What is inconsistent translation?
When large quantities of texts are being translated, it is challenging to produce consistent translations of recurrent stretches of text, such as paragraphs, sentences and phrases. This can be due to many different reasons such as rush nature of the project, missing glossary or list of terminology and non-availability of the right industry specific resources. Hence it is of utmost important for the project management team
to review the content before committing to a deadline.
Translators come from different backgrounds and hence have different styles based on their experiences and educational qualifications. Hence it is imperative to select the right team for a specific project. When several translators and editors work on different sections of the same document simultaneously, inconsistencies are bound to occur. Also, the source text may not be final. This is a time consuming process and it is difficult to identify recurrent units in the source text manually.
Individual translators making up a translation team will also have individual criteria for choosing a certain translation or even choosing from a set of possible translations. Every industry has its own language. For example, consider the term “drive.” As a verb, it can describe several different actions, such as operating a vehicle or machinery. In many companies, however, it is used as a noun to describe an internal computer component that stores data.
Choosing the right word is a deliberate decision. It is imperative that the linguists and the editors working on a certain project use the same term for the same concept. All of this becomes even more complex as you attempt to provide this same information in multiple languages. If a word has multiple meanings, translating terminology from one language to another can be extremely complex, time consuming, and expensive. That’s why approximately 15 percent of all translation project costs arise from rework, and the primary cause of rework is inconsistent terminology.
Thank you for taking the time in reading this. Next month, we will dig in further and understand glossary and its importance and how it helps us in providing quality translations.