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A Checklist: Editing for Translation

by Angie McNeill

If you know that your document will be translated into another language, take some extra time to do a basic international edit. Mountains of research have been done to determine the types of sentences and word origins that are most translatable, but the following items should be on any international editing checklist:

• Consistent wording – Because most translation these days is aided by the use of a database of previously translated terms and phrases, it literally pays to use consistent wording. A bolt, for instance, can be fastened, installed, tightened, or screwed in. All of these verbs are correct, but if you use the same one every time, your translation job will be faster and cheaper, and your English version will be more usable as well.
• Passive voice – English is one of the few languages in the world that uses this construction, and translators literally have to turn the sentence on end to translate it correctly. Save them some work and save yourself some translation cost and usability problems: Write in the active voice.
  
• Phrasal verbs – These are expressions that are extremely usable in English--and in fact are championed by proponents of "Plain English" - but they do not translate well. Avoid verbs like "speed up"; use "accelerate" instead. Say "review" rather than "look over," "maintain" rather than "keep up."
• Metric equivalents – News flash: Just about everyone in the world except the United States uses the metric system. Make an effort to include the metric equivalents of any English measurements in a document. Put them in parentheses following the English measurement, or vice versa.
• Articles – Some tech writing classes still teach us to strike the words "a," "an," and "the" for the sake of efficiency. But for the sake of clarity, especially to a translator or a user for whom English is a second language, sometimes it's best to leave them in. Consider this sentence: "[Such-and-such component] allows air to intake manifold." What are we saying here? That the air takes in the manifold? The revised version reads, "[Such-and-such component] allows air to the intake manifold." The placement of the article cues the translator and user that "intake" functions as an adjective rather than a verb in this sentence.
• White space is our friend – Last but not least, remember that your text will expand 25 to 50 percent or more when translated, depending on the language. With this in mind, try to leave enough white space around headings, text, and at the bottom of the page to allow for this expansion.