Category: Quality

Nurturing a Culture of Compliance Terra's Journey and Approach
11/06/2024

Nurturing a Culture of Compliance: Terra’s Journey and Approach 

Posted on | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment on Nurturing a Culture of Compliance: Terra’s Journey and Approach 

A culture of compliance encompasses a set of values, behaviors, and attitudes guiding individuals within an organization to adhere to policies, procedures, and regulations. This framework facilitates better decision-making at all levels, ensuring alignment with the business’s rules. 

At Terra, our commitment to fostering a culture of compliance goes beyond mere adherence to standards. We emphasize cultivating a sense of belonging and shared purpose among team members. Our dedication to continuous improvement stems from the firm belief that there is always room for enhancement, presenting opportunities for growth and innovation. 

This commitment to compliance is evident in our ISO-certified services maintained since 2019 and our strict adherence to HIPAA regulations. Read on to learn more about how we nurture compliance culture at Terra.  

ISO Certifications 

We strive to select certifications that truly enhance our operations and client services. The ISO 9001 and 17100 standards drive our quality-oriented translation services. 

To maintain these certifications through the years, we develop structured training programs and strategic initiatives to provide each team member with the latest tools and encourage them to embrace new technologies. Throughout this process, we constantly review our procedures. Thanks to these efforts, our team members understand their pivotal role in our quality management system and diligently apply best practices in their daily tasks. 

HIPAA Compliance 

As a language service provider, we have a strong commitment to language access. However, we understand that in the healthcare space specifically, a lot of sensitive and confidential information is shared in the translation projects our client entrusts us. As such, we need to handle these files with the utmost care. The compliance culture we first cultivated among our team with ISO allowed us to pursue HIPAA compliance with confidence. Every individual handling ePHI projects understands the importance of safeguarding this information, shares these values, and does everything in their power to uphold them. 

Compliance is a Team Effort 

If a compliance issue arises, the focus becomes identifying the root cause of the problem—not the person responsible for it. During non-conformity analyses, individuals from diverse company teams work together to examine deviations, gain a deeper comprehension of the origin of the problem, and collectively devise solutions. 

While compliance is mainly an internal process, external validation is essential to maintain our clients’ trust. Terra hires experienced external auditors to conduct comprehensive reviews. These internal audits are invaluable learning experiences, where team members see firsthand the impact their compliance efforts have on the team results. This independent evaluation leaves no room for improvisation. At the same time, it enables us to identify areas for improvement in our processes. 

The Takeaway 

Fostering a culture of compliance isn’t easy, but organizations that prioritize it set themselves up for long-term success. At Terra, we navigate the path to continuous improvement with a compass of transparency, collaboration, and an unwavering commitment to excellence.

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The Role of LQA in Ensuring Successful Video Game Localization
23/04/2024

The Role of LQA in Ensuring Successful Video Game Localization

Posted on | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment on The Role of LQA in Ensuring Successful Video Game Localization

Behind every exciting gaming experience, there is a team of developers working tirelessly to create a masterpiece that not only entertains but also immerses you into a different world altogether. One of the most critical factors in ensuring the success of a video game is its quality.

Quality encompasses all components of a game, from its graphics and sound to its localization. This is where comes into play as a crucial aspect of the development process that ensures that the localization is accurate, appropriate, and flawless in the intended target market.

Keep reading for a closer look at what LQA is, why it matters, and what the different types of LQA are.

What is LQA?

In a highly competitive gaming industry, LQA has become an essential component in ensuring the success of a game’s localization. By working with experienced LQA experts, video game developers can deliver high-quality localized versions of their games, which not only resonates with players but also increases the likeliness of success in the global marketplace.

LQA testing is designed to catch any localization errors that can detract from the overall gaming experience. These errors can range from mistranslations due to lack of context to cultural inaccuracies, and even improper font usage. With thorough LQA testing, these issues can be detected and fixed before release.

