STP Translation & Revision Guidelines

Transcription

1 STP Translation & Revision Guidelines Tel: +44 (0) Sandberg Translation Partners Ltd, Unit 3, Victory Park, Solent Way, Whiteley, Hampshire PO15 7FN, UK

2 Table of Contents STP Translation & Revision Guidelines Translator Competence and CPD 3 Obligation of Professional Secrecy 3 STP FAQs 3 Purchase Order (PO) 3 Instructions 4 Final Checks 4 QA Checklist 4 Resources and Reference Material 4 Delivery 4 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling 4 Revision 5 Translation Tools 5 Machine Translation 5 Best-practice Translation Workflows 5 Translation Workflow, In-house Translation + In-house Revision 5 Translation Workflow, Freelance Translation + In-house Revision 6 Translation Workflow, In-house Translation + Freelance Revision 6 Translation Workflow, Freelance Translation + Freelance Revision 7 2

3 Translator Competence and CPD STP is certified to the translation services standard BS EN which specifies requirements for translation service providers (TSPs) regarding human and technical resources, quality and project management, contractual framework and service procedures. For our in-house and freelance translators this means that you are expected to: have the following professional competences as described in BS EN 15038: (a) translating competence: the ability to transfer the meaning in the source language into the target language in order to produce a text that is in accordance with the rules of the linguistic system of the target language and that meets the instructions received in the project assignment. (b) linguistic and textual competence in the source and the target language: ability to understand the source language and mastery of the target language. (c) research competence, information acquisition and processing: ability to efficiently acquire the additional linguistic and specialised knowledge necessary to understand the source text and to produce the target text. Requires experience in the use of research tools and the ability to develop suitable strategies for the efficient use of the information sources available. (d) cultural competence (e) technical competence: abilities and skills required for the professional preparation and production of translations. be committed to CPD (continuing professional development) as described, for example, by professional associations such as the ITI whose guidelines can be viewed at More information regarding these five areas of competence, CPD or the translation services standard BS EN in general can be requested from STP s Vendor Manager. For each assignment you accept from STP, your acceptance of our order confirmation means that you consider yourself to have the necessary competence to carry out the assignment as outlined above. You must always deliver a thorough and properly executed translation. You are expected to work according to good industry practice and research the topic, e.g. using the Internet, have the necessary technical tools and dictionaries at your disposal, proofread your own translation and run a spellchecker and any other necessary checks before delivery. We are always happy to help you with any technical or other questions relating to your work for us. Obligation of Professional Secrecy All suppliers agree to be bound by STP s obligation of professional secrecy: ops.html. STP FAQs On our website at you will find our Translator FAQs, an extensive collection of useful tips and tricks on how to use different translation-related applications and how to solve problems relating to these applications. Purchase Order (PO) All projects are confirmed with an ed PO (Purchase Order, or order confirmation) which states the work type, source and target languages, field, volume, rate and deadline. Do not start without a PO or an explicit go-ahead from the STP PM. 3

4 Instructions Always follow the project instructions sent to you with the order confirmation. You are welcome to submit queries or request additional reference material in good time prior to the agreed deadline; we will contact the client and do our best to help you. Do not contact STP s client or the end-client directly. Final Checks Spellchecking All work must be spellchecked prior to delivery regardless of file format or tool used. Please ask your PM if you are unsure of how to spellcheck in the tool you are using. QA Checking Quality Assurance (QA) checking is a set of mechanical checks that pick up on errors in translated files that a human eye easily misses. These may be missing translations, inconsistencies or punctuation issues, or inconsistencies with the provided glossary. QA checking is a mandatory step in STP workflows, and you are asked to confirm that QA checking has been done when you complete a project. Read more about QA checking in the STP guidelines at QA Checklist The Quality Assurance Checklist sent to you with our order confirmation should be filled in and delivered with the translated or revised project. Both the translator and the reviser have to fill in the QA checklist for every project. The PM will verify that the checklist has been correctly filled in and request clarification if necessary. Resources and Reference Material Always use the resources, translation memories (TMs), glossaries/termbases and reference material provided by the PM. If there are any issues with the supplied reference material and/or terminology, contact your PM as soon as possible. Delivery Deliver the translated files or project in the format requested by your PM, by the delivery date and time on your order confirmation. Do not change or add to any file names. Inform your PM of any delays in the schedule as soon as you are aware of them. Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Your translation should always follow the standard or current official rules of the target language with regard to grammar and spelling. Try to avoid a literal translation of the source document. Any spelling or typing mistakes can easily be removed with the spellchecker but remember that not all mistakes are detected electronically. You should always read through your finished work to check for any incorrect wording and spelling mistakes. The following links take you to basic Nordic and English language guidelines compiled by STP s Lead Translators. Danish Finnish English Norwegian

