Ask the Expert: How to Maintain Quality Control In The Translation Process?
Translation Quality Control (TQC) is the process by which products and services are tested and measured to secure that they meet a standard. This standard has two main aspects: that products and deliverables are as uniform as possible and minimize errors and inconsistencies.
This was a notion originally applied to the manufacturing industry for which products needed to be equal in quality and their characteristics. Over time, other companies, such as Language Service Providers (LSPs) were increasingly required to comply with industry standards and apply the TQC process. Even if the “product” is not always the same, errors and inconsistencies need to be detected and removed to keep the standards as high as possible.
At OXO, the Translation Quality Control process relies on Sophia Dias, the Head of Language Services. Sophia has been working for eight years at OXO. She has a specialized Bachelor degree in English-to-French translation and in Italian studies, as well as a Master degree in Administration. She also holds the titles of Certified Translator (C. Tr.) and Chartered Administrator (Adm. A.).
1. What are the main aspects of your work as Head of Language Services?
I oversee the day-to-day operations of the Language Department and work closely with my peers in other departments. On any given day, I could be meeting with colleagues or clients, managing cross-departmental projects, revising or translating, problem-solving, etc. Every day is different than the last!
2. How important is quality control in the translation workflow?
Very important! For quality control, not only is it important to plan for a revision step in the standard translation process, it is also key to know how to revise oneself properly. This ensures the finished translation achieves the highest quality possible before another pair of eyes goes through it.
3. What types of Translation Quality Control processes do you have at OXO?
On the tech side, we use spellchecking tools as well as specialized terminology and translation quality control software. Most CAT tools also offer an integrated QA feature. In addition to those, we ensure a second person does a bilingual revision of the translation to avoid any errors in meaning, additions, omissions, stylistic issues, etc. The combination of technology and human in the Translation Quality Assurance process maximizes efficiency while ensuring the best possible quality.
4. How important are the cultural aspects in the localization process?
Being mindful of cultural aspects in the localization process is essential. This is what will give the translation its flavour and spirit. No one wants to read a text that seems as if it’s been translated and not originally written in the target language. Furthermore, it’s important to engage linguists who are well acquainted with the target locale and its unique linguistic requirements.
5. How do you match the resources with the project’s quality requirements, and how important is it to find that perfect match?
The main aspect of finding the perfect group of resources for an account or a specific project is to know your own team. When you know the strengths, preferences and specializations of your team members, you know where to best allocate them. The best part is bringing to light someone’s hidden talents that we didn’t necessarily know about before, and watching them flourish. I am so fortunate to work alongside extremely talented individuals, and we all get to learn from each other every day.
6. What are the challenges and benefits presented by the use of machine translation?
I don’t believe machine translation can be used on every type of text at this stage of its development, but when used on source texts that lend themselves well to machine translation post-editing (MTPE), it can speed up the whole process and reduce time to market. Linguists can then spend their time doing what they do best, which is interpreting complex linguistic intricacies and rendering them as if they were originally written in the target language. Moreover, they can solidify their position as language consultants and become the client’s go-to person for all language-related questions.
7. Finally, how different is the Canadian market from other markets?
In my opinion, the Canadian market places greater emphasis on the profession and on the importance of translation in general. For instance, several Canadian provinces have their own professional order that issues reserved titles to language professionals with recognized qualifications in order to protect the public. In addition, various Canadian universities offer very strong translation programs to further the profession, and some of them work directly with their provincial professional order to set students up for success as soon as they finish university.
About Sophia
I was born and raised in Montréal, Quebec. My cultural background is Portuguese and Italian. Fun fact: French is actually my third language (out of five). I particularly enjoy living here because it perfectly marries francophone and anglophone cultures. I have always loved reading. My favourite books are fantasy and historical novels, but I am trying to branch out to new genres. I am also enjoying having the opportunity to travel again. I would love to visit Japan, Spain and Argentina in the near future.