To guarantee quality, during the LQA process, experienced linguists who are fluent in the target language and culture, and most probably are avid gamers themselves, play the game and thoroughly review every aspect of it. This step allows them to pick up on any linguistic nuances that could potentially take away from the gaming experience. If any errors are found, they are flagged and fixed to make sure that players can enjoy the game without any language or culture-related issues.

What are the different types of LQA?

LQA encompasses three different types of quality assurance (QA): linguistic, visual, and functional.

  • Linguistic QA focuses on any grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and punctuation issues in the content. It also ensures that culturalization problems, inconsistent translations, and untranslated names or terms are flagged for correction.
  • Visual QA deals with font issues, user interface problems, and any graphics or images that are incorrectly placed or formatted. They also check for content that has been left untranslated or any issues with missing characters or line-breaks.
  • Functional QA is the most complex type and involves testing on different hardware and gaming devices such as Android, iOS, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and PC. During functional QA, specialists test for compatibility, performance, AI behavior, and accuracy of audio text and subtitles.

Why LQA?

LQA is a crucial step in game development that ensures all localized versions of your game are just as good as the original version. By investing time and resources into LQA, you’re showing your gamers that you care about their experience and value their feedback. Not only does this lead to happy players who are more likely to recommend your game, but it also prevents potential bad publicity that can arise from poorly localized games. With the rise of online communities and social media, it’s more important than ever to make sure your game is of the highest quality in all versions. So, we strongly advise against skipping LQA—it not only saves time and headaches, but it also helps to ensure the success of your game.

The Takeaway

LQA is a critical aspect of video game development and localization. By upholding the highest quality standards, video game developers can ensure that their games provide an immersive experience to players, thereby increasing their chances of success in the global market.

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Video Game Localization 101: The Player Comes First
12/12/2023

Video Game Localization 101: The Player Comes First

Posted on | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment on Video Game Localization 101: The Player Comes First

Over the past decade, video games have skyrocketed in popularity, leading to increased awareness among game developers and marketers about the importance of prioritizing player experience and satisfaction. Localization, the process of adapting video game content for specific regions, has emerged as a vital aspect in ensuring players feel fully immersed in the world created for them.

Let’s explore the concept of video game localization and its significance in creating a captivating and culturally sensitive gaming experience.

Defining Video Game Localization

Video game localization involves reproducing game content that seamlessly blends with the target region, giving the impression that it was originally created for that specific audience. While translation is a crucial component of localization, it goes beyond mere language adaptation. Localization encompasses altering elements such as the game’s name, art assets, packaging, and manuals, as well as accounting for cultural and legal differences to resonate with the target market. The primary goal in video game localization is not strict fidelity to the original but rather entertaining and engaging the players, sometimes requiring modification of elements that could hinder their experience.

The Ultimate Goal: Immersion

An immersive experience is the ultimate objective in video game development, and localization plays a vital role in achieving this in the localized versions of the games as well. By taking the various audiovisual elements video games rely on (such as narration, dialogues, songs, cinematics, on-screen art, etc.) and adapting them in context, localizers strive to maintain the seamless integration of linguistic and non-linguistic aspects. This immersive experience enhances player satisfaction and contributes significantly to the success of a game.

The Role of the Video Game Localizers and Their Choices

Localizing a video game is a multifaceted job that involves making numerous decisions based on linguistic and non-linguistic considerations. Localizers employ different techniques, such as transcreation and culturalization, to ensure the best possible outcome. Transcreation involves creatively conveying meaning when a direct translation won’t do, whereas culturalization focuses on adjusting the game’s content to suit the cultural sensibilities of the target audience. These approaches are vital for maintaining immersion and avoiding misunderstandings or offensive content that could disrupt the player’s experience.

