Client Specified Preferred Translations for Specialized Terms

Professional translators are hired (presumably) because translation clients do not have sufficient language skills to perform translation themselves, or possibly because clients prefer the judgment of linguists who work with language on a regular basis. Translation is a specialized language skill. Professional translators refine their skills over time through experience from project to project.

Translation clients might still have particular terms and/or expressions they prefer to be translated in a certain way. In such cases professional translators work with tools that allow clients to indicate these preferences.

In response to a client’s request we asked our translators assigned to a particular account three questions. The questions are numbered below along with the response.

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Questions to Translator:

1) Do the software (CAT) tools allow incorporating a glossary?

2) Assuming yes, how reliable will this be? Will it catch some, most, or all cases for translating these words?

3) In what form (or format) should we provide the glossary of preferred terms?

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Translator response:

The answer is yes, we can incorporate a glossary upon their request.

The CAT tool uses what is called a “termbase”, which is just that, a glossary. It uses an Excel file as the import format.

Anyway that Excel file has certain tabs and column names that need to be followed.

I suggest that the could send their glossary requirements and we should create the termbase. That is quicker and safer than to send instructions to the customer.

The answer to the question on point 2 is that it is quite reliable and it will help in most cases. However, the last word is on the linguist side who needs to decide if the glossary fulfills the context of course.