It can be easy to think of the translation of engineering and technical texts as cut and dry, with words pumped out by machine translation software like sweets out of a factory, each as perfect as the last, with no need for further thought.

But the precise translation of texts like these requires specialised training, prior experience and an understanding of the surrounding context, which can have a profound impact on how the end user interacts with your content and ultimately your brand.

Considering that the translation product can be an operating manual or even a safety manual, badly translated terms and unclear instructions can drastically alter the way the product or service is perceived. An otherwise satisfied customer will become frustrated, grappling with a piece of machinery or software product as they attempt to puzzle out the meaning of the text.

One and the same word form can have different meanings in different areas of science and engineering. A specific term will therefore be different depending on its context of use and may result in a nonsensical translation. At the very least, this can culminate in a lower NPS () and mean that instead of waxing lyrical about a product to friends and colleagues, the dissatisfied end user is likely to damage your brand’s reputation by negative word of mouth.

A clear example of the importance of accuracy in translated text is the , which was developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers to tackle the inaccurate translation of automotive documents. Incorrectly translated documentation can have large repercussions, such as higher warranty costs, damage to vehicles and even injury to those operating a machine. Just like we wouldn’t put a one-year-old behind the wheel, we wouldn’t ask a linguist with no understanding of automotive vehicles to translate a manual for a tractor.

Knowing your pocket from your elbow

Our Lead Finnish Translator, Antti, is convinced of the benefits of translators who are knowledgeable in their subject area. “The most important benefit you can draw from being familiar with the subject content is being able to spot if a phrase or term is incorrect, either in a reference text or a previous translation done by someone else. Any good translator should be able to handle several types of texts, so although in-depth knowledge doesn’t automatically guarantee better results in any given text, experience can sometimes help you put right something that may have been wrong in previous texts for years. It feels good when you can improve the quality of the client’s translations in this way.�

Senior Norwegian Translator ´³Ã¸°ù²Ô is particularly interested in diligently researching terminology. “Images are often very helpful for clarifying a term, as you can see exactly which part of the product a specific word or phrase refers to. Terminology is often the first thing you research when you translate a new technical text, because a good understanding of the terms will help you translate with a better flow.â€�

Considering how a term is used in the real world is therefore imperative. The translation of “pocket�, for example, is entirely dependent on context, as it can have several different meanings. “Pocket� can indicate an “air pocket� in aviation, “surroundings� in military use, a “dead zone� in radio, a “deposit� in geology and a “cable channel� in electrical engineering.

It’s easy to imagine that can arise if “a pocket of gold ore�, for example, is translated in a military context, where a pocket refers to isolated, surrounded pockets of combatants who are being attacked by an opposing force . Similarly, an air pocket in aviation simply refers to turbulence. Getting the term wrong here will baffle the end user who is attempting to access a particular product or service.

What’s the context?

Translation errors of this nature, where the translator has disregarded the context, can lead to confusing or misleading representations of the client product. This can happen when low-quality machine translation is used or when somebody translates without the proper training. An example from the German language is “Kraft�, which can be translated as “force�, “power�, “strength� or “thrust� .

The term “powerâ€� can have very different meanings depending on context in the Nordic languages as well, as Antti explains. “There are several Finnish translations for ‘power’, ranging from teho and voimakkuus to ²õä³ó°ìö±¹¾±°ù³Ù²¹. The first one is what you would use when describing the power output of an engine, for example. Voimakkuus could refer to the power or strength of a signal, and ²õä³ó°ìö±¹¾±°ù³Ù²¹ (or just virta) is what’s involved when you’re talking about electrical power.â€�

The same issue arises in Norwegian. “Power can be translated in several ways for technical applications depending on what kind of power the text refers to,â€� explains ´³Ã¸°ù²Ô. “Electrical power (²õ³Ù°ùø³¾, and there are different types of electrical power, such as sterk²õ³Ù°ùø³¾Ìý‘power current’ or ‘heavy current’ and nett²õ³Ù°ùø³¾ ‘mains current’ or ‘public currentâ€� or simply ‘power’), or mechanical power (arbeidÌý‘w´Ç°ù°ì’, energiÌý‘energy’ and kraftÌý‘f´Ç°ù³¦±ð’).â€�

But there are ways we can help our translators understand the context behind a term. For example, the original PDF of a user manual, containing images and diagrams relating to the product and its constituent parts, is often indispensable. Screenshots of single-word strings in help pages can also help the translator understand if the string refers either to a call to action framed as a button or to a menu item.

