Translation Brief

How to Get the Best Results From Your Translation

To get the best results from anything you need to know what you want to achieve. What would you consider to be a good result? It may sound simple, but when it comes to specialist services it can be hard to define what’s important.

That’s where a translation brief comes in. Answering the questions on the brief will clarify exactly what you need and reassure you that you and your translator are on the same page.

A Translation Guide

This translation brief guides you through the key questions on your project. Your answers give your translator, agency, or colleague everything they need to produce the best possible text. You can even use it yourself to make sure you cover the essentials and set yourself up with the best chance of success.

There Are No Wrong Answers

There’s a reason behind each question I promise! Let me explain how the first few answers will help and why you might get an entirely different translation depending on your responses.

Who is the translation for, who will read the translation?

A text written for PhD scientists will read differently to a text aimed at the general public. Explain who your audience is and your translator will choose the right terms.

Where will it be used?

Marketing brochure, internal correspondence, academic journal… each type of text has its own style and needs translating accordingly.

If you’re submitting a paper to a specialist journal, telling your translator which journal means they can check the author guidelines and make sure your paper fits the submission criteria.

Language required and variant e.g. US or UK English

You want your brand to be consistent and that includes the language. If one webpage says flavour (UK) and another flavor (US), it all starts to look a bit messy. Specify the language variant upfront to avoid any confusion.

Answer as many questions as you can. The larger the project, the more important it is to make sure everyone knows the expectations and can work together to achieve the right results.

Download the full translation brief as a word (.doc) file or a pdf and start filling it out today.
(You can right click on the links to download the files to your computer.)