What is a translation style guide and why is it important?

Has your translator ever asked you: “Do you have a style guide?”

And you wonder: What is a translation style guide? Why do I need it?

If you are building an international marketing strategy to expand your customer base, you need to communicate your unique brand identity to connect with potential consumers in new markets.

A successful international campaign means the consistency of your message across all channels. This in turn means the same tone of voice in any other language as your source language and local markets.

A translation style guide is a set of guidelines which outline your company’s preferred tone, register, and style to be used in translation. It is important because your translated content should match the way your company presents itself textually, but also visually. A professional translator should discuss your preferences with you at the start of the project as this is part of their essential research and preparation that you pay for. (You can read more about what the translation service includes here.)

Let’s see what a style guide includes and what the benefits are.

What do you need to include in a style guide?

1. Target audience

Firstly, tell us who will be reading this content. Think about your audience and the type of users.  What are their interests, age, education level, lifestyle indicators? What is their purpose when they use your product or content?

Are they university professors, customers installing their websites on your hosting servers or gaming users?

Established law firms or tech start-ups?

Will your content be consumed in a corporate boardroom or a school classroom?

2. Tone of voice

Every brand has its own unique tone of voice corresponding to its values. This voice has to come across in your translated copy.

Facebook, for example, uses a straightforward, conversational tone in all of its writing. And if you publish on Facebook, you write in an informal, playful, and engaging tone of voice, and aim to be personable, friendly, and even humorous.

Note these things in the translation style guide and use plenty of examples from your existing publications:

  • Do you want formal or informal language?
  • Do you prefer active or passive voice?
  • What about colloquial expressions, jargon or even slang?
  • Do you use inclusive forms of language, such as choice of pronouns (they), or forms of address (Mr, Ms, Mx)?
  • If the content is going to be published on social media, which ones? (see the comment above about Facebook)
  • If the content is for your website, what forms do you use in your CTA buttons? The imperative form? (“Upload file”, “Contact us today”.) Or more descriptive infinitive form? (“To subscribe, click on X”.) Also bear in mind that the CTA buttons will be localised. For example: in the American culture they tend to be more direct that in the French culture, where “Contact me today!” style of button may be perceived as too aggressive.

3. Formatting preferences

The translation guide is the right place to share the preferred formatting or punctuation. You should include preferences about the use of:

  • spelling locale (think US and British English)
  • acronyms or abbreviations,
  • capitalisation of bullet points,
  • use of punctuation in bullet points and after units of measure,
  • favourite fonts.

Specify units of measure, currencies, addresses, phone numbers, and any words that should not be translated. Typically, these will include website names, branded names, usernames or email addresses.

4. General brand style guides

If you have these, do not hesitate to share them with your translator. They provide us with essential and invaluable insight into your company’s personality, vision, and core values, and tell us how you wish to communicate them in your new language markets. Applying these guidelines in your multilingual content will avoid the fracturing of your brand’s message in any way.

brand-vision-and-guidelines

Terminology glossaries

Consistent and clear terminology is a key factor in your public persona, or that of your clients. Terminology glossaries are databases of key terms that must be translated consistently or not at all. Choose terms that are business-critical words used by your industry and your own, company-specific ones (e.g., your copyrighted or trademarked terms that should not be translated). Also consider audience-specific words to ensure relevance and engagement. For example, vegans like to use slang words such as “Buddha bowl” and “flegg”. Gaming fans read about “RendeZook” or “scratch damage”.

If you do not yet have a single term base, the translator can help you with this task. Using professional tools such as SDL Trados Multiterm, we can import your existing file and consolidate, clean and manage the data for the future.

Should you use both glossaries and style guides?

Terminology glossaries are important tools for industry relevance and the consistency of terms and product names. Your localisation expert will use their linguistic skill, cultural awareness and your translation style guides as a reference point to decide how best to address your audience. As a result, your translated content will resonate with consumers the way you wanted it to.

Why should you invest in a translation style guide?

A true investment – saving your time and money

Style guides are often neglected because they are viewed as time-consuming. They need the business to be acutely aware of its own unique branding style.

They are, however, a real time-saver during any localisation project. The guidelines will immediately answer standard translation questions and eliminate the need for lengthy and repetitive calls or email chains. You can get on with your job, whilst linguists can set about their task with your brand context and preferences already in mind. The guides will also remove the risk of linguists attempting to “guess” what your brand voice is from the existing content. 

The main causes of high translation costs include countless rounds of corrections or re-translating previously translated material, completed by another service provider. A translation style guide will help you eliminate costly mistakes, frustration, and disappointment during the international marketing process.

In conclusion, consider translation style guides as an investment that offers a great return for your business, allowing your international marketing strategies to reach their full potential.

IF TRANSLATORS WERE CAR MECHANICS…, or 4 common questions to ask before buying a translation service.

“Can you repair my car? I need it for tomorrow.”

“Can I see it?”

“No. Not until you tell me if you can fix it.”

