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Translation Memory (TM) is a database of all previous translations that were created specifically for a client. Think of a TM as a long list of A = B, where A is a sentence from the source document and B is the same sentence translated. When you submit a new document, the document is uploaded into the Avantpage online translation system and is analyzed against the TM. What this means is that all sentences that have been previously translated are automatically pulled up and inserted into the corresponding “B” field. This is called a 100% match because the new sentence matches 100% with another sentence that has been previously translated. If the new sentence matches only a portion of a previously translated sentence, it is called a Fuzzy Match. Fuzzy Matches are useful because during the translation process the translator can see how the similar sentence from a previous document was translated and base the new translation on that. This assures an added level of consistency across documents and preserves the client’s style and tone. Finally, there are the Untranslated segments, which are sentences that have never been translated before and will be translated “from scratch.”The usage of a TM increases the quality of the translated document as well as assures stylistic consistency across documents. Also, all sentences in the document are reviewed by a translator to ensure that everything is correct and accurate. *** Should you have any questions at anytime about your quote, your project, or process, please feel free to ask your project manager or email us at [email protected]. We want to consistently provide you the service and product quality that meets your specific translation needs.

Don’t miss our new Process Insight piece on 2012 Elections, which details step-by-step how Avantpage meets the unique challenges of translating the government documents required  during an election year.

As defined by the translation industry, glossaries are client-specific guidelines created to be used across all projects generated by a particular client. For instance, a glossary for a health care client might contain such items as: agency names, health plan names, program names, job titles and key words. All of these items need to be translated the exact same way no matter where in the document they are. It becomes even more important if we are talking about a website and the translation of navigation buttons.
To create a client glossary, our team of specialists will go through a sample set of your files and select terms that would need to be translated consistently for all your documents. They will then create a list of suggested translations, and we would submit the list for your consideration. You would then have the option to review these terms and provide us with feedback. Once the terms are finalized, the glossary is uploaded to our online translation system and the terms are automatically highlighted so that the translators are aware that there is a “rule” in place about how to translate this particular item. Although creating a glossary requires some time on the part of the linguists and the client, in the end having an approved glossary in place assures that the translations are consistent and accurately reflect client preferences. *** Should you have any questions at anytime about your quote, your project, or process, please feel free to ask your project manager or email us at [email protected]. We want to consistently provide you the service and product quality that meets your specific translation needs.

Desktop Publishing (DTP) is an important component of Avantpage’s linguistic suite of services. Through DTP, we format and re-create foreign language page design/layouts both for print and Internet use, without compromising the message and feel of the original material.  We support more than 150 languages and a wide variety of software applications.  We handle every nuance of the process, thoroughly detailing documents and online materials to reflect a culturally accurate and appropriate message. Translating files into other languages can wreak all kinds of havoc on original layouts, graphics and formatting. Captions to photos, graphs or other illustrations may be inadvertently repositioned, truncated or even lost altogether. Because some languages take up more space than others when written, the ratio of text to white space can vary wildly from language to language.  Bulleted lists, hyphenation, paragraph breaks, spacing and other graphic design elements may all be negatively affected in the transition from one language to another. Our multilingual DTP services ensure that your translated file is completely aligned with the target language’s visual layout and design requirements.  Formatting, hyphenation, captions, graphic design elements – we ensure that every detail of your file will be reproduced accurately when presented in the target language.  You can be certain that our DTP services reflect local cultural norms, provide accurate text-to-white-space ratios, and ensure that order forms, feedback forms, client contact forms and hyperlinks are fully functioning in the new target language. For more information on our DTP capabilities, call 877-ANY-LANG or email [email protected] today!

Recently, the federal government indicated that Sacramento County must print ballots and other voting materials in Chinese in time for the next election.  Only 15 other counties throughout America are required to print ballots in Chinese. New census data has shown that there are about 39,000 Chinese (all ages) living in Sacramento County, and of those, about 15,500 speak English “less than very well.”  The U.S. Voting Rights Act requires ballots to be translated into a foreign language when more than 10,000 voting age residents or 5% of a jurisdiction don’t speak English fluently. Currently, Spanish is the only other language voting materials are translated into in Sacramento County.
This election year, Chinese voters will be able to read ballot information in their first language, an important step in getting more Chinese Americans to visit the polls.  While many Chinese-speaking voters do read and speak English (albeit “less than very well”), they prefer to read and respond to voting information in their own language.  Sacramento County’s move to translate ballots into Chinese will give Chinese Americans a larger local political presence and voice –– something they may not have felt they possessed in previous election years. Avantpage’s team of highly skilled translators is ready to step in and deliver high-quality, accurate, affordable translation to meet ballot requirements in Sacramento County and elsewhere. We can translate voting information into Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Russian, Vietnamese, Hmong and many other languages. Read more about how our election translation services can help your county.

