Recommendations for Process Improvement and Cost Savings for US Spanish Translation Buyers

Spanish Translation Project management can be very expensive.

While it can be hard to find a reliable translation provider that you can trust with every step of your workflow, the good news is that it exists. Significant time and financial savings can be achieved by outsourcing some or all project management tasks to a translation provider.

Project management labor costs can often be overlooked in the translation lifecycle, however it is important to note that labor costs incurred in redundant project management steps sometimes they can exceed the cost of the actual translation, not only at the company but also at the provider. level. Simplifying translation workflow steps and eliminating redundant tasks between translation buyer and provider is a proven process improvement practice that can lead to reductions in both time to market and translation costs. .

What drives higher project management costs in a translation lifecycle?

Companies in the same line of business that are in the Fortune 100 category go from having no project management team at all to an army of project managers assigned to manage the content of the translation lifecycle. Complex processes, multiple inputs into workflow management tracking systems, multiple translation vendors, lack of training, excessive centralization or excessive decentralization of content writers and translation processes are a few. of the main factors that generate unnecessary labor costs in project management.

There is no money in complex format.

Formatting or designs may have higher production costs than the actual translation simply due to the complexity of the format. Why have different design templates for each brochure? Use fixed layout templates or standardized layout templates to reduce formatting time. Avoid complex tables and challenging formatting options.

The same message, written differently, can be expensive.

When English writers try to convey the same idea but are not consistent with their word choice, not only does branding and consistency suffer, but costs needlessly rise over time. Every time English content writers change a sentence to express the same idea, the translation database is modified, which can lead to additional translation costs. Making writers aware of the impact their writing style has on the cost of translation can lead to huge efficiencies in translation budgets.

Trust in technology.

For materials that do not change frequently, it is not necessary to pay for a translation every time a variation file is required. Instead, consider automating all the repetitive content. This reduces liability, shortens time to market, and has a potential impact on both the cost of translation and the reliance on human translators who often work within normal business hours.

Many companies with sophisticated content management systems may already have integrated their translation memories or databases of translated content with their English content. If this is the case, then congratulations! A significant level of sophistication has been achieved. While this integration may require a substantial upfront investment, when implemented correctly, it will result in significant cost reduction over time. This brings tremendous benefits to organizations that spend millions of dollars a year in labor costs for English language writers, advertising agencies, consultants, Spanish translators, project managers and designers for content production.

Glossaries

Create an extensive glossary of key industry terminology that is easy for customers and employees to understand. Once the terminology has been selected, the best course of action is to get the glossary approved by the legal department. In general, it is very beneficial to involve the legal team, particularly Spanish-speaking lawyers. Once the legal team approves the terms, users typically won’t go against the legal department, as they are the ultimate enforcement authority. A carefully crafted glossary may have between 1,500 and 10,000 terms for a single language.

Keep in mind that making preemptive changes to company-wide documentation can not only be very costly, but can also lead to inconsistencies in the voice of the company. When there is a lot of conflict within the organization about which word choice to select, collect all the feedback from the most vocal users and implement your key terms as long as their recommendations are valid.

If it is necessary to add a new term to the glossary, writers or translators should provide any supporting research that may come from scientific publications, Spanish regional newspapers, encyclopedias, industry dictionaries, etc. Local Spanish newspapers with well-qualified journalists have proven to be a great asset in this process.

Translate Spanish content in generic terminology that is not specific to any country.

The use of country-specific terminology can create significant conflict for an organization, especially when it comes to targeting the entire Hispanic community. While many companies have their materials for the general American public, other companies choose to make these materials specific to a particular region of the United States. For example, some clients require Puerto Rican Spanish for advertising materials in Puerto Rico, US Spanish for Mexican farmworkers in Iowa, or Modern Spanish for Mexican diplomats living in the United States. Before translating a piece, it is important to recognize the target audience. When an article is directed at all Hispanics in the United States, it is better to keep the language more neutral. However, when specific material is targeted at a particular community, localization is recommended. In this way, the reader will be involved in the communication and will feel attached to what he is reading.

Readability is very important.

When it comes to materials that impact lives or convey an important message, it’s best to use simple words. Since the health insurance industry handles sensitive material that affects the health care of its members, it is common to keep language at a reading level of sixth grade or below, depending on the type of material. In Spanish, for example, a well-known readability test is Inflesz, while in Chinese this type of test is not widely used because all the characters are learned in the first years of school. The level of readability and the different types of tests will be closely related to the language being translated and the rules that apply to it.

Spanish-speaking Mexicans are important.

According to the 2010 American Community Survey, there are 50,730,000 Hispanics in the United States and 32,916,000 are of Mexican descent. Even when the professional Spanish translation industry is dominated by Argentinian linguists, it is important to teach them the importance of targeting Mexican Spanish speakers while engaging the remaining Spanish-speaking audience of other nationalities. Brand loyalty can be damaged if Spanish speakers are not properly addressed.

Review the design in Spanish.

When designing, many professional designers may make changes to the content or misapply accents. Therefore, any content that is placed in a professionally designed file must be reviewed by linguists multiple times. Even if a document has been accurately translated, there is still a chance that the accents may not be in the right place once the content is rendered. In cases of hyphenation, they may cut the word at the wrong syllable. Therefore, using a translation company that has design resources available can sometimes be the solution for clients who have their design teams in-house but don’t have linguists to review those files.