Singing from the same style sheet

Although understanding the context of a term and the concept behind it in the target language and culture is vital, there might sometimes be other necessary requirements. Some manufacturers may simply prefer one term over another. This can be down to stylistic preferences or there may be a technical reason for a particular usage.

Termbases, which are databases containing preferred terminology and other information such as meanings and examples of usage, can be incredibly useful for linguists to keep your content consistent and accurate across different languages. They can be maintained and built upon over time, for specific domains, products and customers, meaning that linguists can find out preferred terms with a few clicks of the mouse.

The value of termbases cannot be underestimated.

“Termbases are particularly helpful if entries have definitions explaining the terms so that we know it is right in the context. Sometimes terms can have several synonyms, and the termbase is then good for showing which term our clients prefer,â€� says ´³Ã¸°ù²Ô.

Our translators and project managers have extensive experience in using termbases created using specialist software. Instead of a translator having to search through a large, convoluted Excel spreadsheet full of preferred terms and definitions, the software efficiently identifies the entries that are most useful for the translation of a particular word or phrase. The value of termbases can therefore not be underestimated. As your colleagues supporting you in the launch of your products in new markets, there’s only one thought in our mind: that we use all the resources at our disposal to represent your product in the best light possible.

In summary, the importance of employing a translator with subject matter knowledge and experience cannot be underestimated. Not only will the translator provide high quality translations, they may also spot past errors or be able to contribute towards improving the termbases and translation memories.

But a good linguist does not translate in a vacuum. They require the original source text or helpful screenshots to allow them to comprehend the full context of a term in its original context of use. Termbases are also incredibly useful in maintaining consistency in style and terminology. When all these conditions are met, you will be well on your way to producing a translation of a high standard.

If this article wasn’t convincing enough, I’ll leave you with a few inspiring real-world examples. reading “Blasting In Progressâ€� in Wales was translated as “Gweithwyr yn ffrwydro”, which literally means “workers explodingâ€�. Although not very accurate, it’s probably enough to keep people away! But it doesn’t always have to be so dramatic. When I was in a restaurant in Portugal on holiday a couple of years ago, I sat down and started leafing through the English menu, only to find that I could order “a wild ox running over the hot coalsâ€�. It didn’t sound particularly appetising, but points for creativity.

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Here we look at a handful of reasons why working with a professional translation provider just makes sense. There are plenty more, of course, but let’s start with the ones that matter the most.

1. Translation is a specialist skill

It’s extremely easy to fall into the trap of thinking that someone’s ability to speak more than one language means they’ll make a good translator. In many situations, like ordering a meal at a restaurant abroad or giving a friend the basic gist of a sign, being bilingual is enough. Translation, however, demands more than just being able to understand two languages.

Like any kind of writing, translation is a specialist skill, often requiring a specific degree in the source language, time spent living in the country where the language is spoken and years of on-the-job training and development. Think about content production in your company’s first language – would you trust just any employee to write your marketing copy or product manuals? In these cases, it’s best to get experts involved, and the same goes for translation.

As a rule, professional translators only ever translate into their native language. If you don’t have the right combination of languages amongst your employees, then this means people could be translating into their second or third language – bringing us neatly to our next point.

2. It’s impossible to know the quality of your translation

If you don’t personally speak the languages you need to translate into, how will you assess the quality of your employees’ work? Can you check whether the tone of voice, brand positioning or even spelling and grammar are correct? This is doubly important if you’re asking someone to translate into a language that isn’t their native one.

