Translations for a department of education in the US

The solution

With 300 tested and dedicated freelance linguists on board, we are not afraid of large volumes. On the contrary, we welcome new challenges which allow us to grow.

Several tasks included translation of a dozen files containing up to 200,000 words, which we needed to translate and proofread within 4-6 days.

To guarantee consistency, we selected pieces of text which were similar across the files, and gave each piece to one translator. For this first stage we needed only 3-4 translators and one day’s work. One proofreader reviewed the translation, receiving the updates during the day. By the end of the day, we had a translation memory ready to be used in CAT tools with the proofread translation of the most common segments of text. This memory was used by all other translators who started their work on the second day. Several proofreaders reviewed the translation, which they received in parts. Finally, on the last day our QA manager received all proofread translations and analysed them using specialist QA tools. The tools allow us to spot spelling and grammar errors, numeric mismatches, and inconsistent translation of identical phrases. Since the translation was checked by more than one proofreader, there were inevitably inconsistencies, which the QA manager was able to rectify.

Another helpful tool was our project management application, which allows us to automatically pass documents from translator to proofreader and then to QA manager without losing time.

Thanks to the automation of our work process, and our well-organised teamwork, we managed to deliver the translation on time while still maintaining high quality.