How to Be Prepared and Understand the Translation Process

Be prepared for the Translation Process to ensure your project’s success by understanding each stage, from initial strategy sessions to quality assurance and final delivery.

In our increasingly globalized marketplace, communicating across languages and cultures is beneficial and vital for success. Interpro Translation Solutions deeply understands this. We’ve pioneered a meticulous translation process to ensure your project’s translation and localization needs aren’t just met but exceeded. The result? Efficiency, accuracy, and simplicity from project inception to final delivery.

Topics covered in this article:

Step 1: Start with a Complimentary Localization Strategy Session
Step 2: Questions to Ask Before Beginning the Translation Process
Step 3: Project Kickoff Call
Step 4: Rigorous Translation-Revision-Proofreading (TRP) Process
Step 5: Quality Assurance & Final Delivery
Next Steps to Launch Your Translation Project

Step 1: Start with a Complimentary Localization Strategy Session

While this step isn’t required, the Interpro team highly recommends it. We approach the translation process as a people-first process, which means making sure you’re comfortable, happy, and excited to partner with our expert team.

That’s why we will host a complimentary localization strategy session with you before diving into your project. During this call, you’ll help us understand your project’s scope, language requirements, budget, and timeline. This session allows us to ensure we are the right partner for your specific needs tailor our services to your specific needs, and address any questions you may have right up front.

If one localization strategy isn’t enough, we will continue to meet and discuss your questions and problem-solve until you have the following:

All your questions about the translation process are answered.
You know how much localization is needed and if special formatting (Multilingual Desktop Publishing) is required.
You understand the project’s scope, the languages needed, and the tone and style we’ll use.
Any legal or compliance concerns have been shared and have a solution.
You know the expected timeline.
You know the format for the final translated materials.
You understand how the feedback process works and if you’ll be involved in solving any issues.
You receive a final quote with a maximum price.

Step 2: Questions to Ask Before Beginning the Translation Process

Here are some example questions that can be answered – and we encourage you to ask! If you’re currently looking for a translation, we cover how you can be prepared to interview a translation agency more in-depth.

Technical Capabilities and Experience Questions:

Do you have native speakers for the specific languages required?
Is AI used to translate? Or do you use a team of all human linguists?
How does your team ensure the quality and cultural relevance of translations?
Are you familiar with the platforms and authoring tools we use?
What common barriers should we be prepared to handle with this project? And how does your team handle them?
Can your team handle the technical aspects like formatting, multimedia elements, or platform-specific integrations?
What quality control processes are in place? How does the team handle proofreading, editing, and ensuring accuracy in both content and tone?

Project Specific Questions:

What experience does the agency have in translating [insert your industry]?
Can you provide case studies or references from similar projects?
What is your estimated timeline for completing a project of this size? Can you meet our deadlines?
How do you ensure that the translations are culturally appropriate and sensitive? Do your team have a process for localizing content beyond just language translation?
Do you see any difficult localization problems in our project that would need further collaboration from our team?
How much input will we have during the translation process? Will we be able to review and approve translations before finalization?
How do your linguists handle revisions and feedback? Is there a clear process for making changes requested by our internal team after completing the initial translation?
Who will be managing our project? What is their experience, and how will they communicate progress and handle any issues that arise?
How do they ensure the confidentiality of our materials? What measures are in place to protect sensitive information?
Do you offer ongoing support after the initial translation, such as updates or revisions to the translated content?

Industry Example: Highly Specific eLearning Translation Questions:

These consultation calls can also answer any of your highly specific questions, no matter your industry. We provided some commonly asked eLearning translation and localization questions as an example of how detailed a strategy session can get. We aim to ensure that all your concerns are addressed and that our team understands your requirements so we can deliver the product you expect.

These are some questions we often get from our new eLearning clients:

Platform Compatibility: How does your agency ensure that localized content remains fully compatible with our eLearning platforms, including SCORM and xAPI standards? Can you provide examples of how you’ve handled complex interactions or assessments in different languages?
Learner Engagement: How do you adapt multimedia elements like videos, animations, and interactive quizzes to maintain learner engagement across different languages and cultures? Are voice overs and subtitles localized or merely translated?
Cultural Relevance: How do you approach localizing culturally sensitive content, such as examples, case studies, and scenarios that might need to be adapted or replaced for different cultural contexts?
User Interface (UI) Localization: What is your process for localizing the user interface of our eLearning courses? How do you handle right-to-left languages, character expansion in text, and other UI adjustments to ensure a seamless user experience?
Assessment Integrity: How do you ensure that assessments and quizzes maintain integrity and fairness after localization? Do you adapt question formats, scoring methods, or feedback mechanisms to suit different educational norms or expectations in various regions?

eLearning Translation Resources

If you’re starting the eLearning localization process, we have lots of resources to help you get prepared:

Step 3: Project Kickoff Call

Once the translation and localization strategy is in place and you’re comfortable with the quote and the entire translation process, we will dedicate a Project Manager (PM) to your account. Your Interpro PM will serve as a bridge between you and our expert translators, safeguarding your project’s quality, timeline, and specifications. Your dedicated PM will be your point of contact, delving deeper into the purpose, audience, and goals of your content.