“Um…What kind of car is it?”

“A blue one.”

“I mean the manufacturer and model.”

“That’s personal information I don’t want to disclose. When will it be ready?”

“Well…what noises has it been making? How old? Mileage?”

“Questions, questions! Am I supposed to tell you how to do your job? Just tell me how long it’ll take to fix it.

Oh, and I can only afford €X.

And I want you to use these complicated, old, rusty tools of mine.

I’ve also started to tinker with the car myself, so you should give me a discount now that you only have to finish off the job. And fix that leak I made while tinkering.

Here’s a blurry photo of it to help.”

(Curtesy of Gary Smith **Confessions of a Freelance Translator: Secrets to Success**)

I hope that this story made you smile. Of course, it is a bit of a caricature.😉

Like many other professions: car mechanics, plumbers, builders, dentists, doctors, lawyers…, translators need to see the product that they are asked to work with. We are “wordsmiths”. Our job is not about: “just tell me what this means in [language]”.

When you ask for a document or website to be translated, a professional will discuss with you these 4 common questions:

1. Can you translate into… [language]?

Like any other professions, we have a bit of jargon lingo. The language your text is originally written in is called “source language”. The one we translate into is called “target”.

A good translator is a linguist with a thorough knowledge of the “source language”. This allows us to understand your text well. For example, I have proofread in the past a financial text translated from English, where the linguist mixed up the English and French meaning of “billions”! However, a pro will never offer to translate into their “second language”, unless they can offer you a native-speaker review and proofreading as part of their service. You want your translator to have a perfect knowledge of both the target culture and language, because we translate meanings and messages, not “just words”. Only a native or fully bilingual translator can ensure this.

2. Do you know about my industry?

Just like car mechanics, you have generalists and those who specialize in brands. We also have specializations, e.g. texts about medicine, law, agriculture, finance, marketing. In my case, the specializations come from the professional experience in software houses and the financial industry. I also keep learning, reading publications and participating in webinars or online courses in my specializations. Just like doctors, lawyers or engineers, specialized translators have an in-depth knowledge of the concepts, terminology, and specificities of their field.

3. When will it be ready?

Typically, translators translate between 2000 and 3000 words a day. I would approach with caution working with anyone who promises you tens of thousands of words per day. It is likely that they will just put your text through a machine translation engine and do a bit of editing (or not). In that case you are wasting your money.

However, the turnaround and deadline are not synonymous. Like for any professional mentioned above, your deadline will depend on translator’s availability, the type of document and area of specialization, availability of any reference materials.

4. How much does it cost?

Translation rates depend on a variety of factors: the type of document you need translated, the area of specialization, the source and target languages, the urgency, the volume.

Rates are often calculated per word, but some translations are charged per hour because of the extra work they involve, e.g. layout work for a non-editable PDF or extensive linguistic and SEO research for marketing texts.

(Imagine translating the message behind “Just Do It” – it is more than just 3 words!!)

Proofreading work is usually charged per hour.

Some translators charge a minimum rate, others will offer you a more comprehensive solution that can include translation, proofreading, and testing. It is always best to ask for a free quote, which they will be happy to offer.

Would you commission building a house and ask for a terrace and a pool half-way through the project? Communicate the scope of work and request any auxiliary services at the start. If you don’t, you might end up stuck with an unfinished project, or worse, a set of unbudgeted charges.

 

In addition, if you require a service in marketing or digital branding, you must have a discussion about your brand’s tone and voice, your audience and its demographics, your product’s features and benefits.

 

Do you need professional translation for your document, website or application into Polish or French?

You can order my services or ask for a free quote here: https://edittranslations.com/contact/.

 

Does Your Translator Ask Questions?

Why should a good translator ask you questions? From very generic ones before the project starts, such as asking you about the purpose and audience of your content, to more technical ones, such as preferred terminology or style, questions are a sign of a professional approach. This is the equivalent of the gathering of requirements in business analysis speak.

Have you ever sent a file to translate and you felt that it disappeared in a big black hole? This is indeed a dangerous situation. This may mean that your translation provider is making assumptions.

“Yes, but”, I hear some say, “you are asking your clients to do your job for you.”

“Isn’t searching for information part and parcel of translators’ or translation project managers’ job?”

Absolutely yes.

If reference material exists and is easily available, translators should refrain from sending the client every single question that might come to mind. They should also read the WHOLE text you sent before asking about that ambiguous term on page 1.

But if your software is still WiP and it only exists in a demo version, a manual, a specification or access to that demo will provide invaluable insight to your internal terminology.

 The questions that your translator asks can reveal errors or inconsistencies in your source files, and consequently help improve these documents.

Questions can save you legal issues in the target market. For instance, a translator may ask you whether you considered including relevant allergen information when they adapt a marketing copy for your food product.

Dealing with questions can be time-consuming. It can be frustrating, especially if you are swamped with them every hour. A good translator will batch them for you and communicate regularly.

