Companies that communicate internationally often run into terminology problems. Many standard translation tools do not take context, language variants or brand-specific style into account, which causes confusion or inaccessible content. We have brought together three concrete challenges in the field of terminology and our tailored solution.
Inconsistent source terms due to different spellings
Challenge: One of our clients is an international player in the construction sector with its head office in Germany. They use a standard translation tool to communicate from their head office to the various branches, including one in Belgium. However, the tool has a number of limitations. For example, adding context is difficult, and the existing terminology lists are geared towards PIM (Product Information Management). The result? Non-PIM texts, such as marketing material, often sound clunky and miss their mark after translation. Some German words are also written in two ways in the source texts (ß versus double s), while the terminology list contains only one spelling. A standard tool does not know how to handle this.
Solution: The client wanted to retain the convenience of its own AI translation tool, so we analysed the client’s programs and tools and proposed an implementation of ELAN Libren. This tool automatically recognises both spellings, for example, and consistently applies the correct translation, just as it does for all other terms that come directly from the glossary. This way, the meaning is not lost, regardless of how the source text is written. For each translation project, the client can also provide its own context, whether it concerns marketing material or PIM texts.
Safeguarding brand-specific style and terminology
Challenge: A company in the healthcare sector works with a large number of brands, each with its own style instructions. This makes safeguarding consistent terminology and tone of voice a complex task for the marketing department. They are therefore looking for a language partner to take the burden off them and guarantee the quality of the translations for each brand.
Solution: We helped the client by setting up brand-specific context stores and glossaries. Together with our automated translation solutions, terminology and style can be defined separately for each brand and for each end client and applied consistently. This guarantees that** brands are never mixed up**.
Subtitling and accessibility of HR content
Challenge: At another major player in the industrial sector, the HR department is looking for a way to make video content accessible to foreign colleagues, including through subtitling. The existing AI assistant used internally for translation work proves unsuitable for processing audiovisual and multilingual content in a structured way and with correct terminology.
Solution: After analysing the client’s software, workflows and systems, our team provided an automated solution tailored to the existing systems and processes. The result? An integrated approach to subtitling and translation of video content, so that HR material can not only be made available consistently and quickly for international teams, but is also always translated correctly and with due attention to the right terminology.
Common thread
Three companies, three sectors, three very different challenges, yet each time the same common thread: the need for a solution that goes beyond a standalone translation and is more refined than the output of a standard tool, i.e. one that takes language variants, brand identity and context into account. Each time, our consultants were able to provide a targeted solution, tailored to the specific situation of each company.
Do you recognise one of the situations above? Or do you have other challenges relating to terminology? Please feel free to contact Johan Noël: johannoel@elanlanguages.com or via +32 11 43 47 64.