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In the middle of this digitalization, the borders no longer have any impact on business: these have the potential to become global, no matter the scale or industry. And in the very center of this globalization, there are the high quality localization services.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the companies, no matter the industry, have accelerated their digital transformation processes, and have often been faced with big challenges, forcing them to make decisions and rethink their strategies and the way they make and localize this content. One of these ways was represented by Machine Translation: although it has been on the market for decades, it is now in the spotlight, its evolution being especially influenced by a technological leap in 2017, when the Neural Machine Translation (NMT) component has been implemented. It focuses on imitating the process of thinking of the translator, contributing to a result with a more natural tone of voice by capturing the essence and the nuances in more precise ways.

What is translation technology?

The so-called translation technology represents the use of software tools that support the conversion of a text from one language to another. As well as in most of the technology assisted activities, also in the translation industry, the technological tools can help increase productivity, accuracy, quality and overall efficiency. This term captures everything from translation memories to terminology management tools, machine translation, voice-to-text tools, and various technologies for virtual interpretation.

Before the emergence of these technologies, translation and localization were made manually, the translators consulting paper dictionaries and glossaries and often relying just on their own judgment. Without underestimating the old approach, there have been, over time, negative impacts on businesses: a longer time-to-market for a product (because of a long and though translation process), lack of consistency in terminology (technology cannot be globally uniform), bigger costs for less efficient operations, low quality translations (because of the need to manually check and correct any errors).

But all these have changed with the burst of these technologies.

Translation memories, which store previous translations to improve and accelerate future processes, spelling programs and management systems, among others, increase the control and contribute significantly to the automated repetitive processes.

How does this technology help business globally?

These tools offer businesses all over the world:

• Translation quality assurance;
• Improvement of the operational efficiency through automation;
• Increased consistency of translations;
• Acceleration of the time-to-market by producing more content in less time.

What are the main types of technology tools for the translation industry?

Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) tools, such as Trados Studio, Phrase, Crowdin or Wordbee, among others– software applications which, by means of termbases and translation memories built upon previous translations, assist on the one hand the translator in his daily activity through a more efficient and faster process, delivering a homogenous result in terms of terminology, and on the other hand, they allow companies to translate larger volume in a shorter time. Read more about CAT tools and other related software here.

Machine translation (MT) – as we mentioned before, Machine Translation represents an autonomous process which transposes the text from one language to another, without the raw product needing human intervention. Find out more about MT here.

Platforms for managing translation projects on a larger scale – these are key tools for the streamlining of processes because they allow users to personalize and design their own workflows based on the actual needs of a localization project.

The contribution of technology in the context of globalization

We live in a highly connected and fast-paced world, where consumers expect that all their experiences are user-friendly, seamless, accessible, while benefitting at the same time of high-quality products and services based on their needs.

Thus, in such a context, the importance of localization – the process of adapting a brand’s message and look to a particular market and culture – has emerged – to be able to deliver content of different types, in multiple languages, to different markets. Localization represents more than just a simple translation, the companies not needing word-for-word translations to conquer these new markets, but translations that can sell a product in a new region, more unfamiliar than the native one. The challenge is no longer represented only by the linguistic barrier, but by the ability to transpose a product or a service in another language and country, considering the cultural differences.

With the help of technology, companies can streamline and speed up their localization processes to stay one step ahead of the competition, while keeping an eye on costs and meeting customer expectations and demand, achieving their globalization goals quickly and qualitatively through efficient and scalable solutions.

The future of the language industry

Thanks to machine learning, technology in this industry now offers solutions for everyone, and with the evolutions in artificial intelligence, it will surely be indispensable, especially with the emergence of even smarter tools. If the industry standards are already circling around a fast turnaround, lower costs, with no negative effect on the quality of the product, then these new features will make the process even easier, faster, and certainly more accurate.

However, we believe that the translation process will never be fully automated without the help of human intervention, the two components complementing each other. Machine Translation cannot replace translators, but it can help them automize the repetitive processes, gaining extra time for the post-editing step, contributing this way with the human ability to give the translation the specific voice, style and meaning based on each project. This collaboration will have the best results, facilitating the transition from computer-assisted human translation to human-assisted machine translation. Read more about the role of human translation in the current context here.

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We are perhaps witnessing the greatest period for humanity of all times in terms of life quality, currently benefiting from advantages that make our lives easier, concepts that people from decades ago could not even think about.

Technology and the translator: technology has reached a point where it can be considered a real ally in the work of many of us, no matter the field, if used properly. The most pertinent consequence of the evolution of technology is the impact it has on our daily lives. From household appliances to means of communication, AI has made our work easier and led to new findings. People have researched and invented devices to help them and, in some cases, they ended up being replaced by their own discoveries.

