How does linguistic quality assurance work?

Linguistic quality assurance entails checking a translation’s precision for cultural correctness, linguistic phrasing, terminology, and other factors. The objective is to guarantee that the localized information is entirely accurate and of the greatest possible quality. Quality is critical in every organization for both product and service providers. Undoubtedly, quality has distinct aspects in translation and localization compared to other services, but it is the desired aim in every project. Linguistic quality assurance needs to be applied at every step of the translation process to avoid errors. In the translation process, it is crucial to ensure that you follow the necessary accreditation mandates, regulatory and legislative mandates and ensure it follows the localization quality assurance standards.

A proper translation should capture the original text’s tone and message as closely as possible. It should also consider the target audience’s geographical and cultural characteristics.

Here are some considerations you need to observe in translation

• Ensure there are no grammatical or spelling errors.
• The translator has consistently utilized correct wording.
• The translation correctly communicates the meaning of the source text.
• The style is accurate to the source.
• The translated text is equally as good as the original
• Culturally distinctive aspects have been appropriately modified.
• Dates, for example, were formatted in a way that was appropriate for the target culture.
• The translation adheres to the instructions and specifications provided by the customer.

The translation process involves several professionals to ensure that the translation process is done to perfection. However, the translation processes may vary depending on factors such as the language service provider and the type of provider. Hence, there are a few considerations one needs to make beforehand, including:

• The perceived value of a project— an ecommerce website translation has a lot more economic value than, say, translating an internal corporate message.
• The overall project timeline—the more steps in the translation process, the longer the project will last.
• The budget—quality has its cost; the more people you involve in the translation process, the more expensive the project.

Steps included in the linguistic quality assurance include:

• The translation process is the first

The project manager allocates the task to the translator, who should preferably be an authority on the subject (medical, legal, marketing, etc.). The translator completes their job while adhering to the provided standards and terminology and double-checks their work before sending it.

• The proofreading step and the editor checks the work

The proofreader will ensure that she has no spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, punctuation problems, and terminology concerns. On top of that, the editor will ensure that the writing flows effectively. It’s crucial to ensure you have an editor check marketing translations as this will help them verify that the intended content conveys a compelling message. On the other hand, a user’s handbook generally only requires proofreading. Having a guide that reads like literature or advertising has no genuine business value.

• Putting back in of the translation by the DTP or multimedia team to the correct format

The DTP engineer creates the necessary layout for the text to be published or the website or content manager to integrate the translated web copy into the content management system. Although this is not a linguistic stage, it can significantly influence translation quality if done incorrectly.

• The proofreader checks the final document

After the DTP and multimedia team are done with the document. They search for mistakes, missing punctuation, and even content that isn’t there. It’s safer to have a second linguist look at the text to ensure there are no errors.

Finally, the document is sent to the client.

In conclusion, linguistic quality assurance is necessary to ensure that quality work is delivered to the consumers.