and the translator by breaking complex sentences into parts for easier understanding.

• Avoid alphabetical lists that cannot be generated automatically
  
  Unless lists (such as commands, keyboard shortcuts and glossaries) can be generated automatically, compiling these alphabetically for each language will be very time-consuming.

• Do not use verbs as nouns
  
  For example, 'This function gives an analysis of the problem and offers a solution.' The nouns 'analysis' and 'solution' convey most of the meaning in this sentence, while the verbs 'gives' and 'offers' are practically meaningless. A better sentence would be: 'This function analyzes the problem and solves it'.

• Avoid words that have opposite meanings
  
  For example, 'sanction' can mean either 'to approve' or 'to punish'.

Why Use Us?

All our translators have premium technical qualifications and experience using the latest specialized Translation Memory (TM) software (such as Déjà vu X).

We translate all technical and commercial product documentation, and ensure that your documentation as a whole conforms to the target locale's linguistic, cultural and social conventions.

Of course we also translate product-related software resource files, Help files and web sites.

Every technical translation project is planned and executed by a team consisting of a project manager and one or more technical translators and proofreaders with native language skills and sound technical knowledge.