Specialist language services

In foreign markets, a high level of quality in the translation of product documentation is just as important a factor for the success of the product as the correctness of its contents that provides the necessary legal protection in terms of liability.

Glossa Group has a clear quality strategy based on the use of specially qualified translators, translation standardising systems and continuous quality verification processes. With the aid of its 6,000 plus internal language specialists and network of translators, Glossa Group is in a position to cover all world languages and all specialised fields with guaranteed quality. The language combinations offered are not limited to German as the source language.

The process of selecting a suitable translator is critical to successfully completing a translation project. It is based on firmly defined criteria, in particular with regard to linguistic and professional competence, as well as technical aspects such as the ability to work with translation-relevant systems.

The core of translation standardisation is undertaken via a computer-supported modular treatment of the texts to be translated. In every technical documentation for a particular product to be translated there are text segments (chapters, paragraphs, sentences) that are identical or exhibit similarities with corresponding text segments from previous versions or other products in the same product line. When there are repetitions in the source language, these segments that were previously translated are automatically copied or are directly available to the translator for comparison. The translator is thus compelled to maintain consistency with respect to style and terminology.

Afterwards, the translation is systematically scanned for errors that are removed if found. Error categories are used to systematise our translation quality check. Points are awarded for the purpose of capturing the performance arithmetically. After completion of the translation project, a comparable translation and translator evaluation is complied which is recorded and further analysed – with the goal of improving quality in the long-term.

Glossa Group also has the expertise to deliver translations with a foreign language character set in all standard DTP formats such as Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe InDesign, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Illustrator, BroadVision Interleaf/QuickSilver, QuarkXPress and Autodesk AutoCAD both in Microsoft Windows and in Apple Macintosh. This service is available at favourable rates because of synergistic effects with the translation memory systems used.

• Quality management
• Standardisation
• Terminology management
• Translator network
• Translation workflow
• Translation memory systems
• Website localisation
• Foreign languages in DTP
• HTML/XML/SGML files

Quality management

At Glossa Group, quality management not only refers to the process of regulating communication within the company, a key aspect is also the use of systematisation and standardisation methods for technical translation and terminology.

Additional processes include establishing criteria for the selection of suitable translators, specifying extensive linguistic requirements so that a “verifiable” language is created based on strict criteria, developing procedures for managing large translation volumes in teamwork, organising correction runs according to defined aspects, ensuring culture-specific adaptations, defining general rules for the creation of terminology databases and also project coordination and monitoring rules.

Our quality assurance system provides rules that can be generally applied to individual cases and automates repetitive processes.

Standardisation

The sale of a product and above all its follow-on versions rely very heavily on the degree of recognition. In addition to ensuring consistency of product brands, trademarks, coloured symbols and creative distinctiveness, linguistic recognition, especially with a distinct form of articulation and a high level of text density, is of great importance.

Furthermore, in the case of technical manuals such as operating or installation instructions, verbal clarification of how something operates, explanations of the technical characteristics, understanding of the technical specifications, identification of safety risks and the illustration of the ergonomics are very important. What is at stake is the acceptance of the machine, minimisation of hazards that the machine could represent, the extent of additional work on the machine, the amount of training necessary for the technical staff, the frequency of maintenance and not least product liability issues.

For this reason, the technical writers put considerable effort into using »controlled« language (fixed and consistent terminology, fixed and consistent formulations and phrasing guidelines) during the technical description of the product in the source language and to change and/or adapt follow-up versions using text segmentation, so that the language remains consistent in its essential features.

Modern translations must comply with the same requirements.

The guiding principle is:

CONTINUITY and FLEXIBILITY

Glossa Group has special expertise in the creation of modularised translations by using advanced translation technology. Segment by segment, the foreign language operating and use instructions, the online documentation, the operating manuals, the spare parts lists and the contracts are set up in translation memory systems.

Recurring core activities are stored as pre-translated texts and form the invariable framework for all subsequent translations. Renewable and/or expandable activities are translated according to the stylistic and terminological standards of the core areas. Customer and project-specific standard texts as well as esoteric terminology and catchwords are consistently retained.

Glossa Group always ensures that the customer's reference directories are updated and maintained. The organisation of the reference files is based on various criteria (e.g. product category or language). Regular corrective jobs are conducted to ensure that the reference materials are revalidated and to avoid the recirculation of errors.

Terminology management

The ability to integrate industry and customer-specific glossaries in the translation process is the basis for all translators to produce terminologically consistent translations. Glossa Group ensures this by creating dictionaries according to established procedures and using web-based terminology management systems that allow all those involved – technical editors, marketing department, translators – to access these dictionaries.

Translator network

Despite all efforts directed towards standardisation, a translation can never be better than the product of its translator. For this reason we have attached especially great importance to the establishment of an extensive network of language and technical specialists who can fulfil the special requirements of your company.