Russian is a language with a long and varied history, and today, approximately 147 million people speak Russian as their first language, and 113 million speak it as a secondary language. In the United States, large concentrations of Russian speakers make their homes in Alaska, New York, California, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. Russian is the official language of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is one of three East Slavic languages, along with Ukrainian and Belarusian, although more people speak Russian than any other Slavic language. Standard Russian spoken today is called modern Literary Russian, and first appeared at the beginning of the 18th century. During the end of the 18th and into the 19th century, (the “Golden Age” of Russian literature), grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation were standardized. The Russian writing system is based on the Cyrillic alphabet. Today, in the United States, there are more than 90 Russian-language publications, more than a dozen Russian language radio stations and four Russian language television channels. There are approximately 4 million Russian speakers living in the United States. From ballet and painting to architecture and literature, Russians have made immense contributions to world culture and art. Russia has also produced some of the world’s top scientists, physicists and mathematicians (not to mention chess players). Russian literature, including works by such highly respected authors as Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov and Nabokov, is taught in US high schools and colleges, and Russian ballet dancers and choreographers such as Baryshnikov, Nureyev and Balanchine have made their artistic mark on the US stage. Avantpage receives many requests for Russian translation, and we have a team of expert Russian translators in place to handle documents, media, localization requests and more.
For information about Russian translation, click here.

How Avantpage provided translation services in 25 languages –– accurately, quickly and with exceptional attention to detail and quality The Task
The California Department of Education (CDE) needed a translation project completed within seven days. This project was a survey piece intended for parents, entitled “A School Climate Survey for Parents and Guardians.” This piece would be used by the CDE to determine how parents felt about a particular school and the education process within that school. The CDE asked that Avantpage translate a portion of the survey into 25 different languages –– 11 core languages (languages usually required by the CDE) and 14 others including Japanese, Farsi, Somali, Punjabi, Urdu, Hebrew, Portuguese Brazilian, Continental Portuguese, and Samoan. Avantpage’s Solution
Avantpage's project manager choose 25 translators, sent them the specifics of the project, waited for them to confirm availability, sent the files to be translated, received and proofed the files, and delivered the finished project to the client. Avantpage was able to work with our “preferred” translators for this project –– 25 dedicated vendors who have all worked on previous CDE projects, and were familiar with their preferences and requirements. This project demanded an extensive amount of teamwork from everyone involved. Trust played an important role as well –– it was critical that Avantpage be able to rely on translators who they trusted implicitly to perform this job quickly and accurately. “This project was challenging in terms of the quick turnaround and sheer number of languages involved. To maintain quality and keep on top of the project’s daily progress, everyone involved in this project –– the Avantpage team, the translators and the CDE’s point person –– had to fully commit to working together every step of the way.” – Vera Hooijdonk, Avantpage Lead Project Manager The Outcome
Avantpage was able to deliver this project on time, completing all 25 translated language pieces within the time frame indicated. Avantpage translators for Samoan, German and Hebrew did notice discrepancies in survey text they were asked not to translate, but to leave intact from a previously translated document. Even though our translators were not required or expected to look at this part of the document, they did, and made suggestions for changes that would bring the entire document up to Avantpage standards of quality. The CDE agreed to these suggestions, and these files were also delivered within the 7-day turnaround. Avantpage’s work with the CDE ensures that schools are able to communicate effectively with parents who are not fluent in English, giving them a voice and involving them fully in the education process. Research has shown that parent involvement in education improves student achievement across the board. Students with the most to gain from parental involvement in their education are children from low-income and culturally and racially diverse families—and these families may need documents translated into their first language to fully participate in their children’s education process.
Avantpage was proud to be a part of this survey project, and looks forward to working with the CDE to improve educational opportunities through translation in the future.

Recently, on their blog forum Room for Debate, The New York Times invited contributors to discuss strategies for educating immigrant children and helping them to meet rising academic standards.  The conversation stemmed from a report on Cecil D. Hylton High School, a school in Virginia that is separating immigrant children from the general student population in an effort to teach them English. The practice had mixed results:  many of the children did master English, as well as American history and other subjects required to meet high school test standards. However, some students felt isolated in their “school-within-a-school” –– unable to relate to or communicate effectively with their English-speaking peers, and hampered by so much daily contact with others like themselves who did not speak English fluently.  Contributors weighed in with their posts, and the result is a fascinating discussion of this hot-button topic. While there is no single answer to the question of how best to educate immigrant children in our country, educators nationwide are striving to discover what works, what doesn’t, and which methods provide the best hope for limited English speakers to eventually master English and go on to earn college degrees. As more immigrant children are educated within our school system and strive to create a life for themselves here in the United States, they are creating a generation of bilingual, educated achievers … people who are building a future for themselves, their families and future generations. At Avantpage, we strive for similar goals—to connect with other cultures through language, to make understanding and comprehension of key concepts easier and more intuitive through translation, and to offer ways for organizations to reach out more effectively to non-English speakers. Even though many children of non-English speakers are assimilating fully into U.S. culture and language mastery, their parents may still be struggling with language and communication issues. This is where Avantpage can offer expertise and assistance:  translating critical information into 150 languages, website localization, interpretation, linguistic engineering, and much more. Industries we specialize in include healthcare and life sciences, banking and finance, education, marketing and public relations, gaming, government, human resources, insurance, manufacturing, and technology.  When you choose Avantpage for your linguistic needs, you’re partnering with an industry leader with over 15 years of experience!

