In today’s globalized world, the demand for accurate content for translation is growing.
Do you have an experience in writing? Do you have an experience in writing not in your mother tongue? Have you ever experienced difficulties in choosing words that will express your idea perfectly?
When we are creating any content, we focus on many aspects such as scope, languages, technology, success criteria, goals, and other expected topics. But a critical element of the successful localization, that unfortunately people always omit is a source text quality.
A source text serves as a base for translated content in all other languages. And as the number of target languages for translation increases, the impact of the source content does too. So when writing the content for translation, it’s critical that there is a plan, so-called content strategy. It’s all about writing it right — the first time.
How to compose a content for translation properly?
To avoid common pitfalls, there are some general guidelines you should keep in mind when writing for translation. Keep your sentences simple and direct to increase understanding—and use a style guide for consistency. Because clear, concise, well-constructed sentences improve translation quality, reduce turnaround time, and cut costs—which speeds time-to-market and accelerates revenue streams.
1. Keep sentences brief.
For increased comprehension and simpler translations, aim for about 20 words or even less. And boost readability.
When creating a content think of the things that are important.
2. Follow a classical sentence structure.
This means a subject, verb, an object with associated modifiers. Ensure correct grammatical structure and proper punctuation.
This includes checking the basics because mistakes can travel across source and target languages. Translators often find and flag source errors, but that shouldn’t replace proofreading your source text.
3. Avoid long noun strings.
When there are no connecting elements in noun strings, readers must infer the relationship between the words. If it makes you read a sentence several times to understand it, chances are that there will be further complications when it’s translated into a different language. When this happens, there are numbers of misinterpretations of the original meaning—or a translation that appears too literal.
4. Use just one term to identify a single concept.
Synonyms get in the way of clarity. Write the same thing, the same way, every time you write it. Finding different ways to write a single concept will not only affect the overall consistency of translation, but it will also reduce the related translation memory leverage. This can lead to decreased quality, increased cost, and increased turnaround.
Translation memories leverage words in segments, so changing even a minor word has an impact. Always consider re-using existing content that professional linguistics have already translated for you — don’t write from scratch if you don’t need to.
5. Avoid ambiguous subtexts.
Translating humor may always become a very tense task. The same goes for jargon, regional phrases, or metaphors. Some expressions are not always universally understood or appreciated — they don’t translate.
When you create a content which you will translate — try to be concise, logic, and intercultural, so that translated content can’t cause any misunderstandings.
Another useful tip would be to be clear with international dates.
Style guides should document the handling of large numerals, measurements of weight, height, width, temperature, time, phone numbers, currency, etc. for each language pair.
6. Use the active voice rather than the passive.
Passive voice complicates the understanding in both source and target languages. Because of the cumbersome grammatical structures, the reader can easily lose the understanding and ease of following your thoughts and ideas.
7. Avoid phrasal verbs (containing a verb form with one or more articles).
The peculiar feature of this grammatical phenomenon is a big number of meanings. Phrasal verbs complicate the process of translation. When writing – try to avoid them and formulate your thoughts in a more simple way. Simplicity is a key success factor. It helps create a connection of any future reader, listener, and partner.
8. Define your audience
Determine your language combination. When appropriate, be sure to target a particular region or country to ensure the proper use of language based on the target region and culture. For example, choose English (UK) to Spanish (SP), rather than just English to Spanish. Are your readers young or old? Industry experts or the common public? Local or international? With a clear target audience in mind, the translation team will be equipped with that knowledge when localizing the content for that target audience.
Consider the subject and target audience. Legal, medical and technical translations usually require a serious, formal tone and sometimes, use of the passive voice. In contrast, marketing content allows more freedom in diction and tone, including the use of an active voice to feel natural.
9. Collaborate
Professional human translators can understand the meaning beyond the words and can craft translations that reflect the true intent of the source content. In business, literal translations produced by a machine don’t always cut it. This is especially important when you’re thinking about brand voice and messaging. It’s important therefore to invest in high-quality translation services to produce the best results. While those services increasingly rely on machines to assist with translation, they add a layer of human review to ensure quality.
Communication and preparation are key
Cross-cultural communication requires study and practice to master. But it all begins with preparing content for translation and making sure that source text is easy to translate. Once the stage is ready for translation, you can focus on the translation process itself and further refine content to suit different audiences. Writing translation-ready materials will save you time and money too — and it’ll increase the quality and readability of your target translations.
When it comes to going global, a common goal is to maintain a unique, quality content for translation.
You would also be interested on How Much do You Know about Translation?
This article first appeared on Agato Translation Blog we find it worth sharing with you: agatotranslate.ae/how-to-compose-a-perfect-content-for-translation/
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