The Importance of Quality and Testing

Given the intricate nature of video game localization, quality assurance through thorough localization testing is crucial. Once the localization process is complete, rigorous testing is conducted to identify and rectify any bugs, issues, or inconsistencies that may hinder the player’s experience. Localization Quality Assurance (LQA) evaluates the visual, functional, and linguistic aspects of the game to ensure its seamless integration and optimum performance. By prioritizing quality and testing, developers can deliver a polished game that captivates players and maintains their immersion throughout the gaming journey.

The Takeaway

Video game localization is a vital process that ensures players across different regions can fully immerse themselves in the gaming experience. By combining linguistic adaptation, cultural sensitivity, and quality assurance, localizers play a pivotal role in creating a seamless and engaging journey for gamers. By putting the player first, video game localization helps to maximize player satisfaction and contribute to the overall success of the game. With the ever-growing global gaming community, prioritizing localization will continue to be essential in delivering unforgettable gaming experiences.

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How to Juggle Quality, Speed & Cost in Your Next Localization Project
12/09/2023

How to Juggle Quality, Speed & Cost in Your Next Localization Project

Posted on | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment on How to Juggle Quality, Speed & Cost in Your Next Localization Project

In an ideal world we would always get what we want when we want it for the best price at the best possible quality. The localization industry is no exception to these expectations. Which is why it’s important to find a way to juggle quality, speed, and cost when planning a localization project.

Companies in need of localization services are always balancing these three important factors:

Quality

Quality is understandably a very sought-after quality in localization. The content that requires localization usually ends up in front of an end customer or user and it has the potential to generate more revenue for the company.

Presenting your audience with a high-quality product is more often than not the key to success within a market. In order to achieve quality, several steps need to be taken—from making sure you’re working with seasoned professionals, to working with the technology that reduces the chance for human error, to performing additional quality assurance steps.

In your pursuit of quality, you’ll quickly notice how quality impacts the two other factors you need to balance—speed and cost. When it comes to a quick desired turnaround, some things can’t be rushed and each step requires spending the appropriate amount of time on it to ensure quality. Achieving quality also involves choosing the right vendors, technology, and additional services, all of which can impact cost.

Speed

When it comes to turnaround times, your specific needs may vary. If you have an upcoming launch, you may have no choice but to meet a tight deadline. In this case, there are a few ways you could save time:

If, however, you’re not in a rush and have started analyzing your options with plenty of time, this won’t be a factor for you.

Cost

It’s very likely that you have a budget for your global growth strategy. Because of this, when contracting services, cost becomes a very important element.

If your budget is on the smaller side, omitting quality assurance steps will also allow you to cut down costs. The fewer people involved, the less expensive a localization project is. Who does the work also may affect your budget, as highly skilled professionals often have more expensive rates. If you’re looking for high-quality translations, we advise against employing a bilingual friend and skipping quality assurance steps.

Another cost-effective solution could be to use machine translation. Quality will most definitely be impacted by making this choice, but you can improve the quality of machine translated content with the help of post-editors who can make the necessary corrections to achieve a human-made translation level of quality.

The Takeaway

As we always say, localization shouldn’t be an afterthought. If global growth is in your business plans, think in advance what your priorities are so that these factors don’t weigh you down on your path to success.

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Are Stylistic Changes Purely Preferential - Portada
31/05/2022

Are Stylistic Changes Purely Preferential?

Posted on | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment on Are Stylistic Changes Purely Preferential?

When it comes time to polish a translation project before finalizing it, sometimes editors, reviewers, and clients make changes not for accuracy’s sake, but for style’s sake. Stylistic changes can impact the quality of a translation and it’s important to understand how and why these changes happen. Before we examine whether or not stylistic changes are purely preferential, let’s take a closer look at what preferential changes and stylistic changes are. 

Preferential Changes vs Stylistic Changes

Both preferential and stylistic changes are types of changes to a translation that may not seem necessary at first glance, yet both types of changes play an important role in the translation process. A preferential change is a type of alteration that corrects an element that is not necessarily wrong. Preferential changes tend to reflect the preference of the person correcting the content or the client’s preferences. Usually, these preferences are related to terminology, with a client preferring a certain term over another, even if both terms can be used correctly.