Let’s take English as an example. The Nordic countries all . After all, children learn the language from a young age at home and at school, and often get excellent grades in the language before going to university. Studies in Norway have shown, however, that lack the English skills required at university level, where much teaching material is in English.

When it comes to using English in the workplace, they also face challenges, such as due to a lack of awareness of cultural differences and the appropriate expressions to use in various contexts.

If you’re a Nordic company exporting to an English-speaking country, relying on your own workforce for English-language content is risky. As we’ll see below, the risks of an inaccurate translation can be severe.

3. It’s not a good use of your time and money

Often employees asked to translate have to fit that work in around their everyday responsibilities. Their core role might not have anything to do with translation or even content production. This means that the translation might not be given the time and focus needed to produce a professional result, and increases the workload and stress on employees who are asked to do the work.

You also need to consider the cost impact for your company. A non-professional translator may take much longer to produce a translation than a professional (time they could spend doing other work) and getting access to linguistic resources like dictionaries and specialist glossaries means more expense on your part. Professional translators who do this on a daily basis will have all the resources at their fingertips.

4. Translators have tools to speed up their work

A translation company has the scale and time to invest in solutions that improve translation quality and consistency and speed up overall production times. Professional translators use specialised CAT (computer-aided translation) tools that allow them to focus on the text without affecting the formatting of the document. These tools also give translators access to two powerful features that help massively with consistency: translation memories and term bases.

A translation memory (TM) stores all previous translations on a particular topic – take finance, for example. If you regularly translate the same type of document – say a quarterly report where only some numbers and a few lines of text change – then a TM will massively cut down on time spent and avoid repeating work as much as possible. Translation companies invest in the infrastructure required to host a TM so you don’t have to.

A term base (TB) serves as a highly specialised glossary. Translation companies might maintain term bases on a specific domain, e.g. finance or medicine, to save the translator time looking up words in the dictionary and maintaining accurate, consistent use of terms. Translation companies can also create a TB that’s specific to one client, which means that your internal terminology and tone of voice will always remain the same.

These resources need maintenance to remain effective – something that translation companies consider a worthwhile investment – but that might be prohibitively costly or complex for you.

5. Internal translation doesn’t scale

If you decide to expand into a new region and none of your employees speaks the language there, how will you deliver a translation? You’re effectively faced with two options: turn to an external supplier or hire an employee who speaks that language. If the work volumes are low, this is unlikely to be a shrewd investment. Translation companies have vetted, trusted internal and external linguists standing by that can provide almost any language you require, removing the headache of recruiting your own translator.

The other consideration is growth in volume of content. If you experience a sudden upswing in the volume of content requiring translation, for example manuals, support articles and marketing collateral for a new project launch, translation could turn into a full-time job for the employee you’ve delegated it to. If after the launch volumes fall, your employee will return to their daily duties which have been neglected in the meantime.

As well as being a financially unwise decision, this fluctuation in workloads and responsibilities can create work-related stress and anxiety and negatively impact other employees who have to cover for your translator when they’re away from their day-to-day.

6. Mistakes can cost you customers and damage your reputation

We’ve all experienced poor translation – the menu at the foreign restaurant promising delicacies consisting of testicles and bits of old tyre, for example. Think about how this was for you as a customer. You probably laughed at first, but were you able to actually decipher what was meant? Did you order that item in the end that the menu claimed to be made from fish slime?

In other situations, the . Inappropriate tone, for example using profanity or informal language in the wrong context, could offend your customers and drive down sales. On social media, being too formal could actually lead to disengagement amongst your audience.

By neglecting to use a professional translator, you’re giving users outside of your home market a second-class experience.

Mistranslations of terminology can confuse users (we’ve probably all tried to follow a poorly translated electronics manual at some point) and increase support requests as customers aren’t given the tools they need to help themselves.