Pertinent questions, transferred to a qualified person in your organisation, answered willingly, are crucial for a good end result. This communication flow will ensure that everyone gets the right information without wasting time and can meet the expected quality level.

 What is your experience? Have you been frustrated by lack of communication or, on the contrary, lack of autonomy of your translation provider?

Fellow translators, what pertinent questions have made a real difference to your client and their project? Have you solved their pain points?

What makes an excellent translator? 5 traits you should look for

Many businesses and organisations find the process of hiring translators quite daunting, simply because they do not know what to expect and what to look for. Here are the 5 most important traits you should consider:

1. Quality and expertise

It goes without saying that this is the most important aspect of being a translator. Quality does not necessarily mean a degree in translation. Not everyone who has a master’s degree is necessarily a good translator. In fact, it depends a lot on the type of translation you require. There is a strong argument for hiring a lawyer-translator when you need a legal text, or for an IT expert when you need your software product or website to be translated. For marketing translation and transcreation, the most important thing will be a flair for language and creativity. In short: quality rhymes with specialisation. It is vital that the translator you choose is specialised in your industry and expert in this field.

2. Reliability

This is equally important. Even the fastest, the most competitive and highest quality translator will not be any good to you if they consistently deliver late. Part of making sure that this does not happen is to agree realistic deadlines in the first place. Beware of translation agencies who in a catchy phrase promise you fast, cheap and quality services! There are no miracles: a reliable quality service requires realistic timescales. The unexpected can happen to all: a power cut, a domestic emergency or illness. Or simply, while working on your project, the translator has uncovered that there are some hidden complexities or specialised domains outside of their usual field of expertise that will take longer to investigate and translate (e.g. legal content in the middle of a medical translation).

In these situations, another key attribute of a good translator comes in:

3. Communication

A reliable quality translator will communicate effectively and proactively with you. If they realise that “there is trouble ahead” meeting a deadline, they will get in touch with you straight away and will not wait until 1 hour before the deadline or until it is passed. They will think ahead, pre-empt problems and manage your expectations.

4. Ability to deal with feedback

Let’s face it: this is tricky. I will always remember the days when I was a software tester and I had to deliver the “bad news” to developers that their piece of software had defects and did not work. Most of the time they were not happy, taking it almost personally, as if the code was their baby. But that is kind of normal: they were simply professionals, proud of their work. Good, professional translators are proud of their work, too, but they should be able to receive and accept feedback from their customers courteously. Not only that: they should actively seek it.

5. Caring attitude.

Besides being courteous and reliable, a good translator has a positive attitude to their work and industry. As linguists, they are genuinely passionate about what they do. As industry experts and service providers, they genuinely care about your brand and product and they want it to be translated and adapted in a way that will allow you to reach out to those global markets successfully.

What are you looking for when you’re working with (or, looking for) translation providers?

How do I choose a financial translator?

And why do translators specialise anyway? These are just words, aren’t they? Well, not exactly. Financial and economic translations require a great degree of understanding.  Translators who understand the concepts will be able to translate much more accurately than those who don’t.

Within the world of finance there are many complex terms and concepts

On the asset management side, if you are looking for accurate translations, then it is important to choose a translator who can deal effectively with the content.  Do they know the difference between cyclical and defensive stocks? Is the term “bond proxy” translated or is the English version used in other languages? When the translation team understands such concepts and can combine their financial knowledge with their linguistic expertise, then you are certain to have a great financial translation.

The importance of accuracy

Apart from the sound technical knowledge required in translating financial statements or portfolio analyses, the accuracy and attention to detail matter as well.  This is not just about getting the language right, but about representing the numbers accurately as well. The translation may be perfect in terms of written fluency, but it will be no good to the client if they have not taken the required care to transcribe or transfer the numbers, symbols or abbreviations. What if assets of $1,000,000 become assets of $100,000 in the translated document? Correct localised conventions must be used, such as a digital point and comma.  A million (1,000,000) in the UK and US may in other countries look as follows: 1 000 000.  Simple details, obvious to many, but important to get them right.

You can get on with your core business

Using a competent translator will allow you to focus on your core business instead, on the activities that generate revenue for your company or organisation. You will avoid the gigantic headaches associated with the incorrect translation of documents and with re-working them so that they are acceptable.

The answer: work with an expert

At EdIT Translations we are experts in financial translation.  Before starting the company, its founder, Elzbieta Dubois, enjoyed a successful career in software houses building solutions for financial services, including major European banks in Paris and London, building societies, investment corporations and lenders. As a Business and Test Analyst she translated specifications and user guides and performed localisation testing, and so she is well-placed to deliver very high-quality translations of technical financial documents.  She combines this experience with solid linguistic skills. A master’s degree in Professional Translation at the University of Strasburg and 30+ years of residence in the UK and France allow her to address and convey each country’s specific locale and culture. With this background, she can produce translations that are true to their audience and culture. So, the next time you are looking for an expert financial translator with a focus on your specific needs as a client, look no further, we are here to help!