Thus, this is not the first time in history when human input is put at risk in many professions. Fortunately, humanity has a great ability to adapt and often overcame lots of major changes: from drivers replaced by self-driving cars to cashiers replaced by self-scanning cash registers. These changes make us wonder about the translation field as well. As we are always open to research and evolution, we want to weight up some key factors through an antithesis between two forces designed to support each other – man and technology or translator and artificial intelligence – and we are about to draw a conclusion together at the end – or just raise more questions.

When it comes to the difference between seeing technology as a threat or as a helping tool, we choose to see it as a helping tool and here’s why:

Human abilities in the translation field

Reasoning

The primary human ability is the cognitive process or reasoning. The human mind has been in a constant battle with artificial intelligence. Robots are in some ways faster and more productive than the human brain, but these two functions are distinct, because AI does not perceive more than it possesses in its area of competence, making human assistance still essential. Along with the development of technology and globalization, the demand for translation services has grown considerably. Technology has also caused an acceleration of the deadlines for language localization, translation, and subtitling services, so we use professional software to provide fast and high quality translations. Among the main tools used by translators are CAT tools – computer-assisted translation tools, such as Trados Studio, Wordbee, Smartcat or Crowdin. By using translation memories and terminology databases to automatically generate repeating phrases and terms, we speed up the translation process.

Experience

As in all other fields, the translation field encounters unique situations, obstacles that artificial intelligence would identify as problems. Any professional translator will take the problem as a challenge to which it can find solutions through experience or even through his own mistakes.

Logic

One of the factors that can only be reproduced by the human mind is abstraction. The translator can perceive concepts at a much higher level because he is not limited by a template of algorithms imposed in advance. It is much safer to rely on a program when we have a technical translation, and among the best translation software is DeepL Translate. However, we cannot rely exclusively on software-generated translations. We all know that famous error that makes us check before handing over the final product to the client, where we would not have thought that such human “assistance” was needed. We are talking about a label for the famous dessert, Turkish delight, for which the translation was far from “Turkish delight”. That’s why we highlight the importance of proofreading services, and we are extremely careful about the quality of our translations.

Language as a human specific communication tool

• By definition, language is the specific means of communication through which people express their thoughts and, more importantly, their feelings. Of all the translation fields, the literary translation is the one least exposed to the danger of the expansion of digitalization, because this field comprises a human part that artificial intelligence lacks. A valuable literary translation is one made with human empathy, in such a way that the message of the literary text, poem or any creative writing is mirrored in the target language. The translator’s voice has almost the same impact as the writer’s because his mission is to culturally adapt and spread the message around the world, while taking into consideration all the specifics the author relied on when writing it. For more information on literary translation, we recommend our articles: Mircea Pricăjan •• Author and translator and Simina Popa •• Translator of Portuguese Literature.
• Also, a significant side of artistic translations is represented by subtitling. Subtitles contain cultural information and locale that cannot be simply expressed by a machine or by person speaking a foreign language, because the contribution of a native speaker of the target language is essential to be able to provide the most authentic experience to the target audience.

The pragmatic approach

• AI may encounter errors in the field of translations, especially in the subtitling industry, because it lacks a human-specific side of linguistics-pragmatics. While from the semantic point of view, a machine translation program could render the meaning of words because of human implementation, we cannot expect the same in the field of pragmatics. It is a component that you use every day without even noticing, and it is highly connected with the interpretation of language situations. Every sentence you utter has a motivation or an intention. These cannot be rendered by a software, because the machine is not able to perceive the affective state of the speaker. For example, in a speech, speakers may use humor or sarcasm, forms of expression that need to be carefully expressed in nuances through creativity. Also, the same sentence (e.g., “What a nice hat!”) can denote both a compliment or an irony, depending on the speaker’s intention. The translator may identify the nuances according to the pragmatic context through interpretation. Such linguistic nuances cannot be rendered by artificial intelligence. The context in which the dialogue takes place is significant because a translator takes into account the target audience, be it children, adults or people with hearing impairment.
• The pragmatics branch is also essential in interpretation projects. We can better understand the importance of translators and interpreters in the current armed conflict. Nowadays, a word could mean the world, it can stop a real fight or the spread of misinformation that would create panic among population. If the fate of the whole country depended on a dialogue between two heads of state, would you rely on a specialist translator who is knowledgeable and in touch with reality or on software?

My conclusion

We think that the field is not endangered by AI, and translators and interpreters will continue to use these machine translation tools or translation memories to their and their clients’ advantage. For translators, technology is an aid to generate high quality translations in the shortest time possible. In such a dynamic world, we encourage translators to continually research new ways in which they can better the value of their work.

The profession of a translator is changing and evolving every day, and the people behind this title are in a continuous research and advance as technology evolves to provide quality translation services and a meaningful contribution to the world. If we haven’t yet convinced you of the importance of translators, we invite you to read the following article: “Machine Translation – Friend or Foe?”

