One of the best things you can do to ensure consistency in your translations is to create an English glossary.  Every industry and most companies have standard terminology  and catch phrases that they use repeatedly.  A glossary will ensure that the term in English will always be translated the same way.

Here's how it works:

• compile key terms used by your company
• if you are having a technical manual or user guide translated, the author of the English version should write the definition of the terms
• ask your translations partner to create equivalents in the target language
• run the translated terms by your in-country staff
• the project manager at your translations company will then revise the glossary and distribute to the translator(s)

The glossary will become the "bible" for your translators, and will save you time and money.

http://www.pandltranslations.com

Westerners see empty space in a design as a void, while the Japanese think empty space offers possibilities.   Consider the Japanese view when designing printed marketing materials that will be produced in several languages.

White spaces allow you to avoid formatting problems when you produce the translated versions.  If your text has expanded (see earlier post on Translation Tips:  Will the translation fit in your layout? Part 1), you won't have to resort to reducing the font size, which can make your copy difficult to read. 

For translations, remember that less really is more.

Some rights reserved. Photo by Masaaki Miyara. 

http://www.pandltranslations.com

You're just about finished with the edits and tweaks on your brochure.  The next step is to have it translated.   Before you do, remember that when English copy is translated, the text expands.  More words will be needed to communicate your message in many other languages.  Does your layout have room for this expanded text?

As a rule of thumb, when English is translated into Romance languages (French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish) the number of words will increase by 20-25%.  One of the easiest things you can do to make sure the translation fits is to edit the English text before it is translated.  Adjectives are great, but get rid of them if they're not essential.

http://www.pandltranslations.com

Photo by peppergrass. Licensed under Creative Commons.