Training for Translators

Classes for translators and interpreters


Corinne McKay

Creating and managing a translation team

This is a guest post by Michelle Bradley. Michelle began her career in translation 26 years ago after earning her M.A. from NYU in Madrid, Spain. Some of her first assignments as a newly-minted project manager included searching the Yellow Pages for Arabic translators, and fixing dial-up modem settings to meet late-night deadlines. It’s no wonder Michelle is now grateful for technology. Subsequent roles as Vendor Manager and Director of Operations prepared Michelle to open her own company (Colorado-based Wordtrail LLC) in 2010. Michelle currently wears multiple hats: project management, cultural consulting (including video creation), transcreation, copy-editing, transcription, DTP and translation from Spanish to English.

50,000 words for next week?

Your client has a 50,000 word job due in a week, so it has to be divided up among multiple translators. Why not provide extra services and visibility and take the whole assignment? It saves the client (Project Manager at an agency OR end client) headaches and time. You may earn more jobs since this makes you more appealing (scalable). My former translation agency colleagues heavily favored (quality) linguists who took on higher volumes. Small linguistic teams were in demand, especially teams who offered translation and edit. We knew small teams were advantageous in terms of consistency, quality, and efficiency.

What to think about ahead of time

When you take on such a project, you must be ready to wear multiple hats as linguist and PM (Project Manager). A brief overview of steps to consider if you take on a project requiring multiple translators:

1. Establish delivery/expectations with your client: target audience, source/target language variant, language register, deliverable (type of file, level of edit and file formatting). Priority: be sure you and the client are on the exact same page up front regarding which tasks they expect you to handle and by when. With software strings, ask client for character limitations. Ask about slide notes (PowerPoint), and always ask how to treat graphics or other embedded text. Make sure you get everything in writing.

2. Establish roles (you vs. client): establish who will reassemble files at project end and ensure consistency (formatting and terminology). Decide who will collect & address content questions, centralize terminology, do the final QA… etc. These tasks are normally part of your client’s job –the client may not be used to delegating, so all the more reason for clarity. This same concept applies to your team. Set expectations for your team (spell checking, etc.). If you delegate the editor role, be sure you and editor are clear on exactly what an “edit” entails.

3. Choose your translation team: only approach respected colleagues with whom you’ve previously worked. Establish responsibilities/roles within the team.

4. Define schedule: Factor in project prep, translation (determine your team’s average net words per business day), editing, QA (and formatting & format-proof, if applicable) into the schedule. Give one day (or ½ day) buffer, planning to deliver one business day before the client’s deadline. Bottom line, leave time for something unexpected to happen. If you need more time, ask the client if you can possibly stagger delivery of files. Consider staggering steps (start the edit before all translation is finished).

Communicating with the client and your team

Communications tips:
• For multiple files, multiple steps and deliveries, set up a tracking sheet in a central location. It saves multiple team email exchanges!
• Set up a central location (OneNote, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google docs, Yahoo group…etc. to exchange questions and files.)
• Always specify time zones.
• Avoid having substantive side conversations on text, skype or chats; choose communications that are easily searched in case you need to refer back to something.
• “Paper” trails: after a phone call, send a quick email summary in writing. Your memory is not good enough to recall exactly who said what on which day. Sometimes this can be important – usually it only matters when something goes wrong, but finding the cause will be useful.

5. If formatting: to see how the file will look after translation, run the file through your CAT tool (inserting some sample target language) and see how well target file exports. Only accept formatting tasks if you or a designated team member really know how to format. Instruct translators NOT to touch formatting at all. Usually their efforts are in vain and create extra work. This task alone can derail a project.

6. Continually refine/tweak schedule daily, reminding team to check it daily.

Breaking the project into steps

Once terms, expectations, process and schedule are solidified, consider these steps (some may not apply to you; steps in bold always apply):

1. Source analysis (identify questions before project start): this is easy to overlook. You may be “in a hurry” to start translation, but every minute spent examining the source will save you tenfold in the end. Be sure to ask if graphics or embedded text will get translated, and if so, will client or you be extracting such text to a Word file?

