Fixing the bad translations

Understandably, many companies handling translation jobs utilize internal staff who are generally good in terminology, but lacking in writing skills.

Unfortunately, many clients think of translation as "just translating", but tend to neglect the importance of terminology management and quality assurance.

Oversimplification
New platforms may seem like they can simplify the process, but this oversimplification can be misleading.

Having been in the localization industry since 2002, my understanding has evolved to welcoming the fact that management by a project manager basically eliminates both standard and unusual problems. By all objective standards, the project manager plays a critical role to avoid problems.

Vendor management is a critical part of project management, supervised by a project manager. For the client, it is frequently not merely choosing a vendor. A wide range of parameters must be considered before a selection is made. These include target language, field of expertise, technical context, creative writing skills, localization experience, feasibility of rates and CAT tools, daily/weekly capacity, availability, positive feedback from previous translations and many unwritten characteristics like raising meaningful questions, providing on-time delivery and establishing good communication.

Author: Volkan Güvenç 
General Coordinator 
Alafranga Language Solutions