If translation is important to your organization, then it’s important to get translation right. It’s the only way translation gets results. (Otherwise, see every translation PR disaster ever.) But if you get it right, your stakeholders – and your organization’s bottom line – will thank you for a long time to come. That’s why today I’d like to show you one simple way to get better translation for your organization right away.
You see, great translation doesn’t just convey the meaning of an original source document in a new language, or flow naturally, though it should. A great translation is consistent and faithful to its message and its creators’ intentions. A great translation expresses what your organization wants expressed and in the way that it wants it expressed. There’s just one problem. How does the translation team know exactly what you want?
That’s where the terminology glossary comes in. A terminology glossary sets the standard and removes the need for post-translation change requests. Having this important little document before the start of your next translation project is honestly the fastest way to getting a better (and did I mention more cost-efficient?) translation.
What Is a Terminology Glossary?
A terminology glossary should be the foundation of any translation project your organization undertakes. It’s a database of important words and phrases, and it contains all of your organization’s preferences and expectations for your content.
A terminology glossary aids translators and editors during the translation process and quality assurance steps, ensuring that the words and phrases are used correctly and in their proper context throughout any translation.
Your organization should aim to have one terminology glossary for each target language. A terminology glossary typically only takes a few hours to create, but in terms of improved quality and cost efficiency, it will make a big difference for all of your organization’s subsequent translations.
What Should a Terminology Glossary Contain?
While every industry and every company are unique, and your terminology glossary will be too, here are some items you should consider including in your organization’s terminology glossary:
– What NOT to translate. Your organization may not want to translate certain words, such as the name of your company, the name of a product, registered trademarks, etc. Knowing this at the outset via the terminology glossary will save translators time, save you money and ensure that you get the translation your organization wants the first time around.
– Terms that are specific to your organization, as well as their definitions and your preferred translations. Every organization has its own vocabulary. This may include words the organization invented, or words your organization adopted for specific contexts, as a way to describe your products, your product’s features and even your customers themselves. Including these terms in your terminology glossary is key for translation consistency and better stakeholder engagement.
– Acronyms and abbreviations. There are many similar acronyms and abbreviations in use today (who doesn’t want to try to save time?) but they may not be immediately obvious to someone outside of your organization. In your terminology glossary, spell out any acronyms and abbreviations your organization uses as well as your preferred translations, if any.
You can create a terminology glossary internally, you can have your translation team create one for you or you can create a terminology glossary in conjunction with your translation team. Whichever way you decide to go, creating and having a terminology glossary will instantly improve your translation projects from now on, for your organization and stakeholders alike. And remember, a terminology glossary can grow over time as your organization and its messages evolve.
Better Translation from the Start
Responsive Translation does everything we can to ensure translation quality for our clients. Certified for ISO 9001, we’re a full-service translation agency that specializes in high-stakes translation and works in more than 200 languages and dialects. For more information about our range of foreign-language services, please get in touch at 646-847-3309 or [email protected].
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