Being married to a Professional Translator for nine years and having experienced translation from an executive point of view has made me very keen on ensuring the quality of a translation. My first article dealing with translation, entitled "Translation Matters - Helpful Tips for Translation Service Buyers" focused on my insights gleaned as an executive responsible for procuring and overseeing translation projects.

The insights that I have gleaned, as one married to a professional translator, over the past many years indeed center on issues of quality. As they say, the pen is mightier than the sword and that metaphor certainly applies to the work of a translator.

While quality is generally a tough idea to market (a separate issue), it is critical to the success of a translation project and thus it does receive attention by the best translation companies. So, how do we check the ability of a translator? By evaluation, of course.

1. Check credentials. This is more easily said than done. How do you know which school in Thailand puts out the professional translator vs. one that simply teaches language basics? That could require more digging than you have time for, but it is possible to ask questions of the translators themselves to resolve this, even if you get somewhat conflicted responses. One will likely emerge as the clear winner.

2. Choose a translator and an editor. Once the translator has given you their translation, send it to the editor. When the editor provides the edited version, take a good look at the corrections. Send the edited work back to the original translator to accept/reject the changes. Review any explanation given. If the process goes smoothly and you see no problems, you may have a good translator and editor on your hands. This is a typical quality check process good translation service providing companies use.

The next time around, you might try reversing the roles. That is, make the translator the editor and vice versa, repeating the process. Is the translator professional in his/her evaluations of the work of another, sticking to facts, such as punctuation, spelling, word choice, and free vs. literal translation, etc.?

Be sure to have a translator translate a document long enough to be a sufficient test of the capacity and stamina of the translator. Most translators can put enough effort into a paragraph, but how do you know it wasn’t done without assistance from someone else? That assistance isn’t likely to be made available to a translator when faced with a 2,000, let alone a 200,000-word translation project, is it? In other words, the translator can easily solicit lots of feedback for help with a special project, such that the translation reflects not the raw abilities of the translator himself.

3. Test the translator. If you are looking for a long-term relationship, this could save you some time and expense in the long-run. The way you approach the testing should be well thought out. The manner in which the testing is done is a significant discussion point amongst Professional Translators. You can say it makes for an exciting conversation catalyst. Some translators are happy to do tests for free. However, most professional translators are already occupied with projects and may not appreciate the extra bother. The best thing to do is to pay for a test if it is in your budget, especially for high-end projects.

4. Have a translator send a sample translation that can then be evaluated through another translator. This can be a good approach. Of course, the sample probably reflects the very best work of the translator. One can hope that the integrity of the translator is such that it reflects his and only his work.

Paying attention to detail when evaluating a translation is important. Even credentials cannot supplant the care and diligence of one translator over another. Even if I have three PhD’s in the areas of specific concern to your project material, I may not be a careful translator. In fact, I may be quite sloppy. If I were a hamburger commercial, I might be the one that drips ketchup all over before it gets to your mouth. Testing is critical here as well, as you can ascertain which translator follows your instructions explicitly.

Start your evaluation with a small project if at all possible. It’s easier to recover, if you make a selection mistake.

I hope these tips are useful and make a meaningful difference to your translation projects. If you’d like to write to me and offer other tips you’ve discovered, please do so.

In parting, I should say something better than “good luck” with your translation projects, so how about “good testing”?