Why is a Good Translation Project Manager so Important?

One of the most frequent questions that a certified translation services agency is asked by a prospective new client, especially one that has a lot of potential business with the agency is about the project manager. This is a good question for any client to ask because there is a strong correlation between a great project manager and a good quality translation product. So what exactly does a project manager do and why are they so important to the efficiency and optimum output of the translation agency?

The translation process is a multi step operation and several factors make it a success. There are the translators themselves, the proofreaders, the software and the computer technology which nowadays is used so frequently in any extensive translation project. But the person who oversees the whole process is the translation project manager and he or she has to be a successful multi-tasker, a great communicator, constantly flexible as well as being a positive motivator and an effective organiser. That’s a pretty full list!

Every document translation services project manager has to cope with multiple tasks. They help out their translators, assist in developing translation processes, manage multiple projects in several different languages and often do all of the above every single day.

The project manager must be able to communicate effectively with both the client and the different members of their translation team, making sure that deadlines are understood and meant and that translation outcomes meet expectations.

There are often no hard and fast rules with translation tasks and project managers find they have to be flexible and adaptable so they can manage the time constraints, office staff needs and client demands.

Translation work can be stressful and it takes a great project manager to overcome all the little difficulties that present ongoing challenges. This requires a positive outlook which will also help to motivate the other members of the translation team.

Good project managers must be well organised, dealing with schedules and timelines, budgeting and editing. If a project manager fails in being a good organiser, projects fail to meet deadlines, delays are then inevitable and clients become disillusioned and frustrated.

Translation Errors Can be World Shakingly Important

One would hope that professional translation services in Australia know their languages so well that errors just don’t happen or at least the proofreader spots the errors in time before they get passed on to the client. Translation errors have happened frequently throughout history and in many cases, they have just caused minor confusion or even mirth, but occasionally they have been very serious omissions. If you are looking for a professional translator in Australia, it’s always worth making sure you use a NAATI translation provider. NAATI is the Australian national accreditation authority for translators and interpreters.

Some of the best known translation errors get passed around time and time again. Some of them continue to amuse but others are a chilling reminder of the importance of getting translation or interpreting right.

In the ‘serious’ category are the well known Miami hospital story of a Cuban man, Willie Ramirez, who was taken to hospital in a coma. His relatives couldn’t speak good enough English to explain what they thought was the problem, so a bilingual hospital worker was used to do the translation. The family said that Willie was intoxicado, meaning, in Spanish, that he was suffering from some type of food poisoning. The amateur translator mistook the word as being intoxicated and that’s how the hospital treated him, or more exactly, didn’t treat him, until it was too late. Willie ended up being paralysed because of the translation mistake and later successfully sued the hospital for damages to the tune of over 70 million dollars.

Another commonly quoted mistranslation was a phrase used by Russia’s Nikita Khruschev in the Soviet era cold war period. The Russian president was translated as saying that the Russians would ‘bury’ the Americans. It was enough for the U.S. military to prepare themselves for the worst: nuclear war. In fact, Khruschev was merely bluffing. His Russian, if it had been translated by a more professional translator, would have shown that he was only telling the Americans that the Russians would be still around to see the Americans ‘buried’, i.e. they would outlive them. 

Of course, not all translation errors are quite so serious. There are the funny ones, too. The U.S. President Jimmy Carter took on a rather poor Polish translator when he visited Poland in 1977. Of the many translation errors during that visit, one message he had for the Poles was that he had ‘abandoned’ his own country. He actually meant that he had left his country on a visit. He then told his hosts that he understood their ‘lusts’, actually meaning their desire for a better future!

And then, of course, there is the old KFC slogan mistranslation which keeps on being retold. That’s when ‘finger lickin’ chicken’ was translated into Chinese as ‘eat your fingers’. Fortunately, most Chinese saw the translation error for what it was and avoided ending up fingerless!