LAWful Translation is named after the initials of the three founders: Lide, Amory and Winston (yep, that would be me). We came up with the name to finish our semester-long project in the Translation Technology class. This project showcase includes proposal, deliverables and our key takeaways on the usage of CAT tools and translation workflows.
Introduction
The scenario is that we (LAWful Translation, translation vendor) are delegated with a translation job by our client (China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group, CECEP for short). The specific objectives of this localization project, forming part of the broader commitment under previous overarching contract, is for us to deliver the localized content of the 2023 CSR report from Chinese to English.
Tasks and Deliverables
| Tasks | Deliverables |
| Creation/Update of the term base and translation memory regarding this project | Term base in .xml format; translation memory in .sdltm format |
| Creation/Update of the style guide | Style Guide in .pdf format |
| Pseudo-translation of the same document | Pseudo-translation in .docx and .pdf format |
| Chinese to English Translation of the Social Responsibility Report | Translated document in English in .docx and .pdf format |
| One round of Proofreading and Editing | (same above) |
Process & Timeline
Lessons Learned
Considering the client has provided the translated version of the report from 2022, we took that into consideration and worked on the quote with reasonable discount based on fuzzy matches. By creating the translation memory with the alignment of that version, we are able to finish the translation in a much shorter time.
One thing during our kick-off meeting with the client is that he asked about involving a reviewer from his side in our workflow. We weren’t sure about where exactly we should implement that step but later after some discussion, we have decided to involve the reviewer as early as possible.
The reason is that the reviewer should be informed about the style guide prior to the translation. If their participation is too late, we might face a lot of back and forth during the translation or even after the translation is done.
However, one thing I would like to point out is that whenever we involve an external personnel, especially from the client side, we must treat with extra caution. It takes time to familiarize the cooperation and one way to keep things professional is to create a “review form” visible to both sides, logging all the feedback and addressing them with care.
I believe when we perform in a professional way, we can work out any disagreements.
Documents