Fuzzy or poorly worded contract clauses can lead to differing interpretations of terms and conditions, potentially increasing costs for you and straining relations with your clients or suppliers.

In the worst-case scenario, poor translations can lead to serious safety risks if dangers associated with your product aren’t clearly explained. These errors may lead to injury or damage to property and may expose you to significant legal risks.

Professional translators know the right terms to use to match your customers’ expectations and ensure legal compliance. If customer experience is a core value at your company, by neglecting to use a professional translator, you’re giving users outside of your home market a second-class experience.

Translation is a sometimes overlooked step in the process of creating a great experience no matter where your customers are based. To avoid the pitfalls mentioned above, think about localisation early and consider enlisting a trusted supplier to take care of the translation work for you. As well as protecting your brand and keeping your customers happy, you’ll end up saving time and money in the long run.

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Organised and under control? Or so long and chaotic that you’re scared to even peek at it?

If yours is the second type of list, here’s a timeless time-management technique to help you organise your daily translation and localisation tasks better.

Named after the , the Eisenhower Matrix is a method for sorting tasks by urgency and importance – making it easier for you to decide what to do first.

The ‘matrix’ is simply a four-square grid, like this:

The idea is that instead of dealing with tasks reactively, and adding them to an endless list, you carefully assess their urgency and importance and assign them to a relevant box.

1. Urgent/Important
Tasks or situations that you must tackle right away.

Examples:

â—� translation projects due today
â—� client queries, requests or complaints
â—� same-day meetings and appointments
â—� crises and emergencies

2. Important/Not urgent
Tasks that you can schedule for later.

Examples:

â—� translation projects with longer deadlines
â—� business blogging and social media
� admin tasks that you’re unable to delegate
â—� tasks that contribute to your long-term goals

3. Urgent/Not important
Tasks that you should delegate or automate, if possible.

Examples:

â—� admin (invoicing, bookkeeping, tax returns)
â—� technical tasks
â—� low-priority email (requests, frequently asked questions)

4. Not urgent/Not important
Time-wasters and distractions. Eliminate!

Examples:

â—� checking personal email
â—� checking personal social media accounts
â—� other sources of procrastination

What’s great about this method is that it encourages you to zap anything that drains your time and energy, and helps you to channel your efforts to the tasks that really matter (generally found in box 2).

It’s easy to create and print your own grid, or to sketch one out with good ol’ pen and paper. If, however, you prefer to go paperless, you can also manage your to-do list online with the free *.

*STP is not affiliated with the Eisenhower app, or its makers, in any way. If you do decide to use it, you do so entirely at your own risk.

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If you enjoy working independently, dislike office distractions and perform best in your own surroundings, home working has few drawbacks.

But if you thrive on the buzz of office life and prefer to have people around you, the home-based setup can at times create an isolating and creativity-sapping environment.

One option, if you’re in the latter camp, is to find a public spot with internet access and work from there instead.

Cafes are the obvious choice. But unless you can afford all the drinks needed to keep a table for more than a few hours each day, coffee-shop working is more an occasional treat than a sustainable alternative.

At least, that’s how it used to be. Because now, thanks to the marvellous app, you can bring the cafe to your home office for free – no overpriced lattes required.

Bring theÌýcafe to your home office with Coffitivity

Coffitivity recreates the gentle hum of a coffee shop, with all the whooshing machines, clinking cutlery and low, indistinct chatter that makes cafes such appealing places to work.

The app is built on showing that coffee houses create just the right level of ambient noise to fuel creativity, and it claims to help users work better and more productively.

I, your humble scribe, started using Coffitivity in 2013, back when I was a home-based freelance translator. And I still use it now on the odd occasion I need to work from home.

I struggle to focus in complete silence, but I also find music distracting. For me, Coffitivity is the perfect kind of background noise: unobtrusive, yet lively enough to get my thoughts and ideas moving.