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CAT tools

What is a CAT tool or a computer-assisted translation tool? It is a software application which facilitates the work of translators around the world by automating certain processes during the translation project. But is a CAT tool enough to deliver impeccable translations? Of course not, but it could be. With a little help from the translator who contributes to improve the end result through linguistic rules and his own voice.

Since the beginning of the educational journey, we learned that a word may have several meanings, and it cannot be reduced to only one. And, of course, each meaning lends itself to a context. How can we use these meanings correctly? Well, with the help of glossaries, which underlie the terminological bases (termbases).

Glossaries

Glossaries represent a collection of terms, usually made up of two or even three columns: the source column, the target column and the column describing the meaning in a particular context or other comments that may be helpful. The last one is useful for the understanding and the right framing of a word within a text. With the help of glossaries, we can build termbases that can be used in CAT tools (computer-assisted translation software) to facilitate our work. Glory to technology!

Termbases

Termbases are basically glossaries created specifically to be used in a CAT tool. Among the best known CAT tools are Trados Studio, Smartcat, MemoQ, Phrase (previously known as Memsource), and Wordbee (integrated into a translation project management software). One of the most useful tools for creating a termbase is SDL MultiTerm, the resulting format being .sdltb. Other formats may be: .tbx, .xml, .csv etc. If the client sends from the beginning a file with the used terms, but it cannot be opened, you can use Glossary Converter, developed by SDL Studio, in order to convert it to a readable format. (e.g., Excel).

The creation and the use of a termbase assures the uniformity of terms in a translation, facilitating the translator’s research work, as the CAT tool automatically suggests the respective term. A well-done termbase from the beginning helps to prevent potential problems that may arise after the project has been delivered. The dialogue with the client and checking whether he has such a file or not are crucial steps in a translation process – this does not undermine the professionalism or the abilities of the translator, but on the contrary, underlines the capacity to understand the process of translation and the need for certain information given by the client. In case the client does not have a terminology base available, one can be created from scratch by selecting certain terms and entering their respective translations. It is sent to the client afterwards for validation. A lot of clients appreciate the increased care and effort for the quality of the delivered material, so do not be afraid to ask questions regarding the preferred terminology. It should be noted that termbases may be general, suitable for most projects or may be specific for a particular project or client.

Specific terminology bases (termbases) are designed and used just for certain projects, but this is an aspect that must be clarified before the translation process begins. For example, we can refer to a translation project that includes the content of an ecommerce website and a translation project of a platform interface. In the first case, the client prefers that the term “fulfilment” is used as such, while the second one requires to be translated as “completion” in the context of completing an order, head to tail. There is a difference here between the two termbases provided or built by us from scratch. Of course, we can create a single term file with more entries for the same term, but with a column describing the context of use of each variant: for the first one we will write “site content site”, and “platform interface” for the second one.

Style Guides

And because we’ve got the terminology right, we can raise the level of the text to make sure it presents the voice and the approach the client wants. Style guides represent the starting point when it comes to understanding, capturing and presenting the voice of a brand. Besides providing indications, a style guide contains certain language-specific rules: punctuation rules, such as using the right quotation marks in case of quotations or quotation within quotation, code writing, correct use of commas, writing of data, capitalization guidelines, writing certain words in a bold or slanted font (usually from a different source than the target language of the translation project), abbreviations of units of measurement, use of one term to the detriment of another, and many others.

So, in the majority of cases, the style guide is drawn up and provided by the client and represents a significant starting point to help us get familiar with the client’s preferred rules and writing style in order to match the target audience. On top of the style guide, the consultation of similar translation material to the respective project is recommended, materials provided by the client or available texts from his website, in order to get more and more familiar with the brand’s tone of voice.

The voice preferred by the client depends on the type of text, the text framing in a certain domain. For example, technical texts do not necessarily have a voice (e.g., user manuals),  but they have a heavy tone, and are formal – this cannot be otherwise, because they must  be clear, understandable, and on point, as they have to guide a user through a step-by-step process. On the other hand, the translation of marketing texts should have a resonant and catchy voice, because that is their goal: to get our attention. A marketing translation should sound natural and should be adapted to the market/audience, in such a  way that makes you think it has been initially written in that language. In this case, we use an informal approach (you and me – for English), which can be full of expressions, metaphors and word games, while keeping in mind the strict writing rules. The tone of voice of the source text will dictate the tone of voice of the translation as well, while taking into consideration local cultural aspects, stylistic guidelines or any orientations offered by the client.

For a CAT tool, the translation memories are just as important as the above, , but we will detail them in a future article.

So, these would be among the first elements that form the basis of a translation. Carefully picked and put together, these contribute to an impeccable text, no matter the field. Technology and communication bring us one step closer to earning the client’s trust.

We have a small collection of blog articles that you can find here.