A stylistic change on the other hand is a correction that is meant to improve how the text flows and focuses on style. Stylistic changes can also reflect the style of the person doing the review or client preferences. 

Are Stylistic Changes Purely Preferential?

In the translation industry, most language service providers use a three-step process to guarantee a high-quality translation end product. This means that after the translation step, the text will be passed to both an editor and a proofreader. In some cases, the client performs their own review of the translation with their internal team, who understand their own unique style preferences. Either way, these editors and reviewers may make different changes to the text to improve the overall quality of the translation. Sometimes this is because they’ve spotted a mistake in meaning (which must be fixed), or the change is about grammar, punctuation, or other elements. 

However, there are other times when they introduce changes that are usually referred to as stylistic or preferential. These changes can generate a lot of confusion and controversy among linguists because preferential changes can involve correcting something that isn’t actually “wrong”. 

How is Quality Impacted by Stylistic and Preferential Changes?

How impactful a stylistic change is depends on the type of text and its function. If you’re translating a recognized author, are trying to persuade someone to do something, or are attempting to explain something clearly for a specific target audience (such as children), style really does matter. Finding the right style is key, so how can a linguist always approach a translation with the right style in mind? One of the best ways to start off a translation project on the right foot, is if the client can provide a style guide to the translation team. This guide should specify the tone and style the client wants their translated texts to have. Their style guide should also house specific terms that they prefer to use and any terms that need to be avoided. Following the TEP process can also help keep a translation project on track while maintaining high levels of accuracy.

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What is proofreading and why is it necessary in translation?
26/04/2022

What is proofreading and why is it a necessary step in translation?

Posted on | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment on What is proofreading and why is it a necessary step in translation?

Every translator and translation team has its own process in place for delivering what they feel is top-quality work. While some translators follow a two-part process that involves translation and proofreading, at Terra Translations, we suggest a three-step process that includes editing. At first glance, editing and proofreading may seem somewhat redundant, so let’s look at why that isn’t the case, how these steps vary, and why proofreading is such a necessary step in the translation process. 

The Difference Between Editing and Proofreading

The point of undergoing both editing and proofreading is to ensure accuracy and create a quality translation, so it’s not surprising that many people use these terms interchangeably. However, there is a difference between editing and proofreading, and they should be treated as separate activities. 

Editing is when you execute changes to the translation and make suggestions to improve the overall quality of the product. Ideally, editing will lead to the translation becoming more consistent, sharper, and error free. An editor typically takes on the following responsibilities: 

  • Doing a bilingual review between the original text and the translated version
  • Identifying and correcting any translation errors
  • Pointing out inconsistencies and adjusting to better suit market and audience needs
  • Ensuring the correct use of language
  • Confirming that the translated message is conveyed correctly in regard to both language and culture
  • Double check that the style is correct and make suggestions to improve it

Proofreading focuses on correcting any superficial errors in the translated content, such as spelling or grammar errors, formatting, punctuation, or syntax. The proofreading process begins once you have a potential “final” version of the content to work with. As this is the final step of the process, the proofreader should read the text and try to make sense of it as if they themselves were the target audience. This is especially helpful as they are the final pair of eyes on the content before submission to the client or publication.

The Importance of Proofreading

Proofreading is such an important step because during translation and editing, your original text can undergo many variations as it is reworded into a different language. When translating, the goal is not to translate word by word but to think how the same message would be said in the target language. During this process, translators may copy structures seen in the source language unintentionally and when the editor is fixing issues like this, they may introduce unintentional mistakes such as typos, double spaces, a missing word, repeated articles, and misplaced commas. These are the type of mistakes that ideally a proofreader will spot and fix.

