Don’t You Hate It When You Don’t Understand the Manual? Our Solutions for Technical Translations

Do you remember the last time you had a technical handbook or a manual in your hands, trying to understand the content, but somehow the words did not add up into complete English sentences? If so, what were your feelings in doing so? You bought an expensive coffee machine, a printer, or a microwave oven, and the manufacturer did not even bother to have their manuals properly translated. Were you angry or disappointed about the fact that you weren’t able to enjoy your newly bought device right away because you needed to solve grammar riddles first?

Just imagine the same situation when a company purchases a complex plant or industrial machine, which might have six to seven-figure costs, and the main obstacles before commissioning are linguistic barriers that could have been avoided with using technical translation services? Let’s not even get started on the multitude of consequences — financial, legal, and operational — that might occur when the operating personnel cannot correctly understand your instructions, especially regarding the safety instructions.

So while it is obvious and clear why technical translations should be an integral part of selling any technology abroad, there are further advantages of contacting a technical translator. It is often even a statutory obligation to have your manuals and handbooks translated into the language of your target market.

Here are some useful information about technical translation services:

Everybody Speaks English, so Why Bother?

First of all, let us assure you that while English is indeed the lingua franca of economic life and the language plays an important role in many aspects of everyday life in the whole world, it is a huge exaggeration to think that everybody speaks English at a level that they would understand complex technical content. You don’t even need to sell overseas to find regions where you might have trouble with English. In many U.S. states, especially in the South, including Florida, the seat of our translation company, you will find large communities, the first language of which is Spanish who, especially in the case of first-generation immigrants, might even have trouble understanding technical English. If your company does not address this market segment with proper Spanish technical translations, you will lose potential customers to your competitors because you can be sure that they are investing in non-efficient communication with the Latino markets.

If we look into the other direction, up north, in Canada’s Québec, you might find individuals who don’t or very seldomly use the English language. They sure would be happy to read your technical content in French.

This would be a very long list if we were to address each group of languages and cultures that you might encounter even in your direct geographic vicinity. The point is, the necessity of providing technical translation services has solid socio-demographic grounds. And in the end, it all comes down to this; you will lose potential customers if you don’t address them in their native language.

And there is more.

One further important element of technical translations is the safety aspect. If you sell technology abroad, end-users and operating personnel must understand your instructions to ensure personnel and site safety and enhance the protection of the environment.

Finally, you are often required by law to accompany technology that you sell overseas by manuals and safety instructions in the country’s language in which your machine or device is operated or used. This would be, for instance, the case when you sell technology to EU countries or in many Asian countries, including China.

For high-quality, accurate technical translation services, contact Teck Language Solutions.

Why It Is Really Not That a Big Deal to Purchase Technical Translation Services…

Only very few industry branches offer so much value in exchange for your money as the translation industry. For a relatively small sum, complete markets can be addressed properly and efficiently, increasing your revenue from these foreign markets and facilitating communication with foreign customers. This, in turn, saves your company money in the long run.

As mentioned above, with technical translations, you will also comply with local legislation.

In the case of technical translations, most providers, such as Teck Language Solutions, our translation company in the U.S., offer a range of discount possibilities. These include bulk discounts for larger projects or so-called match discounts. Match discounts are, in our industry, price reductions based on (full or fuzzy) repetitions in your technical text. A modern translation company can offer these discounts because you can integrate terminology databases into each project. If your translation partner uses this technology, the translator assigned to your project needs to translate the repetitive text only once. The software identifies the repetitions in the whole text and replaces them accordingly. A pleasant side effect of this approach is enhanced quality. The wording and terminology will be consistently used, also in the case of extensive projects.

These and several other methods and tricks can be used to achieve an excellent price-value ratio in technical translation services.

What else do you expect from a project? Transparent pricing, fast turnarounds, high-quality results, and a delivery that will make your business operations abroad much easier. If you contact Teck Language Solutions with your technical translation needs, you can be sure that you are cooperating with a leading translation provider with a true commitment to quality and conscientious work.

We provide our clients with a wide range of services. We translate manuals, handbooks, user guides, safety data sheets, and further technical documentation between major language pairs.

There are many service add-ons, and we always have an open ear for individual needs. We approach each project individually, with tailored solutions for the specific needs of our clients.

If it’s about technical translation services, we never forget:  the goal of a technical translation is to inform your clients and the personnel about the correct and secure handling of your device or machine. This is what we focus our efforts on when dealing with your texts.

If you need professional technical translations, Teck Language Solutions can help you. Contact us today for a free quote if you need technical documentation to be translated into any foreign language.