Your Project Manager will arrange a kickoff call with your translation team:

Your company’s internal stakeholders for the project
Your account manager who started your strategy calls
Your backup Project Manager (in case your primary PM takes a vacation)
A Multilingual DTP specialist (if needed for the project)
A Subject Matter Expert (SME) for specific industry knowledge (if applicable)

The kickoff call stage ensures the team is fully aligned with your expectations. This kickoff call is not about introducing new information but rather ensuring that the entire project is understood and on the same page. During the call, we’ll confirm that everyone understands the following:

Your brand’s voice, including on-brand and off-brand elements and special project requirements.
Any industry-specific terminology that’s essential for accurate translation.
The content’s format and how it should be delivered.
The project timeline, including key milestones from start to finish.

If any additional translation tools will be developed for the project, such as a Translation Style Guide or Glossary.

Adapting to Your File Formats

At Interpro, we understand that content comes in various shapes and sizes. So, we eliminate the extra step of having you convert your files into a standard format. Whether your content is in a JSON, InDesign, or Storyline format, we work with the material as is, ensuring the final product is returned in the same format and ready for use. This approach significantly reduces the risk of errors by preserving your information’s original context and layout.

We have experience with all the common applications and file types, but always reach out if you have questions for more custom authoring platforms. Our engineering team has successfully handled every platform we’ve encountered.

Step 4: Rigorous Translation-Revision-Proofreading (TRP) Process

Interpro adopts a stringent TRP process, with each stage executed by different specialists to guarantee the highest accuracy and fidelity to the original text. This multi-tiered approach ensures that translations are accurate and resonate with the target audience’s cultural and linguistic nuances. The process begins with:

Service Match – Determining the optimal translation approach, whether human or AI-driven.
Translator Match – Assigning a native-speaking translator with expertise in your content’s subject matter and a deep understanding of the target culture.
Proofreader Match – Ensuring a separate native-speaking proofreader reviews the content, reinforcing accuracy and adherence to brand standards.

Once your TRP team is selected and the initial translation is complete, your project will go through the following steps:

Revision – Just as you might miss your own writing errors in English, the same applies to other languages! It’s difficult to proofread your own work, regardless of the language. To err is human, after all. (Alexander Pope)
Proofreading – The agency should also match the translator with another native speaker who’s a trained proofreader. This will ensure your content is as accurate and on-brand as possible.
Finalization – Once the content has been translated and proofread, it’s ready for final delivery to you in the same file format you delivered to our team.

Before Finalization, your project will undergo quality assurance. We explain this process in more detail in Step 5.

Adjusting the Project Based on Your Needs

We know the translation process can be complicated and confusing, especially if you’re working with complicated projects like websites or eLearning. We’ve outlined how we adjust the translation process based on your specific requirements.

Step 5: Quality Assurance & Final Delivery

Choosing a translation company with high quality standards for your translation project is crucial to success. We use a detailed and systematic approach to ensure that every translation meets our high standards of accuracy and consistency.

Quality Assurance isn’t something that happens only at the end of the project. It’s a process that is layered in with the other translation steps and begins from the first call to understanding your translation needs and ends after the final delivery.

How to Layer Quality Assurance Into the Translation Process:

Initial Review: After translation, the content undergoes an initial review to check for accuracy and adherence to the project’s requirements. This step ensures that the translation aligns with the intended message and maintains the original content’s meaning.

Proofreading: A separate, experienced proofreader reviews the translated content. This stage focuses on correcting any grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors while ensuring the translation’s style and tone match your brand’s voice.

Final Quality Check and Validation: Our team performs a comprehensive final quality check to confirm that all revisions have been correctly implemented and that the final output is flawless. This includes verifying formatting and ensuring that the translation is culturally appropriate and sensitive to the target audience.

Client Feedback: If needed, we incorporate any client feedback and make final adjustments to ensure the translation meets your expectations and requirements. This feedback is also used to improve future translation projects.

Beyond these steps, Interpro uses the following certifications, industry standards, and best practices to ensure you’re getting the highest level of accuracy and quality:

Certified Translations

When you choose a translation company like Interpro that offers certified translations, you ensure that your translated documents meet official standards of accuracy and reliability. Certified translations come with an official stamp or certification from the translation agency, confirming that the work adheres to recognized industry standards.

