Japanese-English translation | Quality control

Terminology Management System: I use the HyperCard development program as a database utility to manage terminology and generate glossaries for my translations.

The utilities I've developed enable me to make a permanent record of translations which I can refer to from that time on. In the figure on the right, the upper panel is the front card of a terminology dictionary I have been compiling and refining for nearly thirty years. It contains nearly 70,000 entries.

The lower panel is the front card of a utility I developed to generate glossaries for individual jobs or cumulative glossaries for individual clients (see below).

When encountering a specialized term in the course of doing a translation, I might need to confirm the best rendition. If it is from one of the fields of my specialization, such as economics, finance, accounting or law, it is likely to already be in the main dictionary.

If the term is already registered in the main dictionary, I can import it into the glossary I am preparing for the translation in question.

If the word is not in the main dictionary, I research the correct definition, record it in the main dictionary, and then import it into the glossary for the translation I'm working on.

When registering a new specialized term in the main database, I may want to include some explanatory information. The database therefore includes a field to note information about the word, including an analysis of the various renditions by different sources.

I often include a comparative analysis of erroneous translations so I can be sure to consistently use the best word and explain to clients why I have used one rendition and not another.

After the translation is finished, I export the glossary as an Excel worksheet. I include comments on individual entries, as well as references to pages in the original document or Internet links I used to research the word.

As a free service, I prepare and maintain a cumulative glossary for all clients entering into a Monthly Translation Agreement. The cumulative glossary includes specialized terminology from all of the translation assignments I have done for that client. I can therefore record the preferences of each client, however detailed.

Clients can then use this glossary as a reference tool to ensure consistency in the use of English terminology by all in-house staff and by any other outside translation service providers they may be working with.