I love being in the office, and Coffitivity is the best replacement I’ve found so far for the background bustle my colleagues provide. After the app has been running for a while, I sometimes even forget – sad as it sounds – that I’m sitting and working alone in my front room.

Of course, real coffee shops and offices are always preferable. But if you don’t have regular access to either of those, give Coffitivity a try – andÌý if you like what it does.

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But there is, in fact, one other hardy little creature that’ll still be scuttling across the earth’s barren surface long after we’ve all gone:

The PDF source file.

Indeed, no matter how advanced translation technology becomes, there will always be clients that ask you to work from PDFs.

Rather than try to stamp PDFs out, the best thing you can do is learn to coexist with them. And to make that easier for you, we’ve put together these handy tables of shortcuts and commands.

Most of the functions work in the free version of , but one or two may only be available in paid editions. Either way, we’re sure they’ll help you handle PDFs faster and more efficiently.

General commands

Single-key shortcuts

To activate single-key shortcuts, click Edit > Preferences > General and tick Use single-key accelerators to access tools.

Commenting

Bonus tip: Search multiple PDF files

You can also search multiple PDF files at the same time. Here’s how:

1. Go to Edit > Advanced search

2. Tick All PDF Documents in and select the folder that contains the PDF files

3. Type your search term into the box, tick any additional search criteria and hit Search

Did you find this article useful? Let us know on or !

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Adam Dahlstöm, STP’s language technology manager, knows more than a thing or two about Google’s advanced search features – so here we share his nine top tips to take your googling to the next level. We hope you’ll find them useful.

1. Get more relevant results with Verbatim

Getting too many irrelevant search results? Then try Google’s Verbatim feature.

Verbatim returns results for your exact search term, cutting out any hits for similar spellings or related words and phrases.

The Swedish “Spara” and “SpÃ¥ra,” for instance, are two different words – but in an ordinary search, Google would make no distinction between them and provide results for both.

To use Verbatim, search as normal and then select Search tools > All results > Verbatim on the results page:

2. Use quotation marks to find exact phrases

Wrap a whole phrase in quotation marks to search for that exact query, rather than pages containing the words one by one.

Example: “tennis racket”

This will find results for “tennis racket” but not “tennis” and/or “racket”:

3. Find alternatives with OR

Insert OR between words you want to search as alternatives, instead of searching separately for individual phrases.

Example: tennis OR badminton OR squash racket

This will find hits of “tennis racket,” “badminton racket” and “squash racket”:

4. Exclude words from a search

Put a minus sign before words you want to exclude from your search results.

Example: -badminton tennis racket

This will find hits of “tennis racket” but not “badminton racket”.

5. Save time with instant word definitions

Type define: followed by any English word or abbreviation and Google will give you a list of definitions.

Results are drawn from a large number of online glossaries, saving you a considerable amount of hunting around.

Example: define:racket

This will return an English definition of the word “racket”:

6. Set a numeric range

Put two full stops (without spaces) between two numbers to create a range.

Example: Wilson Blade 93..104

This will find “Wilson Blade 93,â€� “Wilson Blade 98,â€� “Wilson Blade 104” and any other Wilson Blade products with a model number between 93 and 104:

7. Use wildcards

You can use an asterisk as a wildcard to replace any words between other specific words.

Example: “game, *, and matchâ€�

This returns the obvious “game, set, and matchâ€� as well as “game,Ìýupset, and match,â€� “game, sweat, and matchâ€� and countless other variations.

8. Search for similar words

Add ~ to any keyword and Google will show results for that exact word, or words with a similar meaning.

Example:Ìý³Ù±ð²Ô²Ô¾±²õÌý´Ê±ô±ð²õ²õ´Ç²Ô²õ

This will find hits of “tennis lessons,â€� but also “tennis classes,” “tennis instruction,â€� and so on.

9. Get results from a specific web domain

Type site: followed by a web address to search within that domain only.

Example: site:tennis.com “tennis racket”

This will search tennis.com – and only tennis.com – for hits of “tennis racket”:

Did you find this article useful? Let us know on or !