Certified translations are particularly important for legal, official, and professional documents where accuracy is crucial. They assure that the translations have been completed per the Association of Translation Companies (ATC) guidelines and ISO standards, which helps maintain high-quality translation services.

ISO Certifications for Translation and Quality

Choosing a translation company with ISO certifications ensures you receive top-notch quality in everything – from the actual translation quality to the customer service. ISO certifications like ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 17100:2015 signify that the company adheres to rigorous international standards for quality management and translation services.

By selecting a company with these certifications, you can be confident that their processes and outputs meet the highest industry standards.

Interpro’s Workmanship Guarantee

Interpro has an unwavering commitment to quality at every stage of the translation process. We back all our work with a Workmanship Guarantee and proudly offer certified translation for any service.

Upon the completion of TRP, we review your content again and then prepare it for delivery, ensuring that it meets Interpro’s high-quality standards and your expectations.

Final Note: Adjusting the Project Based on Your Needs

Here are some common high-level considerations that may change depending on the type of translation project:

Multilingual DTP Process

The Multilingual Desktop Publishing (DTP) Process enhances document translation. It ensures you have visually appealing and brand-consistent publications across different languages. The process includes careful examination of your content before formatting, adjusting for language expansion or shrinkage, reformatting modified indexes and references, and localizing images and graphics.

The DTP process also makes sure you have the appropriate layout; corrects formatting issues like colors and fonts (substituting fonts if necessary); and adapts the direction of text for right-to-left languages.

The process concludes with a thorough post-DTP quality assurance to guarantee that we’ve accurately formatted your final, translated materials to match the source documents, so you can simply deploy and go.

eLearning Localization Process

The eLearning Localization process offers the perfect learning experience for diverse audiences through effective translation and localization carried out by our specialized team. In this comprehensive process, Interpro handles the translation of course scripts, workbooks, and event materials. We also handle subtitle, caption, and voice over translation for videos. Finally, we provide interpreting services for live or recorded training sessions.

To start, our professional linguists will translate your course script. Next, it will go through a review and approval step. The team then sets pronunciation and recording guidelines before proceeding with the professional recording of voice overs and subtitles. Depending on the project’s needs, options for text-to-speech and synthetic voice overs are also available. The process makes sure that the audio and text sync with the video, and that the onscreen interactions align with the target language’s voice over.

Our expert team then conducts localization validation for all interactive elements like quizzes and assessments. The last step involves publishing the fully localized course according to specific publication settings, aiming to deliver a precise and enriching learning experience.

Video Translation Process

The Video Translation process prepares video content with the same attention to detail, translating scripts, recording professional voice overs, and ensuring subtitles and audio sync with the visual experience to retain your message’s impact across languages and cultures.

Website Localization Process

The Website Translation process tailors multilingual solutions for international websites. Our clients first provide their website files to us. Then, we analyze the files to scope the project and offer a price quote and schedule. Next, our professional linguists translate, revise, and proofread your content. They then upload the translated files to a staging site for quality assurance (QA), meticulously checking each page against the source site. After making any necessary modifications and completing a final QA, Interpro delivers the localized files to you.

Software Translation Process

Interpro excels in Software Localization, tackling resource files, dialogs and messages for a native user experience. First, our clients provide us with resource files or strings. Interpro will provide a price, timeline, and quote. Once you give the green light, our professional linguists get to work localizing various components, such as dialogs, messages and reports. Finally, our expert team validates the translated software, implements necessary modifications, and delivers the files in the target language for deployment in global markets.

Interpreting Process

Our Interpreting Process cater to various formats to ensure your multilingual communication is always clear and professional:

remote simultaneous interpretation with real-time engagement for web meetings and other virtual events.
on-site interpretation for a more traditional setting like conferences or Instructor Led Training.

The first step in our event interpreting process is for clients to communicate the event type, dates and required languages. Interpro then assists in selecting the best interpretation solution, whether Remote Simultaneous Interpretation (RSI) or On-Site Interpretation. We match the event with interpreters who have the appropriate language skills and subject matter expertise. Interpro then introduces clients to the interpreters and technical support team. For Remote Simultaneous Interpretation, the Interpro team performs a test run using the chosen interpreting technology platform. They can also record and translate the event’s interpretation if notified in advance.

Next Steps to Launch Your Translation Project

With the exception of our rigorous quality translation steps, the Interpro translation process and localization process are inherently flexible. We designed them to specifically adapt to the diverse needs of our clients. With Interpro, you can expect a partnership with a translation company that not only delivers linguistically and culturally accurate translations but also aligns closely with your global communication goals.