CASE STUDY: Specific terminology book translation

In earlier years, books were written in the native language of the author, only some were translated but because of the limited amount of books published, there was less need for translations. Nowadays far more books are published, which increases the need for book translations. But what if a book requires special attention? If the vocabulary range is bigger than that of an average native speaker, and the target group also has possession of this terminology, the translator has to keep up with this. Luckily, translation experts who are able to understand, translate and make books understandable for other language-speaking target groups are available. The mediator; the translation agency, is the key player in this process to get the best translators for each and every project. 

CHALLENGE

The book to be translated was a project that required special attention because of its medical background. The company: EFA: European Association of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients‘ Association, asked Transenter to translate the book: “EFA Book on Respiratory Allergies” into six different languages including Danish, Dutch, Greek, Portuguese, Swedish and German. This 64-page book project included high medical terminology. Therefore specified translators who were able to write in the style of the original book, had proper knowledge of medical terminology, were native speakers of the target language, and were able to translate from English had to be provided by Transenter. In parallel, the DTP service had to be supplied to get the book ready to print when delivered to EFA.

CLIENT’S EXPECTATIONS

  • Correct terminology of the original version translated into all six languages
  • Perfect lay-out or DTP
  • High quality translations
  • Delivery of a ready-to-print final document

APPROACH

Transenter has been doing a lot of translation that requires specific attention and knowledge in this field of expertise. Medical documents are translated on a regular basis which provide Transenter with experience and expertise in this field of the translation market. Next to that, Transenter is familiar with book translations related to all kind of subjects. Therefore the mixture of medical  translations and book translations provided Transenter with an interesting challenge. For this specific project, Transenter thought of the required services to meet the client’s expectations. Transenter came to the conclusion to use human, medical translators, DTP services and proofreading to guarantee the quality of the documents. The client was guaranteed that it would be translated by medical specialist translators who are accustomed to medical science terminology and are translating the document into their native language.

SOLUTIONS ELEMENTS

  • Human Medical translation solutions
  • DTP services: Multilingual Desktop Publishing
  • Proofreading services

TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY

  • Human Medical translation solutions: medical Human translations are executed by translators who are certified and experienced. They only translate from a language in which they are fluent, into their mother tongue to, therefore, ensure the best outcome of the document. On top of that,  medical translations offer a lot of knowledge in the specific field of expertise. The vocabulary goes beyond the average mother tongue speaker. The document is mainly used for other experts in the medical sector and a translation mistake can be crucial for the interpretation of the medical problem or subject.
  • Proofreading services: the Proofreading process limits the chance of mistakes thanks to the extra check by another translator who is familiar with the terminology and who can look at the text with a fresh eye to check if it consistent or if it should be improved in any way. This extra revision ensures that the client gets the best translation quality possible.
  • DTP services: Multilingual Desktop Publishing: although the document is well translated and the content is the main aspect of the book, document or text, the lay-out can define the content and make it more attractive and pleasant for the reader. DTP services can be used to create a more professional image of the document. It helps to explain the content with the support of pictures, tables and graphs, and, therefore, make the text more attractive to read. There are two types of DTP services; the first can be used to put the translated text into a similar lay-out as the original document, the second option is to create an entire new lay-out to the document. DTP services are the finishing touch to catch the eye of potential readers who are, partly thanks to the DTP, interested in the document.

HOW THE SOLUTIONS WERE IMPLEMENTED IN

“EFA BOOK ON RESPIRATORY ALLERGIES”

Medical translation services

EFA Book on Respiratory Allergies” was written by authors experienced in the medical environment. Their broad knowledge resulted in a book deep-rooted into medical science. To translate this properly, Transenter had to provide medical translators to deliver a satisfying final product to the EFA. With years of experience in the field of specialized translations: especially medical translations, six translators were provided holding the right certificates and experience in medical translations. All six were fluent English speakers and were translating into their native language.  Where disputes were uncovered in the Danish and German versions, they were solved with exemplary cooperation and efficiency, with no additional costs incurred by the client.

Results

  • Understanding of the terminology of the book
  • High quality medical translations
  • Consistency of writing style throughout the book
  • Consistency of terminology throughout the book

Proofreading services

When the medical translators had fulfilled their job concerning the translation of the book, several proofreaders were provided to improve the quality of the texts. Transenter believes that a second check-up will result in a better quality of the final product. The proofreading process was  executed by translators with experience and expertise of medical translations and who were native speakers of the target language. This enabled them to pick up on any mistakes made by the original translator. After a second check-up the documents consisted of the highest quality translations and were ready for the final step in the process: the DTP service.

Results

  • High quality books
  • Consistent terminology
  • Consistency in the writing style
  • Professional documents

DTP services: Multilingual Desktop Publishing

In order to accomplish a flawless look for the final product, Transenter’s DTP specialists put the translated book into the same lay-out as the original English version of the EFA Book on Respiratory Allergies. The book in question contains a lot of pictures, tables and graphs, that is why DTP was an important aspect of the entire project. All six books were prepared by the same DTP provider to copy the constant lay-out that was used in the original version of the EFA Book on Respiratory Allergies. It needed extra attention because the translated text might not exactly fit with the length of the original text and therefore DTP services should be applied carefully to create a document that looks as similar to the original document as possible.

Results

  • The final version was provided with the right DTP
  • Project went smoothly and was finished in the shortest time possible
  • The DTP was provided with localized material that matched the original document and complied with the target-language standards
  • Thanks to the DTP specialists; the lay-out looked the exact same as the original document.

DEPLOYMENT

One of the strengths of Transenter’s Solutions is ability to easily use several translation methods to come to a high-quality final product. Transenter listens to the needs of the client to establish the best strategy and choose the needed services to achieve the final goal. We believe it is important to have the same end-goal in mind as the customer to be able to provide them with the necessary services: on-time and with the lowest costs. In this case, the goal was to acquire high quality translations with the right terminology and the same DTP as the original. This professional attitude helped Transenter provide hundreds of translation solution customized for all different clients.

RESULTS AND OVERALL BENEFITS

  • High quality translations
  • Right use of terminology
  • Ability to provide several translations at the same time
  • Perfect DTP services
  • Consistency in terminology and style of translation
  • Professional final document
  • Ready to print books when delivered to EFA
  • Smooth process

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