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How do I verify that my finished translations meet my requirements?
The translation process doesn’t end with the delivery of your final translated and proofed files… or rather, it shouldn’t. If your translations have any kind of significant reach, it’s in your best interest to pull together a team of subject matter experts (SMEs) with native-level fluency in your target languages.
What does your company specialize in? Let’s say it’s something that occupies a specialized niche, like nutritional supplements for exotic pets. No problem! We’ll make sure that your projects are handled by translators with expertise in your field, in a larger sense. But when it comes down to the level of the specific content that distinguishes your brand from all the others, you can’t beat a native speaker who’s also a part of your organization.
A Spanish translator with a Ph.D. in herpetology and a career in veterinary medicine could translate the marketing materials for your new line of iguana food, and still fail to convey the impression, the feeling you have sought to convey with your source text. Even if the text is correct, it may not be right. To ensure that it’s right, you need some SMEs! Once we deliver your translated and proofed content, they can go over it with an eye to guaranteeing that it represents you as you need to be represented.
Don’t think you’ll offend us by passing our freshly completed translations on for markup by your team – in fact, we really want this to happen. Along with any established terminology, glossaries and translation style guides you may have, comments from SME reviewers furnish us with invaluable feedback, about our work and your needs. Your SME review gives our translators a clearer picture of what you need from them, and that leads to even more satisfactory results in future translation projects.
How do you find foreign language SMEs if you don’t already have them onboard? Don’t worry, they’re out there… if you’re on the market to assemble a SME review team, we’d be pleased to consult with you as you go about it. And once you’ve got them together, we’re ready to work with them!
