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Translation Blogs Are Boring

August 15, 2016

I’m sorry to mention this. I don’t mean to sound overly critical. But the problem with most translation blogs I’ve read is that they’re boring. I can barely stand to read them. And I’m in the translation business for goodness sake! The ‘Offside’ Rule In the past 24 hours I’ve watched at least 20 YouTube videos in […]

The Biggest Translation Mistake Ever

August 8, 2016

The “biggest translation mistake ever” may not be what you think. Professional translation services routinely implement quality assurance protocols in their processes so that actual mistranslations are rare. Even when a client reports discovery of a “mistake’ in a translation deliverable it’s usually not a case of an actual error. More often it’s a case of a translator selecting […]

Translation Blogs Are Boring

August 15, 2016

The Biggest Translation Mistake Ever

August 8, 2016

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Translation Blogs Are Boring

August 15, 2016

The ‘Offside’ Rule

In the past 24 hours I’ve watched at least 20 YouTube videos in my attempt to better understand the rule of ‘offside’ in soccer. I’ve been watching my daughter’s soccer games over the past few years (she’s 13 now) and I finally decided it’s time that I understand that particular rule. I’ve been casually confiding to other spectator-parents along the sidelines on game days that my understanding of that rule is rather vague. No more though. I’m now confidently less uncertain than I was before.

Every one of the videos and explanations of this rule of soccer I found online I watched and/or read with interest. Not every one of the explanations of the rule was elegantly presented or beautifully illustrated. Some of the explanations mispronounced the rule. It’s ‘offside’ and not ‘offsides’. Ironically one of the best explainers of the rule consistently mispronounced/misspelled the rule in their presentation. It didn’t matter.

What’s The Point?

Why bother writing a blog (translation or otherwise) if it bores me and others to tears? How can a blog from a translation company be made interesting? Better yet how can it be made interesting to an audience we care about? Our customers for one right?

I’ll be thinking about this over the next few days especially. If I come up with any answers I’ll write about it here. And if you already know, or have an idea, please leave a comment below.

The Biggest Translation Mistake Ever

August 8, 2016

The “biggest translation mistake ever” may not be what you think.

Professional translation services routinely implement quality assurance protocols in their processes so that actual mistranslations are rare. Even when a client reports discovery of a “mistake’ in a translation deliverable it’s usually not a case of an actual error. More often it’s a case of a translator selecting a word or phrase that differs from the preference of a lay translation reviewer. Alternate translations are abundant.

So what is the biggest translation mistake ever? In our experience it’s:

Failing To Establish A Relationship With Your Translation Provider.

Strong relationships have advantages not only personally but professionally. For translation clients, building a relationship with their translation provider can bring numerous benefits including the following:

1) Preferential Scheduling. For regular consumers of translation services, sooner or later a project will come up that requires urgent attention. While completing and delivering a project ‘yesterday’ might not be possible, sometimes translation services can expedite delivery schedules by making special arrangements. Project managers are much more likely to make the extra effort for long time clients and for those clients they work with regularly.

2) Confidence and Trust. Trust is most often developed over time. A successful first project leads to a second, then a third, and so on. Clients having confidence that a translation project will be performed professionally frees up mental capacity to focus on other tasks. Most translation clients would like to hand off responsibility for a translation project, trust that their language services provider will handle it professionally, and move on to other things.

3) Specialized Project Consulting. Translation services, strictly speaking, might sometimes be only a part of a larger client need. For example, an eLearning translation project might have several components and require skills in addition to translation. There might also be a voice-over component, editing of screen graphics, and overall integration of all inputs. A trusted translation provider clients have established a relationship with will want to go the extra mile to bring all related skills together to produce the desired final output.

Are there other reasons and benefits to establish a relationship? Feel free to leave your comments below.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Translation Blogs Are Boring

The Biggest Translation Mistake Ever

Translation Blogs Are Boring

The Biggest Translation Mistake Ever

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Translation Blogs Are Boring

The ‘Offside’ Rule

What’s The Point?

The Biggest Translation Mistake Ever

Failing To Establish A Relationship With Your Translation Provider.

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