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Published: 07.02.2023

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Cheap, good and fast. Does machine translation solve the problem? Dare we hope that it can cover all three requirements?

Being passionate about project management, we consider machine translation post editing a new challenge. We don’t back off when it comes to testing out new ways to improve our work. Our aim is to always try out all kinds of programs, shortcuts, and anything that gives us more room to think. We can’t stand the saying “Don’t think, just do”, so whenever we have the opportunity to work less while being more efficient to have time for the fun part, the thinking one, we take it.

With regard to our project management activity in the field of translations, it comes naturally to find the most efficient methods to organize our projects. However, there are certain directions that we analyze at length and test them. Only after being certain that the one we opted for is the right direction or the best solution, we implement it. We didn’t dive headfirst into the vast area of machine translation (MT), but we didn’t avoid it either: we test different machine translation vendors with various CAT tools, different types of texts, we make sure that every tested solution is in line with the privacy regulations, we track terminological consistency, strengths and weaknesses; we keep in mind both the savings in time and the end result. We test and test and then we test some more. While navigating this endless world when it comes to translation automation (machine translation), we ended up being more and more curious about it, but also cautious before diving headfirst into this enticing universe – all of the above only to make the best long-term decisions.

Below you can find some elements that we considered since machine translation has increasingly caught the eye of the industry:

1. Ethics of using MT – informed consent of the translator and the client
2. Data privacy
3. Which machine translation software should we use? Which is the best option for each project?
4. MT review process – light and full machine translation post editing –best practices
5. Best pricing method for machine translation (Machine Translation Post Editing – MTPE)?
6. GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3’) – how does it replicate the thought process of the human brain, and what is its impact on the translation industry?
7. Pros and cons of MT
8. Are we on our way to shift from computer-assisted human translation to human-assisted computer translation or will translator jobs simply disappear?

MT has been a very debated subject over the past few years because of the huge progress made in the field of automation and AI since it first appeared decades ago.

Neural Machine Translation (NMT) is the reason machine translation has reached a new level and gained ground in the translation field – with the help of artificial intelligence, machine-translated texts have become fluent, and programs have been modified in order to better adapt to them, so they no longer serve as simple dictionaries for words and expressions which ignore the context. There is certainly a long road ahead, but NMT seems to be a game changer for the translation industry, being preferred to alternative models such as “Statistical machine translation (SMT)” and “Rule-based machine translation (RBMT).”

Until recently, however, MT has only made notable progress for certain language combinations. This seems to change in the near future with the help of No Language Left Behind (NLLB) initiative, which aims to offer translations into and from around 200 languages, including rare languages such as Urdu, Luganda, and others.

We aim to clarify some of the issues around the subject of MT – the challenge is not to find answers, but to ask questions. To be open to new ideas, to take what is good and what suits us.

We hope you will join us along this ride!

You can find a few more blogposts here – we seized the opportunity, and took a short break from the daily to-do lists and translations tools.

Date of publication: 25.01.2023

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Nowadays, the processing of documents (DTP) for the translation phase is an essential step for the efficiency of the translation process as a whole, but also for the use of certain specialized programs we currently have at our disposal in this field: computer-assisted translation software (CAT tools), translation memories, term bases and quality assurance programs (QA and QC). Without a properly formatted document, you might encounter situations in which you are not able to benefit from the above, as the text may be altered by numerous factors during the conversion process.  

 Furthermore, in the translation process, the involvement of a DTP specialist may be needed in the following two stages:  

1. During the pre-processing stage of the source documents that need translation  
2. During the post-processing stage of the resulted translation  

The pre-processing stage of the documents occurs when the source documents that need translation are not in an editable format (PDF, PNG, .dwg and other). Most clients put an emphasis on the final format of the translated documents so, in order to fulfill the clients’ needs, but also to be able to benefit from a series of specialized programs – which are significantly optimizing the work of a translator with the help of terminology resources and automated processes – throughout the translation phase, the documents must be first prepared for translation. 

 Pre-processing implies the following steps:   

• analyzing the source document to identify the sections that need a detailed pre-processing and verification of certain aspects that may have an impact on the final translated document (double spaces, tabs, erroneous alignment, symbols, text converted into images and many more);  
• converting the document into an editable format through specialized programs (for example, Abby FineReader, Smallpdf, Adobe, InDesign, CorelDRAW, among others);  
• performing a proper “cleaning” of the document, respectively deleting symbols and characters that are not in accordance with the source text (which may arise during the conversion process), additional spaces that are not often visible, tags that may make the translation process more difficult (if using a CAT tool), which can be done with the help of a dedicated program (for example, TransTools);  
• reformatting the document, which involves the verification of the document structure and the faithful reconstruction of the source formatting in the resulted document, by eliminating the possible issues that appeared following the conversion, including the transcription of text sections that may have not been processed and are still displayed in .png, .jpg or other image formats (this usually happens if the source document is a non-editable scanned document;  
• ensuring that the source text is correct (including spelling, spaces, line breaks), using the various instruments that Microsoft Word offers;   
• preparing the document for a CAT tool (if the case, using certain processing rules – like Regex – both for efficiency and for ensuring that the elements of the document have not changed);  
• analyzing the document in the computer-assisted program (CAT tool) to ensure it has a correct segmentation and no further issues may arise in the process. This allows the use and leverage of all the entries of a translation memory (TM) and guarantees its optimal consolidation after the translation process.  