Our translators are located all over the world and can do justice to special national language requirements (US English, Canadian English, GB English, Australian English, Irish English, Benelux-French, Parisian French, Iberian Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Arabian of Moroccan origin, Arabian of Saudi Arabian origin, Arabian of Afghani origin (Pashto) etc.

Just as there is a great variety of languages, there is also a great variety of technical areas that the translators employed by Glossa Group master. Generally they include electronics technicians, computer scientists, medical doctors, biologists, engineers and technical experts in special fields such as radar technicians, nuclear physicists, patent lawyers, automotive specialists, software engineers, railway vehicle engineers, etc.

The selection criteria for the most suitable translator for a project are strict and rigorously adhered to.

Translation workflow

Translation workflow refers to the automation of all processes relating to all aspects of translation management and completion.

Compliance is ensured with both pre-programmed structures in document management and routine procedures in the processing of translation-relevant data. Tasks such as preparing an offer, scheduling, selecting the translator, selecting translation references, carrying out pre-translations, sending data to the translator, returning the file to the project manager are conducted automatically according to an established sequence.

Translation memory systems

The main idea behind translation memory systems is their ability to recognise previously translated text segments and to automatically transfer these segments to texts that are currently being translated. The automatic process described reduces the amount of work required for large translation projects by up to 60% and at the same time leads to an increase in quality because it excludes several translation variants.

The key capability of these programs consists in supporting the human translator's memory with its memory and search functions. They store all translated files in a form that for each new translation permits automatic scanning of old translations in a matter of seconds, determines matches on the basis of a comparison with the source text and automatically embeds them in the target text (pretranslation).

This means that the translator does not need to search through hundreds or even thousands of files until he or she finds a suitable, corresponding passage for the current translation, and also that there is no risk of creating changes in recurring text passages and the probability that inconsistencies will occur is therefore reduced.

Website localisation

The process of localising a website depends on the background structure of the website and the information to be published – in particular the distinction whether the information has a short life cycle and needs to be published fast or whether the information describes the products and services of a company where the focus is on marketing language and professional product description.

Websites providing media information and news require a fast solution with dynamic, regular updates. Translation memory systems can be used to achieve consistent translations, but machine translation with subsequent post-editing also offers a realistic solution for the translation of large amounts of changing information in a variety of languages.

An automatic exchange of data and fast processing by all participating members and systems requires customised portals, systems and workflows. GLOSSA GROUP has the necessary experience in dealing with high volumes of data thanks to its cooperation with many companies providing Internet-based information services

Websites used as a marketing tool designed to provide information about the company and the services or products offered require a workflow more strongly focused on the web content management system. Since the content to be translated is generally stored in a database, in XML files or just in template-based HTML pages, the process starts with extracting the translatable sources. As an initial step, the system has to be tested for localisability before starting with the translation of the files.

GLOSSA GROUP has created a variety of general interfaces for WCMS and TM as well as QA systems for localisability testing before starting and localisation testing after finishing the translation.

Foreign languages in DTP

Glossa Group has the ability to deliver translations with a foreign language character set in all standard DTP formats, such as Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe InDesign, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Illustrator, BroadVision Interleaf/QuickSilver, QuarkXPress and Autodesk AutoCAD both in Microsoft Windows and in Apple Macintosh.

Contents with a right-to-left text direction such as Hebrew or Arabic pose a special layout systems and advanced processes.

After comprehensive analysis of your data, we will process them for translation and establish formal criteria to help us to ensure the quality of the translation as well as incorporate existing translations to facilitate the reduction of costs, especially layout costs.

HTML/XML/SGML files

In modern cross-media publishing, the conventional understanding of text as a linear sequence of main and subordinate clauses with the corresponding punctuation is not always adequate. In contrast to tables or lists, such as spare parts catalogues, digital databases may hold the information in a form that cannot be read by humans. In our daily routine we work with technical limitations such as a specified number of characters (for example, so that a term can be read even on a low-resolution telephone display without having to scroll) or texts without punctuation marks (for example, if the data were extracted from a database).

The combination of human-readable and machine-readable text, for example as found in document description languages such as SGML and their extended classes (XML, HTML, ...), also presents new challenges to the translation process. Advanced technical know-how, the appropriate software and, last but not least, linguistic and professional expertise is essential for translating complex digital documents into other languages.

Content management systems and editorial systems support our work in creating and managing foreign-language documents and information, referred to as global content.

Glossa Group has developed new approaches to streamlining global content creation processes through an integrative analysis. The two most important components are the editing and translation process. Approaches to the implementation of global content, as conceptualised by Glossa Group, are already established in the globalisation industry. The newly developed approaches combine the available experience and statistical values with the latest technologies, open standards and crowdsourcing.