Proofreading is a valuable step in the translation process and helps lead to an error-free translation product that illustrates how carefully translated the work is and what high-quality work the translator does. 

When Should You Proofread?

The proofreading step should be the last part of your quality assurance process. You won’t dive as deep during proofreading as you did during editing. Proofreading gives you a fresh opportunity to catch any mistakes not found in the editing stage and as you’re more focused on looking for superficial errors than making massive changes to the language and expression, it can be easier to catch small errors such as grammatical or spelling ones. 

Ideally, you’ll have a second translator carry out the editing and a third translator take care of the proofreading process, as a fresh set of eyes can more easily spot errors that the first translator and editor may have overlooked. Proofreading is a challenging task and it can be tempting to make changes relating to personal preference, but at that stage the translator should focus on just fixing mistakes and syntax issues.

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How to Measure the Quality of a Transcreation Project - Portada
30/06/2021

How to Measure the Quality of a Transcreation Project

Posted on | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment on How to Measure the Quality of a Transcreation Project

In business, the stakes are often high. Many times, you have only one chance to nail important business objectives, such as entering a new market, and failure simply cannot happen. This is often the case with projects that require transcreation. For some business objectives, a literal or more straight forward translation can get the job done. When it can’t, that is where transcreation comes in. 

One of the main challenges of transcreation is measuring quality. Doing so can be more difficult than when handling a more typical translation. Transcreation requires a level of creativity that is difficult to measure. Addressing quality while the transcreation process is actually happening is imperative. While quality standards will vary from client to client, there are ways to work towards general quality standards during the transcreation process.

The Transcreation Brief

Before a transcreation project even begins, steps towards quality assurance must be taken. The transcreator can get a strong start on the project with a solid brief that provides context on the purpose of the content they will be transcreating. For example, a marketing campaign will have different transcreation requirements than a movie would. Understanding the purpose is key, as transcreation projects don’t require a word-for-word translation, but instead aim to adapt a piece of content to have a similar meaning while conveying the same feeling in another language. 

While the brief should encourage flexibility and creativity, it must give the transcreator clear guidance on what direction to take. Who will be reading the final text? What was the original purpose of the text? Why does it require transcreation? These are all important questions that require answering in the brief. A brief can also share brand values, how the client hopes their brand to be perceived in the target location, and what the desired approach to break into a new market is. 

The Timeline

Transcreation is not a project that should be rushed as it can involve a high level of research and creativity to master. Providing a transcreator with a clear timeline without expecting rushed work can help ensure they manage their time in a way that leads to a quality final project. 

The Back Translation Process

The back translation process involves giving the translated version of the text to a separate independent translator who has not seen the original text. They then translate the new text back into the original language. Their results will help ensure clients that the meaning of the source text was not literally lost in translation. 

Back translation is a quality assurance step that can be useful in certain scenarios such as when content requires a high level of control because semantic errors can have consequences. Or when a client doesn’t speak or read the target language, back translation can allow them to check the accuracy of the translation by themselves.

How to Measure Success

While the goal is to achieve quality during the transcreation process, there are post-publishing measurements that can check if the transcreator accomplished the intended effects and purpose. Pre-publishing, there are tools that can be used to measure readability. Post-publishing measurements require more collaboration though and can involve human intervention. Changes to text can sometimes be made post-publishing, so using the following methods to test quality can provide value.

  • Seeking an objective corroboration that examines sales and site traffic data. 
  • Employing a third-party editor or reviewer. 
  • Hosting market surveys and focus groups.
  • Undertaking blind A/B testing. 

At the end of the day, the ultimate “quality test” can be uncovered through the feedback the client receives or the bottom-line results of the project. If feedback is positive and the expected results arise, the client can have confidence that the transcreation project was successful.