 Principal issues to consider during the verification phase:  

• line breaks that result in an erroneous segmentation;  
• spelling issues – ensuring that the source text is correct after the conversion;  
• unnecessary section/page breaks;  
• if certain fonts are unavailable for a specific language.  

 Without a proper processing of the layout of the document that is to be translated, a translator may encounter difficulties, both during the actual translation phase and when using or updating a translation memory:  

• when analyzing a single document from a project (through comparison with the rest of the documents of the projects or with the help of translation memories and term bases), a faulty segmentation of its elements (phrases, short sentences, even words) will generate an incorrect analysis and, implicitly, will result in the inability of identifying them in the translation memories, being, thus, unusable;   
• the existence of certain elements/characters resulted from the conversion of documents will be signaled through tags, which may harden the translation process and can, in certain situations, generate errors when importing and exporting documents in the CAT tool used for the translation.  

However, pay attention: not all tags are elements that must be erased from the content of the document – many of them represent important formatting placeholders (space breaks, strikethrough, bold, italic, punctuation marks and many more). These can be protected by implementing various Regex rules or by converting them into actual symbols and formats, actions that assist the translation process and avoid their accidental erasure.  

 In our translation projects, more often than not, we must outsource the pre-processing and post-processing stages to a DTP specialist, as the documents we receive for translation are usually in a PDF format, and the native files (INDD, IDML and other) are not available. Neither the PDF files nor other non-editable file formats are compatible with computer-assisted software (CAT tools), making the pre-processing stage a mandatory one, to harvest the benefits a CAT tool can offer.  

Communication with the final client is the foundation of a successful translation project; understanding the translation process and involving the client from the start is a crucial step for ensuring a seamless process. Moreover, clarifying certain aspects from the beginning (concerning format processing, preferred terminology, what should be left out from the translation) contributes to achieving extraordinary results.  

In an ideal scenario, the translation projects should include the following:  

• a source file for each document, respectively the native file created in specialized programs, such as Adobe InDesign, CorelDraw, Visio, Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft Office and others. In case the project contains a larger number of files, it is recommended to use an organized transfer method (along with a centralizing file containing all documents and their information, transfer via sharepoint/server and other);  
• a file containing instructions and specifications on:  the target language, respectively specifications about the target audience and country in which the document will be used (for example, a translation into Spanish implies opting for adequate linguists and a quite different approach when it comes to translations that are used in Spain, Argentina, or Columbia); 
• purpose of the translation: where will it be used, is it meant for internal use or does it have a specific scope, which is the desired result following its use (marketing, information or other)? The purpose of the translation helps in determining various aspects concerning the approach in the translation process: from the tone of voice (formal or informal) to the establishment of the stages (native revision, adaptation, localization) which the text will go through until the final version is reached;
• if the case, highlighting certain specific aspects (to what extent is the adaptation necessary, do the images containing text need processing and translation, preferences regarding the tone of voice – should it be formal or informal, passive or active and other); 
• a terminology glossary, a style guide, a term base, a translation memory, or reference materials for the content that needs translation; 
• information on the desired deadline; 
• information on the final format of the resulted translation, based on the requirements of the client (monolingual or bilingual, editable or non-editable, suitable for a CAT tool, in extract or in full and many more);
• information of the internal revision process – if there is going to be a person within the company that will revise the translation or whom should be able to help in case of questions or needed clarifications;    

The post-processing stage of the resulted translation involves the verification of the target documents exported from a CAT tool. There are also the happy cases in which the documents sent to us for translation have already gone through a pre-processing stage, one performed by the client, or which, after our internal pre-processing, have resulted in no formatting errors (there could be slight differences because of the specifics of each language, but these do not require significant work) or these are native files.  

 This post-processing stage involves:  

• including the external elements in the translated IDML file;  
• ensuring the text is correctly displayed and that it is visible in the entire document; 
• ensuring that all elements are correctly positioned and visible;  
• ensuring that all links or other functional elements are working;  
• ensuring both that the correct fonts were used and that these are used throughout the entire document to reflect the original document;  
• ensuring that the formatting of the final translated document reflects the original document.  

Before finalizing the post-processing stage, a final verification of the translated file in an exported format (for example, PDF) is highly recommended. This way, the DTP specialist will be able to make the final amendments before saving the final package for the client.  

