Is Translation Consistency Overrated?

Ask a group of translation clients whether consistency in style and terminology is important from project to project and many will say yes. Still many translation projects are performed without the benefit of a translation memory or even a simple glossary of key terms. The absence of these resources virtually ensures some variation from project to project.

So how important is translation consistency then really? If clients value other factors more, what might those factors be? Here are three that come up for us from time to time:

 

Time to project completion

Do you want the project fast or consistent? Sometimes in the real world that’s the choice and fast wins. Locating a TM or taking the time to prepare a glossary even if it results in a translation more consistent with past work is sometimes not worth the delay in project completion.

Opportunity cost trade offs

Client time spent locating or transferring a preexisting TM or even more time intensive preparation of a glossary does not result in sufficient improved quality of a translation to warrant the extra investment of time. Other priorities are of greater importance to them and their organizations.

Low importance

Translation consistency is just not that important for some projects. If different projects have distinct audiences then consistency with past projects might not be critical. When clients are informed they can often make the determination (e.g., no we don’t mind if this project is entirely consistent with other projects).