Have you ever happened to buy a household appliance and to get a poor translation of its user’s guide? Was it easy for you to install that appliance if the technical translation did not match with the original instruction?
Or perhaps you are a representative of a manufacturing or engineering company and you have difficulties finding a good translation agency offering high quality Hungarian translations of your technical texts? No surprise, such agency does not exists: agencies do not create anything you need, while linguists do. For a good quality translation of your product manual you have to deal directly with the translator.
Here are a few words of advice you should consider while ordering translations of your technical texts and instructions.
- Technical translations are among the most demanded types of translation services; still, it is much harder to translate your technical text than a general text. You should check your translator's suitability for the given project, what you can do here, here and here.
- It is best to entrust the translation of your technical guides and documents to the experienced specialists. Low quality translations may result in malfunctioning systems, damaged devices or even worse outcomes. Just imagine what the incorrect translation of your safety or earthing instructions can mean to a technician who maintains your high-voltage electrical systems.
- A good translator of your technical texts should know the original and target languages, the subject of translation and the terminology well.
- The technical text translation should be carried out very accurately and consistently. Even the smallest mistake in your manual or instruction may have catastrophic consequences.
- Technical texts are adapted according to the style norms of the country of the target language. A technical translation from German or English to Hungarian is adapted according to the style norms of our country.
- Every technical translation must be gone through a QA process checking the style of the text and the correctness of terminology.
- Technical instructions are almost always full of graphic material – diagrams, module schemes, drawings, illustrations. Formatting and page layout specialists are needed so that it would be possible to work with the translated text without looking at the original. I translate technical documents from files of various format (pdf, cdr, doc, html) and special technical programmes (e.g., AutoCAD or MS Project).
- It is important to choose a professional service provider who uses special software. The use of computer aided translation environment enables to improve the translation quality and to save money on the long run. Your technical translations might be frequently updated; therefore, you will only need to have corrections or amendments of every updated version translated. You don't need to have the same piece of text translated - and paid for - again and again.
Do you want your technical translation done fast AND cheap AND precise?