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12/05/2021

Ubiquitous Automation: Quality Assurance Tools

Posted on | by Marisol Pérez Laglaive | Leave a Comment on Ubiquitous Automation: Quality Assurance Tools

It’s true that, at least for now, no computerized tool can replace the linguistic knowledge inside a reviewer’s mind; AI solutions have difficulties reading tone, register or the nuances of context and how it affects meaning. However, they can assist translators and editors in different ways. For example, there is software that detects errors that the human eye may fail to catch. This is why these tools have become necessary in order to comply with quality standards.

Automated quality assurance software is part of the wide range of technology solutions that addresses different needs within the localization industry. Basically, they allow reviewers to instantly perform quality checks of bilingual files or translation memories, supporting a variety of different formats.

Linguistic Checks

Quality assurance tools scan bilingual files in search of linguistic and formatting errors. This can be specifically helpful to perform a final check on a very large project that includes a considerable amount of files and/or text to review. Furthermore, they are also a useful resource to spot and remedy inconsistencies among files translated or edited by different teams of vendors.

Most of the tools perform the following checks:

  • Spelling
  • Grammar
  • Number or tag mismatches
  • Missing translations
  • Formatting
  • Repeated words
  • Double spaces or punctuation marks
  • Untranslatables
  • Inconsistencies: identical source segments with different target text; identical translations for different source segments

Extra Help

Auto quality assurance tools also allow reviewers to check terminology issues. Users can import glossaries or term bases into the software, so that it can find any key term mismatch. On the other hand, quality assurance tools always update and redefine their settings to reduce the amount of false positives on their evaluations. False positives are correct segments wrongly flagged as errors. In this regard, quality assurance applications include features that allow the user to create rules in order to reduce the number of false positives in a report.  

One Feature for Every Need

Different quality assurance tools offer the same core function, but vary in other aspects. For example, some are specifically intended to integrate with other CAT tools (e.g., LexiQA’s special integration with Transifex or Memsource), while others only work as an independent program. There are other quality assurance tools that are part of a more comprehensive solution, such as ContentQuo, a quality management platform that can integrate into translation management systems (TMS). Besides that, if considering opting for a quality assurance tool, price is also a factor. Some applications are free, like Okapi Framework CheckMate, or paid, like XBench or Verifika.

Ubiquitous Automation: Quality Assurance Tools

Another salient factor to consider is the internal editor of some of the applications. While all the tools generate reports of the errors found, only some offer the possibility to correct those mistakes directly from the report, like Verifika does. This refrains the reviewer from having to be switching in between applications: detecting the error in one working environment, applying the correction in another. In any event, reports are a very necessary function of these tools. They can be used as a required deliverable, since they ensure that a quality control has been performed and that most of the evitable errors have been avoided.

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28/01/2021

Does Translation Quality Mean Different Things to Different People?

Posted on | by Carolina Arriagada | Leave a Comment on Does Translation Quality Mean Different Things to Different People?

Quality is subjective. The old adage is true, one man’s trash is another’s treasure. Chances are, no two people will agree on the quality of every single meal, movie, piece of clothing, or electronic device they encounter. The translation industry is no different. When it comes to creating quality translations, all clients have varying standards. These standards may even differ from what the translator considers a quality translation to look like. This begs the question, does translation quality mean different things to different people?

Standards Vary

There is an expected set of quality standards that top translators aim to meet, such as ensuring that the final text of a translation project reflects the meaning of the source text, delivers the intended effect, and meets all project parameters. Avoiding any errors and accommodating cultural differences are important as well. That being said, clients may have their own idea of what quality means in regards to translations. 

In a sense, quality is accomplished when the client is satisfied with the work. Clients who work in more sensitive fields, such as the medical industry where a mistranslation can lead to fatal misunderstandings, may expect the final text to be perfect. Some clients may feel that a below par translation can damage their brand. Other clients may simply require a translation that is decent enough to convey the overall meaning of the source text. For example, if the text won’t be customer facing or serves internal purposes. They just want to get the gist of it. Because of the time and resources required to perfect translated text, some clients may have lower standards than others. Before commencing a project, it can be helpful to define quality standards with the client. 

