Translation and Transcreation project roundup

It’s been a busy start to 2023 with more than a thousand translation projects undertaken already and more than ten million words translated, with a number of transcreation, interpreting and technical translation making an appearance, as well as a number of software localisation projects.

Healthcare Translations

Since the start of the year, we have been translating documents for one of our clients in the pharmaceutical industry, which involves forward and back translation of content in order to ensure that the translation is as clear and accurate as it possibly can be. We’ve been working closely with another client from the healthcare industry to translate video content (with voiceovers and subtitling) and patient-facing clinical trials information into over 30 languages

Interpreting

We’ve also provided remote interpreting for many clients, including a University holding a 3 day conference and a global NGO hosting a budget review meeting with senior government officials. In addition, we’ve also provided English subtitles and British Sign Language interpreting for a government whitepaper! Also on the interpreting front, we’ve worked with a leading German retailer to provide interpreting at training events and a European Works Council, which involved interpreting in six different European languages.

Transcreation

For a different European client working in the retail sector, we provided transcreation services to enable them to convert some marketing slogans into different languages. Transcreation is a highly creative version of translation, which is designed to retain the key messaging of creative content but often written in a different way to the original. This involved detailed meetings with the client to understand their company, target market and the key message they were trying to convey. Our transcreators then produced a variety of options for the client that sounded compelling in English, French and Dutch. A related service is multilingual copywriting and this month we’ve been working with a global consumer goods brand to create Google Ads in Thai for their global marketing team. Working to a brief from the client, our translators use keyword research to help ensure the ads are as prominent as possible, as well as being compelling for the target audience. Keyword research is also a key element within multilingual SEO and you can read about that service here.

Software Localisation

For one of our software clients, we have worked on helping produce a Tagalog version of their app. Software localisation is a key service we provide to many clients, which has increased over the years due to the large number of businesses that have their own apps and software that are used internationally. We recently helped technology company Xploro translate their award-winning app into a number of languages, and you can read our Xploro case study here, which combined elements of software translation and transcreation! The first few months of the year have seen a number of regular software translation projects for clients in the FinTech industry, along with translations of regular economic reports for other financial clients.

Translation Management

We have also been working with a global engineering company to produce marketing translations in various European languages. After careful review of their material and discussions with the client, we established a workflow involving machine translation with post-editing. This involves a preliminary translation by a specialist machine translation engine followed by a careful editing phase completed by a specialist linguist in order to achieve a level of quality comparable to human translations. The translations are reviewed by the client in our Translation Management System in order to collect any final tweaks and update the Translation Memory, which improves translation quality over time. This system is used by many of our clients and represents an efficient workflow, especially in terms of processing client feedback. This month, we onboarded another client with whom we are working closely to achieve the best possible results in their marketing translations, a process which also involves creating terminology databases for optimum quality. Read more about the importance of terminology management here! The content doesn’t require full transcreation but it certainly needs a good style from the translator.

A regular project that we complete around this time every year involves the translation of survey questions, communications and guidance information around the theme of sustainability, which is completed by organisations around the world. There is a huge volume to be translated in a short space of time into multiple languages, however data from the client’s translation memory enables previously translated material to be leveraged to take the strain off the translators. We’ve also worked on large scale projects for a client in the chemical industry, translating anti-bribery policies into a number of languages for their international operations.

E-Learning

Lastly, we continue to work extensively in the field of e-learning, with a number of large e-learning projects for clients in the logistics and retail field, as well as work directly for training companies and L&D departments to support their training efforts with colleagues around the world. Given the amount of work we translate in this space, we have this year decided to participate again in the World of Learning Conference and Exhibition. If you are going to be there, please pop along and say hello! We’d be delighted to discuss how we can help you make the most of your translation budget!