The following are the types of files processed by the DTP specialist: Microsoft Office (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio), Adobe Creative Cloud (PDF, Adobe Illustrator, InDesign), CorelDRAW and many more.

In conclusion, technology has become a huge part of the translation process, and tools have become a must, the question no longer being whether to use them or not, but rather which best suits your needs. Currently, at least when we talk about specialized translations, a dictionary does no longer represents the only resource a translator needs to perform his work at the highest standards. In recent years, along with the advancements in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning, we have seen an explosion of programs, tools and instruments that are able to aid (and make easier) a translator’s work – from software that converts documents to computer-assisted programs, which come bearing a great variety of incorporated functionalities for translation memories and term bases – translation technology puts the linguists in charge of the creative part of the process, while it takes care of the automated and repetitive tasks.

You can find a few more blogposts here – we seized the opportunity, and took a short break from the daily to-do lists and translations tools.

Date of publication: 10.01.2023

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Are you trying to find out how to make good subtitle translations, according to the rules and standards of the industry? We have created below a brief guideline, containing rules and tips to consider when you will deal with your next translation project involving subtitles in Romanian – we hope you will find them useful.

As you may already know, adding subtitles to an audio or video material is one of the ways to make content more accessible to an audience – this is one form of audiovisual localization. Moreover, the translation of these subtitles into Romanian (and all other languages) opens up a whole new world: you have the possibility to offer this content to a brand new audience, lifting cultural and linguistic barriers. The translation of subtitles represents a branch in the translation industry, more specifically in the industry of audiovisual localization, along with voiceover and dubbing, and it is an intriguing and distinct one, because even if it is based on a series of very strict rules, it is a creative process.

These rules are usually generic, obtained from streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ or specific (supplied by the client), and represent a starting point for the creation and delivery of a high-quality content. Among the most important categories, we notice the adaptation of the text, reading speed, positioning of the subtitles, line breaks and many more, but also the target audience, as it is important to know from the start whom you are addressing your content: children, adults or people with hearing difficulties.

So, let’s take a deep dive and find out more information about all of these.

Just as in the case of other types of translations, when tackling audiovisual localization, we must take into account the fact that the resulting text may be shorter or longer than the source one, and here is where you encounter the need to adapt the text, keeping, at the same time, the meaning and the clarity of the message – you can achieve this adaptation either by changing certain grammatical forms, editing words that are redundant or repetitive or using antonymic phrases.

Take a look at a few examples:

Grammatical form changes

Ei i s-a spus de către mama ei că nu poate merge la bal. – 56 characters and spaces

Mama ei i-a spus că nu poate merge la bal. – 42 characters and spaces

Antonymic phrases

Nu cred că ai dreptate!

Cred că greșești!

Furthermore, the spacing, positioning and length of subtitles are just as important.

Let’s start with positioning: ideally, the text should be kept on one line. However, this is not always possible, so a maximum of two lines is accepted. The subtitles should be placed in the lower part of the screen, the second line being, preferably, the longer one, just like a pyramid, but try to avoid having just one or two words on the first line. The subtitles should be placed in the upper side of the screen only if there is already existent on-screen text, which these may cover. The recommended font is Arial, the color is white, and the size of the text should be chosen considering the video resolution, so the 42 characters per line fit and don’t cover important parts of the image.

Character limit per line

This limit includes spaces and punctuation, and it is usually 42 characters per line for Romanian subtitles.

Reading speed

The reading speed is different from one language to another, however, for subtitles in Romanian, the character limit per second is between 17 and 20 characters for adult programs, and between 13 and 15 for children programs. Most subtitling programs warn you if you have exceeded the pre-set limit, just make sure to check out the settings, and adjust them according to your requirements. It is best to not translate words or phrases repeated more than once.

Line break

There are so many rules to take into consideration when it comes to line treatment, but the most important part is to maintain a correct grammar (for example, a line break should take place after punctuation and you should never break lines after articles, pronouns, such as “who”, “which” etc., never split a proper name and many other).

Let’s take a look at the example below:

M-am dus la bibliotecă și am luat o

carte pentru tine.

Correct version would have been:

M-am dus la bibliotecă

și am luat o carte pentru tine.

Use of ellipses

Ellipses are used in two cases: when a pause is indicated in the speech (for example, “I wanted to tell you… that I am sorry”) or when the line of a speaker is suddenly interrupted by another speaker, as in the example below:

– Voiam să spun…

– Nu contează!

– …că ești frumoasă.

– Mulțumesc!

Do not use ellipses when a sentence is split between two continuous subtitles.

Dual speakers

When the case, a hyphen should be used to indicate dual speakers.

Use italics for dialogues that are heard, but there are no speakers on the screen, such as a phone conversation, television, or computer. In case there is someone speaking in the background, the priority remains the translation of the plot-pertinent text.

