The following guidelines are designed to ensure that translations accurately reflect the original text, improve linguistic consistency within and across documents, and avoid schedule delays and unnecessary costs:
Consistency
Each time a word or phrase is changed, make sure other instances of the same word or phrase are also changed throughout the document(s). This will help prevent confusion on the part of the reader/end-user.
Types of changes to make
- Correction of meaning errors
- Correction of spelling/grammatical errors
- Implementation of previously approved terminology
- Implementation of previously approved style guidelines
Types of changes to avoid
- Preferential, opinion-based changes
- Changes to previously approved terminology
- Changes that introduce new information, details or concepts not reflected in the original text
- Changes that delete information, details or concepts that are present in the original text
Method of marking changes
- When there is more than one file, use the Find & Replace across documents feature found on the translator dashboard.
- If you must use another format outside the Lingotek, it is important to clearly mark/highlight changes so that translators can quickly navigate to each modification. Otherwise, a lengthy process of comparing documents to identify differences adds to the total turnaround time and can increase project cost.
- When Word files are used, turning on the “Track Changes” feature is encouraged.
Updating reference material
- Please update glossary of approved terminology with new terms or changes to previously approved terms.
- Please update the style guide as needed.