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When it comes to working in SDL Trados Studio, however, we positively insist that you use every time-saving trick in the book.

To help you along, here is a crib sheet of all the most useful hotkeys and commands in Studio.

You can customise the existing shortcuts, and add new ones for unassigned commands, under File > Options > Keyboard Shortcuts.

File extensions in SDL Trados Studio

Translation package:Ìý.sdlppxÌý
Translation project:Ìý.sdlprojÌý
Return package:Ìý.sdlrpxÌý
Translation file:Ìý.xliffÌý
TM:Ìý.sdltm

SDL Trados Studio keyboardÌýshortcuts

Was this useful? If so, you might also enjoyÌýour post on the 124 keyboard shortcuts in memoQ.

Note: The keyboard shortcuts posted in this blog post are applicable to SDL Trados Studio 2014. Shortcuts in SDL Trados Studio are generally standard but could vary from version to version.

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When you read your work out loud, typos and omissions become more obvious. Awkward sentences and problems with tone also tend to be more pronounced when they are, well, pronounced.

The problem is, reading aloud isn’t always practical – or even desirable.

You might work in a shared office space and not want to annoy your co-workers. Or you might simply find the whole idea of reading to yourself a bit unnatural.

But wait. Don’t write off the advice just yet. Because there is another way to benefit from it – and you don’t even need to move your lips.

All you need to do is activate Speak – Microsoft Office’s text-to-speech feature – and let it read your work for you.

Speak is available in all versions of Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and OneNote since 2010. And you can have it working in just a few clicks.

Here’s how to set it up in Word. The process is the same in each of the supported apps – so give it a try next time you need to proofread a translation, an email or any other piece of writing.

How to activate Speak in Word

1. Open Word

2. On the Quick Access toolbar, click the downward arrow and select More Commands:

3. The Word Options window will open. Under Choose commands from, expand the drop-down list and select All Commands:

4. Scroll down the list of commands until you find Speak. Select it, click Add and then OK:

5. A speech bubble icon will now appear on the Quick Access toolbar. To use Speak, simply select the text you want to hear and click on the icon:

Did you find this useful? Let us knowÌýin a , a post or an email.

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is very handy, costs nothing and exists purely to make batch-renaming files quick and easy. What are the chances, eh?

Today we’re going to show you one of the 14 renaming methods on offer. We hope it’ll inspire you to test out some of the tool’s other features.

Changing file extensions with “Replace�

Let’s say you have five files with the extension _DA. You want to change them to _EN before you deliver to your client.

1. Open Advanced Renamer

2. Add files by dragging and dropping them into the renaming window, or by clicking Add > Files:

3. In the Renaming method list window, click Add method > Replace

4. Type _DA in the Text to be replaced field and _EN in Replace with. Leave all other settings as they are:

5. In the renaming window you’ll see a preview of the new filenames. If you’re happy with them, click START BATCH:

6. Now click Start in the pop-up window

7. Once the process has finished, open the folder containing your files and check that the new filenames are correct:

Ìý

If you notice a mistake

1. Click Undo Previous Batch on the main navigation bar:

2. Select the date and time of the most recent renaming:

3. Click Undo this list. The files will now revert to their original names

Was this post helpful? Please share it on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn if you think your colleagues will find it useful too.

Note: STP is not affiliated with Advanced Renamer in any way. If you do decide to download and use it, you do so entirely at your own risk.

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And those are just the preassigned defaults. You can create shortcuts for dozens more functions, and edit existing hotkeys, under Options > Keyboard shortcuts.

Here is the full list. Even if you learn only a handful, you could still save yourself a whole lot of time and mousework.

Did you find this useful? memoQ is STP’s translation tool of choice, so us, post on our or send us an email if you need any other help or advice.

Note: The keyboard shortcuts posted in this blog post are applicable to memoQ 2015. Shortcuts in memoQ are generally standard, but may vary from version to version.

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