Music and lyrics

When lyrics are encountered, you only need to translate plot-pertinent texts, and only if rights are granted; in case of translation, the lyrics shall start with an uppercase letter, written with italics, and included with a music note (♪).

Text in a foreign language

The text in a foreign language shall only be translated if it’s plot-pertinent, and italics should be used when transposing it into the text (exception from this rule is when there are proper names or words that are already accepted and included in the day to day vocabulary of the target language (such as “weekend”, “ciao” and so on).

Numbers

Numbers from 1 to 10 shall be spelled out, and above 10, numbers can be written numerically; however, if a sentence starts with a number, it should be spelled out. For the Romanian language, a comma shall be used as a decimal separator (1,5); for numbers between 1000 and 9999, a period shall not be used (e.g. “5678”), but in case of numbers higher than 9999, a period is required (e.g. “20.045”).

General rules

Proper nouns should not be translated; translate them only if there is an official translation, approved by the client. Nicknames should only be translated if their meaning is significant to the plot or if there are already approved official translations (for example, in Romanian, Albă ca Zăpada, Cenușăreasa, Moș Crăciun and so on).

On-screen text

The on-screen text should only be translated if it’s relevant for the plot, and when the on-screen text covers the dialogue, the dialogue shall be a priority. Moreover, the on-screen text must be written with uppercase letters when this is possible. It is ideal to avoid interrupting a line for on-screen text, but if this cannot be avoided, an ellipsis shall be used at the end of the first line and at the beginning of the line preceding the on-screen text.

NEVER use periods before interrogation or exclamation marks.

Use of quotation marks

Quotation marks shall be used at the start of the quotation and after the last line containing a quote (instead of using them at the beginning and end of every subtitle). For Romanian translations, always use lower and upper double quotation marks („”), without spaces.

Italics

Use italics for:

• albums, book titles, movies and TV shows;
• foreign words;
• dialogue heard through TV, phone, radio or other;
• lyrics (only of rights are granted); if not, these shall be translated and put into quotation marks.

Subtitles for people with hearing issues (SDH)

When we perform audiovisual localization for deaf and hard of hearing (SDH), translating the subtitles in Romanian using as many details as possible is very important, such as actions, song titles, sound effects, music types, foreign dialogue, so every viewer gets what they need for a truly remarkable experience.

Special instructions

When you encounter brand names, these shall be kept in the source language, but if these are not famous in your country, you can adapt them, and use a similar product, known by your audience (for example, for “Kleenex”, use “șervețele”).

All dialogue shall be translated, and in case of overlaps with on-screen text, precedence should be given to the one being more plot-pertinent, and censoring shall be avoided. It is very important to keep the original tone of voice, but it is just as important that your text sounds natural. You should always avoid using a too faithful translation, and all repetitions, redundant words and information deemed unnecessary shall be left out.

Audiovisual localization is essential for the world we live in today, and subtitles represent the artistic instrument through which you are able to facilitate the distribution of the information, and their translation helps in the inclusion of non-native groups of viewers, who are able to easier understand your video material.  So, even though we know these guidelines may seem a lot and may seem hard to comply with all of them, do not take them as something meant to be an obstacle, but a challenge to put your creativity and mind to use in order to obtain a natural and correct text.

For more information, read our articole on how to start out as a translator, especially in the field of subtitles in Romanian: Romanian subtitles. My Journey in Subtitling: The Beginnings.

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You can find a few more blogposts here – we seized the opportunity, and took a short break from the daily to-do lists and translations tools.

Date of publication: 11.11.2022

The post Audiovisual Localization: Short Guideline for Romanian Subtitles appeared first on The Department.

Openness to new things and an on-going research are both essential in order to succeed in the translation industry, and especially in that of Romanian subtitles. So many changes take place while you are reading this article. As a translator, linguist or a philologist, you must always be curious, ready for new challenges and open to new research. Generally speaking, this field is a progressive one, in which you can always feel as a beginner when it comes to words. And if you really are one, any field can rise difficulties and challenges at first, and even if it sounds like some sort of a cliché, it is important to figure out what it is that defines you, and to try to do that something with passion.

If you are on the lookout for a creative and exciting translation field or if you think that translating subtitles represents a path you might want to follow in the future, here is some information you could use to start your own journey in the field.

As for myself, as I also started my journey with subtitles recently, I thought it would be useful to share it with you, in hopes of spreading some details and inspiration for those who might need it. In my case, it came as a pleasant surprise. Being enthusiastic about foreign languages and everything concerning visual arts, the process of subtitling gave me exactly the experience I needed: a creative and versatile space, which turned from a hobby into a full-time job of which I am extremely proud.

Why do we need subtitles?