As you know, at Avantpage we take translation seriously, and pride ourselves on our unfailing attention to detail, our absolute dedication to our clients and their projects, and the incredible work ethic practiced by every member of our team. The flip side of that? We love the lighter side of language as well, and we'd love to share a book that recently came to the attention of the Avantpage team. It's called I'm Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears and Other Intriguing Idioms from Around the World, by Jag Bhalla, published by National Geographic and available on Amazon.  You'll discover priceless sayings like, "To live like a maggot in bacon," (German for "to live in luxury"); "ant milker" (a miserly tightwad in Arabic); "When frogs grow hair," ("never" in Spanish); "Fine words don't feed cats," (Italian for "talk is cheap") and of course, "I'm not hanging noodles on your ears," (Russian for "I'm not pulling your leg"). Also fascinating was a chapter on how the meanings of English words have transformed over the centuries. Did you know that nice originally meant foolish, ignorant or senseless, bully meant darling or sweetheart, and silly meant happy or blessed? This book comes highly recommended by the Avantpage team, This fun collection of idioms is guaranteed to elicit a smile from linguists, writers, editors, translators, and language lovers from all walks of life.

At Avantpage, our project management team is indispensible. We thought we'd take a moment to reveal just what our PMs are responsible for and why they're so critical to our success. At Avantpage, our project managers are the liaison between our clients and translators. They are responsible for ensuring that projects progress smoothly, that everyone is on the same page when it comes to expectations, and that communication between all project team members and client representatives is flowing freely. What are the characteristics our project managers share? For starters, the ability to think on their feet and change focus midstride is paramount. Add to that, a knack for solving problems in an instant, staying calm during crises and the ability to handle multiple requests without breaking a sweat. Project managers for Avantpage are familiar with all aspects of language translation, customer service, billing issues, and technical support. They act as troubleshooters, expert communicators, quality control specialists, production coordinators, sales support, and tech advisors. Our project management team is responsible for assessing and distributing workloads, organizing client meetings, monitoring performance and productivity, organizing training and support for team members, communicating client needs to the translation team, overseeing AvantFlow, AvantMemory and other translation technology tools, ensuring that processes and procedures remain cost-effective throughout the life of a project, and keeping tabs on quality issues. Our PMs keep your projects on track, on target and moving forward, every step of the way! To find out more about Avantpage's PM team, call 877-ANY-LANG or email [email protected] today!

At Avantpage, each translation project is closely aligned with our quality assurance process. Each translation request goes through several quality assurance stages: Editing The editor checks the translation for accuracy and compliance with the client's specifications; looks for typos, grammatical mistakes; and checks style, consistency, and more. Terminology Control The translated text is processed with a QA tool to make sure all the terms match the terms on the client's terminological database or glossary. There are several tools available for this purpose. Review/Proofreading This is a target-audience review to ensure cultural appropriateness. This review is made by people familiar with the target community. Correction The translation goes back to the translator and/or editor with the client's feedback, and the changes can be accepted (or rejected). Back Translation This is an optional stage, where the translated text is back translated into the original language to ensure the customer that there were no omissions, additions, or any alteration to the main message or meaning of the text. Client Review The client has the opportunity to review the translation and make any preferential changes. The translator approves (or rejects) the changes. Desktop Publishing After all linguistic steps are completed, we typeset the file so that it matches cultural appropriateness, specific client preferences, selection of images, character sets, page size, etc., according to the target language. Proofing In this final stage, a proofer evaluates the final file against the original file looking for compliance with the project specifications. To find out more about Avantpage's our QA process, call 877-ANY-LANG or email [email protected] today!

As a health care provider, you know that clear, open communication with your clients is critical.  If your LEP (Limited English Proficient) clients don't fully understand discharge instructions, insurance information, consent forms, applications, and other written materials, you may be putting them - as well as yourself and your organization - at risk. When you make an effort to communicate with your clients in their primary language, the benefits are enormous. You will improve understanding of insurance and plan guidelines; reduce medical misunderstandings, billing errors and potential malpractice charges; and provide the opportunity for more positive health outcomes across the board. At Avantpage, we specialize in translation for the healthcare industry, and work closely with some of today's largest healthcare organizations. To discover how Avantpage can provide affordable, accurate, high-quality translation services for you, click here.  To get a quote for translation services, click here. Don't let inaccuracies in translation hinder the effectiveness of your message, drive off potential business, or compromise patient care.