2. Create a simple style guide: saves time “fixing/unifying” (instruct on how to handle UI, acronyms, conventions such as a.m. p.m., degrees C/F, currency conventions, metrics, upper/lower case, time conventions (a.m., p.m.), etc. Do not make this guide into a novel. Include client’s preferred terms, if any. Send it to team with every project.

3. Existing TMs – establish TM reliability; instruct on whether 100% matches should be checked, and order of priority if there are multiple TMs.

4. Specify source/target language variant (e.g., es_mx vs es_es)

5. File prep: hide DNT text, rid files of either metadata or other factors that throw off your CAT tools.

6. Assign volume/files to each linguist: if there are multiple files, try to assign whole files to each xlator. If not, plan to split larger files at logical stopping points, then distribute pieces of the file to each team member.

Warning! Only split files if you first run tests (using copies of client files, not originals): run files through your CAT Tool (or your translators’ CAT tools), and rejoin files back together. This can be tricky and in my experience it’s safer to keep files whole. Test THE entire chain of steps before you decide your process.

You may choose to either lock DNT (do not translate) segments, or hide text (in Word) to protect DNT content (i.e., hidden text does not get imported to Trados). Splitting files is inadvisable if you are working with a large Word file with an automated TOC or complex section splits. In those cases, keep files intact and carefully designate who translates which sections. Send copies of original (client) files to linguists with the translation files for their reference. For instance, don’t just send xliffs – because linguists should be looking at context, pictures, and should be aware if there are layout constraints. Try to assign similar sections (topics) to certain linguists. Always record all of this in your tracking sheet.

7. Language Lead will distribute established terminology – determine where/how.

8. Recombine files after translation before edit. Editor or you also run QA tools.

9. Final formatting & format-proof if applicable.

10. Before delivery, compare original source with your final target, side by side. Confirm to be sure client received files before you take off for your tropical vacation. If your files go to their spam, all your work was in vain.

11. Take notes if anything could be improved. Jot down these ideas before heading to the tropics.
Establish payment terms and payment methods up front to avoid surprises. Be clear on whether you will pay your team members within a set period of time, or only after the client pays you. You want to preserve these professional relationships; clear communication is critical.

On the other side of the coin, you risk your reputation when you accept such a project from an unknown client; only do teamwork with known clients who pay. Otherwise, you’re (ethically) responsible for paying your colleagues if the client doesn’t.

The idea of this collaboration is that everyone ends up benefiting as long as you only take on tasks you (or your team) is experienced at, and you get compensated*. The client saves hassle, you get more work, and you bring colleagues together. These joint projects can be bonding experiences, and hopefully mutually beneficial.

*Stay tuned for part two on considerations when charging the client, paying your team, and how to choose your team.


Corinne McKay

Getting Started as a Freelance Translator: starts Monday

The next session of my online course Getting Started as a Freelance Translator starts Monday, and this is the last session I’ll be offering until September. This is a four-week course for beginning translators who want to launch and run a successful freelance business.

We focus on creating a translation-targeted resume, identifying clients you want to work with, deciding how much to charge, and developing an online presence. This is done through weekly online videos, eight live question and answer sessions, and individual feedback on four homework assignments. You can also communicate with me by e-mail whenever you want during the course. Registration is $380, with a $15 discount for ATA members (use the coupon code ATA at checkout).

A student in the most recent session of the class commented that, “I loved your class. You have an amazing depth of knowledge combined with an excellent approach to delivering it. I felt that every question I had was not only answered, but explored in more depth than I even knew to ask about, which opened my eyes to a lot of new possibilities for my business. Thank you so much for putting so much thought and care into your class!”

If you’d like to join us, hop on over to my courses page for more information or to register.


Corinne McKay

Your questions about working with agencies?

I’m currently working on an e-book about finding, marketing to, and working with translation agencies. It’s nearing completion, and I’d like to add a section with reader questions. Here’s what to do if you’d like to submit a question for me to answer in the e-book:

-Write your question in the comments section on this post. I’d like them to go in the comments so that you can see if someone else has already submitted the same question you’re thinking of.
–Important! Let me know if it is OK to use your name. Write “OK to use my name” or “Don’t use my name” after your question.
-If I select your question for the reader questions chapter, you’ll receive a free copy of the e-book when it’s ready.

Thank you!