Machine Translation and Human Intervention

For most linguists the idea of quality means that the translation has no errors in meaning, is free of typos and conveys a message very accurately while keeping in mind the culture of the target language. Some translators feel it is inconceivable that clients may be content with a complete machine translation output. When asked to perform post-editing and improve the text quality, many translators find it very difficult to just correct serious mistakes and avoid a complete rewrite of the translation.

While machine translation is a very helpful tool that can save both time and money, human intervention can help avoid mistakes in a translation project and can make capturing the meaning of the source text in a natural and intuitive way easier. However, if perfection is not the goal, a client may find that MT and MT+ post-editing processes meet their needs. 

The Takeaway

Unfortunately, there are no official metrics or benchmarks that translators can follow to achieve quality, as a one-size-fits-all approach to translations can’t universally meet the needs, purposes, and budgets of every client a translator will encounter. The goal of service providers should be to ensure the client is satisfied and to be mindful of their expectations of quality. If the expectations of qualities are clear at the beginning of the project and ultimately met, then both parties should be satisfied with the service provided.

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It's time to learn why back translation could benefit your project!
08/12/2020

A Quality Cycle: About Back Translation and Reconciliation Services

Posted on | by Marisol Pérez Laglaive | Leave a Comment on A Quality Cycle: About Back Translation and Reconciliation Services

Assuring quality in all its aspects —semantics, grammar, stylistic and cultural accuracy, optimal format, correct terminology— is one of the pillars of localization workflows. In this regard, quality is not ensured by applying one single action. On the contrary, many factors contribute to quality, such as linguist selection, efficient use of tools, and different processes of quality control.

There are certain textual materials that are highly sensitive and have a major impact on the life of people related to them. This is the case, for instance, with pharmaceutical and clinical protocols, clinical research, and financial or medical reports. When working with these documents, clients and/or Language Service Providers (LSPs) can opt for adding another quality assurance step, called back translation. This step can be useful in the following scenarios:

  • The content needs rigorous control since any semantic error can have practical consequences.
  • Sometimes clients don’t speak nor read in the target language and want to check the accuracy of the translation by themselves.
  • When reviewing transcreated text, clients want to assess how the linguistic team translated a slogan or other marketing copy, and what meaning it conveys in the target language.

The three-column text

The aim of back translation is to have another instance of control of the target text’s quality; mostly in terms of terminology and semantic accuracy. It consists of performing another translation, but this time of the target text into the source text language.

For example, if we translated a clinical protocol from English into Spanish, we would apply another process of translation, but from the Spanish target into English again. The resulting new English text will never be an outbound translation. The new English translation is not intended for publishing or distribution. The outcome of a back translation process is only for internal use in the localization process. The linguistic team performs it only for quality assurance purposes.

Moreover, we can point out the following characteristics for back translation outcomes:

  • They are literal.
  • They will never result in a version exactly the same as the original source; it helps to identify discrepancies or errors in the translation.
  • A different linguist not involved in the original translation workflow works on it. Sometimes, they don’t even have access to the first source text (blind translation). 

Let’s reconcile

After the above-mentioned step, the same linguist or a different one will read and compare the source text against this new outcome. If no critical difference in meaning or mistranslations are flagged, the translation is considered accurate, and the process finishes. On the other hand, if the reviewer spots discrepancies, he or she will mark them up for further review, in which the team fixes the translation. Sometimes, they fill reports with the errors found and corrected in this step.

Evaluate

The process of back translation is very thorough and implies an exhausting revision of the translation that goes beyond editing or proofreading. However, it demands a well-planned and wide deadline, and the use of several professionals. Because of this, LSPs and/or clients should consider if the back translation is appropriate for a certain project considering time, resources, and budget. If not, there may be other ways of ensuring quality too, through one of the multiple means the localization industry has come to develop.

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