5 Swedish Revision We expect translators to proofread their own work against the source text before delivery regardless of whether the translation is going to be revised by a second linguist or not. Revision (secondary proofreading) by a second linguist should always be carried out against the source. Revision changes should be marked by tracked changes where the file format or tool allows it, otherwise the changes can be made directly in the translated files. Revisers are provided with and should read all the relevant translation instructions and query answers and make sure the translation has been carried out according to them. Reference material should be consulted where necessary, and the reviser should attempt to check any terminology either with the translator or from alternative sources if they suspect something is wrong. Otherwise, it is the translator s task to ensure all specialist terminology is correct. The reviser s main tasks are to make sure that the text does not contain any mistranslations, spelling or grammatical errors, and that the translation is complete and carried out according to instructions provided for the project. The STP PM will specify at the start of the revision, at the latest, who will be finalising the translation (translator or reviser). This will depend on the circumstances of the project, how tight the schedule is and what the personal circumstances of both the translator and reviser are. The finaliser is expected to implement revision changes, carry out a final spell check QA check, and to ensure that the translation is in every other respect ready for delivery to the client. If no revision is scheduled, the translator finalises the files and the QA checklist and delivers as per usual to the PM. Translation Tools Please use the translation tool and version requested by the PM. STP s main translation tool is memoq, however, we also use a host of other translation tools so please let us know if you upgrade your translation tool or acquire new tools. Some tools have translator versions that we can provide to you free of charge. If you have any problems using Trados or any other requested tool, do not hesitate to contact your PM. You can also refer to our Translator FAQs on our website at for instructions on how to use different tools and troubleshooting advice. Machine Translation Machine translation has developed in leaps and bounds over the past few years. MT is increasingly being used as part of STP s translation worfklows, and may be asked to carry out machine translation post-editing as part of a translation task. You can read more about MT post-editing at Best-practice Translation Workflows The translation workflows described below are recommended for translation and revision as specified in the BS EN translation standard. If no revision is scheduled, the translator finalises the files and the QA checklist and delivers as per usual to the PM. Instructions from the PM and the client should always be followed as the first priority. Translation Workflow, In-house Translation + In-house Revision 3. Translator passes translation on to the reviser. 5

6 4. Reviser reviews translation instructions and available reference material. Revises translation and inserts corrections on paper where possible, passes the translation back to the translator. Reviser fills in QA checklist and reports time spent to the PM. Translation Workflow, Freelance Translation + In-house Revision 3. Translator passes translation on to the PM who forwards it to the reviser. 4. Reviser reviews translation instructions and available reference material. Revises translation on paper where possible, inserts corrections in the electronic file using tracked changes or other method of logging changes. Reviser fills in QA checklist and reports time spent to the PM. Reviser passes the translation back to the PM who sends it to the translator for finalising. If time doesn t allow for freelance translator to finalise the translation or changes cannot be logged due to file format, reviser inserts changes and finalises the file, including final spell check and tag verification/qa check/other relevant checks. Translator and reviser fill in QA checklist. Reviser delivers to the PM. Translation Workflow, In-house Translation + Freelance Revision 3. Translator passes translation on to the PM who forwards it to the reviser. 4. Reviser reviews translation instructions and available reference material. Revises translation on paper where possible, inserts corrections in the electronic file using tracked changes or other method of logging changes. Reviser fills in QA checklist and reports time spent to the PM. Reviser passes the translation back to the PM who sends it to the translator for finalising. 6

7 Translation Workflow, Freelance Translation + Freelance Revision 3. Translator passes translation on to the PM who forwards it to the reviser. 4. Reviser reviews translation instructions and available reference material. Revises translation on paper where possible, inserts corrections in the electronic file using tracked changes or other method of logging changes. Reviser fills in QA checklist and reports time spent to the PM. Reviser passes the translation back to the PM who sends it to the translator for finalising. If time does not allow for the translator to finalise the translation or changes cannot be logged due to file format, reviser inserts changes and finalises the file, including final spell check and tag verification/qa check/other relevant checks. Translator and reviser fill in QA checklist. Reviser delivers to the PM. 7