Corinne McKay

Reverse-auction job boards: is there a better way?

The concept of online job boards is great. Clients who need a translator (writer, graphic designer, etc.) can post their project and get a bunch of bids, then pick the person they like best. Translators (etc.) can connect with pre-sold clients: clients who already know what they need and are ready to pull the trigger once they find the right person.

In reality, the situation is more complicated. The standard job-board setup encourages a race to the bottom. Clients get tons of bids, or don’t really understand the service they’re buying, and thus latch onto factors that they understand. Typically those are price and speed. Factors on which experienced professionals really don’t want to compete. But yet, the phenomenon continues, with typical job-board rates going lower and lower. To be clear, I’m not conducting a finger-pointing exercise here: when you take a soup pot and throw in ingredients such as:

  • The language industry (in the US, at least) having no barrier to entry
  • Clients needing/wanting a fast and easy way to connect with translators
  • Clients seeing a way to potentially find a good translator who’s not expensive
  • More and more people seeing freelance work as a viable “real” career path
  • More clients needing more content translated on tighter deadlines
  • Beginning translators needing a point of entry into the industry
  • More part-time and hobbyist translators who don’t want or need to earn a full-time living from translation
  • More translators using productivity enhancements such as TM, MT, and speech recognition, and figuring that they can charge less per word and earn the same hourly rate

It’s not hard to see where the perfect storm comes from. And despite each new job board’s assurance that it’s going to do things differently, we have yet to see a real sea change in that market. I definitely hear from freelance translators who have found good clients on job boards, but I feel like that’s the exception rather than the rule. But my question in this post is, is there a better way? Is there a way to connect clients with translators online without creating a reverse auction situation? Answer: I think so.

I think so, because the freelance writing world seems to be moving in that direction. Here’s a recent post from one of my favorite non-translation blogs, Carol Tice’s site Make a Living Writing. In this post, Carol looks at four “content mills” that seem to be focusing more on quality, value for money, and best-fit-for-the job, rather than “how low can you go.” After I read this post, I poked around and saw other freelance writing job sites like this, using strategies such as:

  • Having the site’s staff select a small number of writers (like five) to quote on each job, based on their backgrounds and profiles. This frees the client from sifting through hundreds of proposals, getting overwhelmed, and just going with the cheapest/fastest person.
  • Pre-screening the writers who are allowed to have profiles on the site; not taking beginners or people who do not freelance full-time. Translation job boards could do this by having a “premium” section, taking only translators who are certified, have a Master’s in translation, or at least X years of experience with references, for example.
  • Requiring clients to meet a minimum rate in order to post their jobs. Some of these writing sites explicitly say, “no jobs below X dollars per hour.” Some translation job boards could easily do this, because they already know the average rate that translators on their sites charge (no jobs below the average rate, for example).
  • Making it totally clear that they exist to connect quality-conscious clients with professional writers.  Showing that they add value by screening the writers, or by selecting specific writers who would be good for the client’s job. This is more of a mindset shift than a tangible factor, but I think it’s important.
  • Requiring clients to name their price up front, rather than seeing how little someone will bid on the project.

This is a thorny issue. I tell students on a regular basis, “You’re not going to put the globalization genie back in the bottle, so you need to find a way to compete on quality, service, specialization knowledge, and a personal relationship with your clients.” The fact that clients can shop worldwide for translators is not going away anytime soon. But I think that it’s time to look at the job board model and ask if there’s a better way to do things.

Readers, over to you!


Corinne McKay

Getting Started as a Freelance Translator: starts March 6

A student in the November/December session of Getting Started as a Freelance Translator commented, “I loved your class. You have an amazing depth of knowledge combined with an excellent approach to delivering it. I felt that every question I had was not only answered, but explored in more depth than I even knew to ask about, which opened my eyes to a lot of new possibilities for my business.”

The next session of GSFT starts on March 6, and this is the last session until September. This is a four-week, fully online class for beginning translators in any language combination. Through 12 online videos, four homework assignments with individual feedback, eight live question and answer sessions (recordings provided) and e-mail support from me, you’ll learn how to launch and run a successful freelance translation business.

Registration is $380, with a $15 discount for ATA members. I hope to see some of you there!