Quality
The Polish translation quality assurance procedure that I use working on translations is given below.
- Terminology research and questions
The text is reviewed for terminology that will need translating and appropriate translations are searched for in dictionaries, online sources, with colleagues or in any materials provided with the text. If necessary the client will be asked to clarify any unfamiliar terminology.
- Translation memory and termbase
A translation memory is set up so that sentences can be saved for use in future translations, thereby providing a high level of consistency and quality. A termbase is also set up so that a glossary can be provided of important words and phrases. This can be used by the client to emsure standardisation and consistency across all English texts in the organisation.
- Translation
The text is translated carefully making sure all parts are translated including the contents of tables and charts, headers and footers, footnotes, indexes and all other elements.
- Review
The translated text is reveiewed to ensure that:
the text does not contain any spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, typing errors or incorrect punctuation;
the text is translated using the appropriate register and style for the target audience;
the terminology used is correct and consistently used throughout the text;
the author’s intended meaning is translated correctly and not just the words.
- A final proofreading is performed to make sure that there are no other errors in the text and that the format is appropriate.
- The text is sent to the client.
In addition to this quality assurance process, my strengths, education and experience and use of Computer-Aided Translation (CAT) tools add to the level of quality.