Being an industry in which curiosity is key, you must ask yourself “why?”. Why do we need subtitles? We need them because they represent one of means for cultural accessibility, they offer an improved viewing experience, a way to learn a foreign language, by understanding various accents and learning new vocabularies.

Subtitles help those who have trouble focusing or who suffer of hearing impairment to better understand the narrative. Not only that you contribute to a cultural flexibility, but you also help others less fortunate than you have the same experience and gain access to information and entertainment.

Conclusion? When you do your job passionately and you see the bigger picture, you are able to discover how important it is what you do.

But what’s the use of theory without practice?

What do you need to start a Romanian subtitling project?

Here are the three most important things:

1. A list of specific rules for subtitles (and their translation): this will be either supplied by the client or you can decide to use the general rules (along with the client’s specifications), drafted by Disney (timed text style guide for Romanian subtitles), Netflix (timed text style guide for Romanian subtitles) or others. Like in many other fields, in subtitling as well, rules are meant to be followed; you need to consider the industry standards to supply subtitles that are easy to follow, high-quality and consistent.
2. A subtitling tool: today, technology is our best friend, offering thousands of possibilities for our daily lives, something that also happens when it comes to subtitles. There are many intuitive and user-friendly subtitling programs, even for those with limited IT knowledge. Let’s just name a few: EZTitles, Sfera, Ooona, Subtitle Edit, Happy Scribe, Matesub and the subtitling plugin of SDL Trados Studio. To make your own work easier, it is important to find the tool that best suits your needs and to research everything it may offer, including shortcuts, functionalities and many more.
3. Try this out – put yourself in the shoes of the viewer: offer the experience that you would like to have. I highly encourage you to research to whom the video material is addressed to, who the target audience is. Only after you figured this out, are you able to see the real contribution of a translator. You might as well be the voice that accompanies the viewers in a special journey. So, keep in mind the age group, area of interest, context and style of the material. It’s all in the details.

The basics when it comes to Romanian subtitles

If the aim is to translate the material from a foreign language into your native language, you need to have a SubRip (.srt) file, which is a simple format used by most of the translators, being compatible with many video editing software. You will either receive this from the client or you will have to make it from scratch (maybe using an automated transcription program) – a subsequent article will detail what to do when you don’t receive a source file from the client or if this is not adequately synchronized with the video.

However, be careful, as not all free versions ensure the confidentiality of the material. Without being aware, you might find yourself in a case of transferring the content, or even the confidential information of the client, to a third party platform, which may further share your work.

If you are to translate the material into a foreign language, my advice would be to turn to a native speaker of that language for the localization and final revision of the subtitling file. Cultural adjustment is an important detail, and it provides added value, which you could certainly use in order to get „“closer” to your audience.

Before starting a project, you must read the instructions provided by the client, or if you have not received any, you can find below a few.

Five of most important standard rules that have to be followed for a high-quality result when it comes to Romanian subtitles

1. Each subtitle must have a maximum number of two lines in the lower part of the screen. This will be positioned in the upper part of the screen only if there is already on-screen text in the lower part which the subtitle might cover. Preferably, keep the text on one line. If not possible, in case of two line events, make sure you keep a correct and logical line break, maintaining the second line longer, just like a pyramid.

For example:

Went to the library and bought a

book for you.

Correct version would’ve been:

Went to the library

and bought a book for you.

2. The recommended font style is Arial, and the font size depends on the video resolution and ability to fit 42 characters across the screen.

3. The subtitle line must not exceed 42 characters, including punctuations and spaces. Most of the subtitling tools warn you if you have exceeded the pre-set limit, just make sure to check out the settings and adjust them according to your requirements. Another important aspect, concerning the reading speed, is that a subtitle should not exceed 17-20 characters per second for adult programs, and 13-15 for children’s programs.

4. To indicate two speakers, use a hyphen.

For example:

Speaker 1: – Glad to see you.

Speaker 2: – Me too.

5. Do not use ellipsis when breaking the subtitle into two lines.

For example:

Line 1:  I have talked to her yesterday

Line 2: and decided it’s better like this.

An ellipsis should be used only in case of interruptions by another speaker.

For example:

– I wanted to say that…

– Doesn’t matter!

– …you are pretty.

– Thank you.

And, in the end, the most important ingredient – creativity. Use it and enjoy the process.

Now that you read the theory, I hope this article will be the needed push for you to start working on Romanian subtitles. You will never know if you are good at something unless you try that thing, so I hope I managed to stir your interest, and who know, maybe one day, you will see your words on the big screens.

For more information and rules about high-quality Romanian subtitles, read the following article: Audiovisual Localization: A Short Guideline for Subtitle Translations.

••

You can find a few more blogposts here – we seized the opportunity, and took a short break from the daily to-do lists and translations tools.

Date of publication: 11.11.2022

The post ELENA SANDU •• Starting Out as a Translator – Romanian Subtitles appeared first on The Department.

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