Frequently asked questions
We have collected a list of some of the most common questions that we receive.
If you can’t find an answer to your question, don’t hesitate to ask.
How do you determine delivery deadlines?
Delivery deadlines are determined according to the number of words to be translated.
A typical professional translator can translate from 1,500 to 2,500 words per day, depending on the type of text and the language. If your translation is particularly urgent, you may state your final delivery deadline and we will endeavour to respect your time frame.
We can also handle projects with a large volume of words to be translated in a short time frame by creating teams comprising several translators and revisers supported by IT systems to share glossaries and translation memories.
What is a word count and how is it calculated?
We use words as a unit of measurement to calculate the length of a text, comprising all parts of speech, such as articles, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, nouns, verbs, or verb forms.
Word counts are carried out with the specific function in MS Word or by using a specialised automatic word count programme.
If a document contains non-machine-readable text in the form of images, a manual word count will be carried out or optical character recognition (OCR) will be applied. It is good practice to inform your project manager, during the quotation phase, if your document contains text in images.
What is a character count or page count?
A page count originated from a standard Italian editorial page (cartella) of 1,500 keystrokes as a unit of measurement, which reflects a sheet of A4 paper with wide margins and line spacing containing 25 lines, each with 60 characters, typed with a monospaced typewriter.
With the advent of computerised word processing, this standard editorial page was transformed into 1,500 characters, spaces included.
The necessity to deal with non-alphabetic languages and adjust to new IT standards has led the industry to pass towards word counts, which have become an international unit of measurement both for translations and for glossaries and translation memories.
A word count can be easily verified with tools available, by way of example, within Microsoft Word.
CTI – Communication Trend Italia is equipped with specialised word count tools for analysing all major software formats (Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign, etc.).
Who is responsible for managing your services?
Our project managers are responsible for the management of the technical and linguistic services, from the price quotation request to order fulfilment.
CTI – Communication Trend Italia assigns every customer a project manager with a proven track record, who acts as:
- sales agent
- direct and prioritised contact person
- resource manager
- manager of checks upon receipt, in process and delivery.
The remit of project managers includes selecting and managing translators, revisers and consultants involved in the creation of different language documents, as well as organising work groups involved in translating documents of vast proportions.
It also comprises the creation and use of glossaries and coordinating artefacts between different departments (e.g. reconciling translation and graphic design).
A purpose-built company software suite enables each project manager to coordinate every phase of the assignment, from planning and execution to revision.
What is a source language and target language?
The source language is the language from which something is translated or interpreted.
The target language is the language towards which something is translated or interpreted.
What aspects are included in the translation service?
The translation service, as described in the Services Charter, includes the following aspects:
- analysis of the source text to verify the availability of resources and means to complete the translation;
- analysis of source support documents and or any other additional services requested by the customer, such as: localisation, layout, voice acting, transcription, voice-over, dubbing or adaptation of the text for specific requirements;
- verification of the need to produce a sworn translation, and for translations that must be valid in foreign countries, of the need to authenticate it without or with an apostille (for countries adhering to the Hague Convention) or a consular visa; gathering of information material and specific reference terminology for the text to be translated;
- where applicable, use of computer-aided translation (CAT) tools, machine translation (MT) or translation memories; translation into the translator’s mother tongue, who is selected in accordance with the skills necessary for the specific task, the correct language combination and the right technical specialisation;
- verification of the translation by a reviser and, if required, by specialised reviewers different from the original translator; check for correct execution and compliance with the customer’s instructions and objectives.
At CTI – Communication Trend Italia, all of these steps form the foundation of our management flow, certified by our UNI EN ISO 9001 compliant Quality Management System. They are also integrated into our processes for creating, reviewing, and releasing the product/service, which are often carried out according to even stricter guidelines, compliant with the standard UNI EN ISO 17100: “Translation services – service requirements”, for which we have also received certification.
What is a revision and a review?
A revision is a fundamental requirement set forth by the UNI EN ISO 17100:2015 standard and consists of a bilingual examination of the target language content against source language content for its suitability for the agreed purpose.
The person who carries out this type of revision is referred to as a reviser.
A review is an optional requirement, which must be specifically requested and paid for by the customer, set forth by the UNI EN ISO 17100:2015 standard and consisting in a monolingual examination of the target language content for its suitability for the agreed purpose.
This review is predominantly carried out by domain experts with:
- language competence in the target language;
- relevant lexical and sector knowledge;
- awareness of the cultural background.
The person who carries out this type of specialised review is referred to as a reviewer.
Is it important to have a glossary?
A glossary is a tool that ensures the quality of the product and conformity with the terminology used by the customer’s company.
A glossary is prepared by using:
- customer documentation, for example lists of replacement parts, technical designs and instruction manuals
- previously translated documents
- relevant regulations
- monolingual, bilingual or sector-specific dictionaries
- general glossaries relevant to single departments
- specialised dictionaries and terminology databases, relating to specific devices or systems.
Special software allows us to extract important terminology (so-called data mining) from a given set of documentation and to create a glossary to be reviewed by the customer before proceeding with the translation. Every glossary is approved by the client and adjusted where necessary with corrections and/or modifications.
For large-scale projects which warrant the use of computer-assisted translation tools, the glossaries are shared with the translation and revision teams that are working on the project; therefore, any changes and approvals of terms are shared with the whole team.
What is SEO and SEM translation?
Translation for SEO purposes (Search Engine Optimisation) is a collection of technical and linguistic approaches aimed at improving the indexing of a website and, as a consequence, its ranking in a list of search results in the target language.
The technical activities involved in SEO translation comprise an importance analysis of the translated keywords, the use of tools that enable such keywords to be inserted in the webpage’s code and a technical verification during publishing.
The translation process also encompasses all meta information that is important for improving search engine results: title, headings, meta description, keywords.
Translation for SEM purposes (Search Engine Marketing) extends these tasks to the content (number of keywords used, redundancy of the main keyword, length of the text, etc.).
How do offers and price quotes work at CTI?
Every product or service provided by CTI – Communication Trend Italia is finalised by means of price quotes/offers issued by our project managers.
If the product/service comprises several aspects (e.g. translation, layout, proof-reading, etc.), a detailed breakdown of all the services will be provided.
Price quotes can be requested by e-mail or using the online forms found on this website.
While waiting for the definitive order confirmation, we require our customers to send a signed copy of the price quote for acceptance, in order to be able to trigger our internal processes as quickly as possible. Once the signed price quote or order has been received, CTI – Communication Trend Italia re-examines the contract, in the manner prescribed by our Company Quality System (in compliance with the UNI EN ISO 9001 and/or UNI EN ISO 17100 standards) and prepares a Quality Plan, identified by a unique serial number. This number is communicated to the customer on delivery of the service and stated on the invoice.
In which format are translations delivered?
All translated documents will be returned in the same format as the original, provided that the original file is readily machine readable, such as a Microsoft Word®, Excel®, PowerPoint® or HTML document.
Otherwise, if the original text is uneditable, for example a printed document, PDF or image, the translation will be provided in Word format with a simple layout assimilation.
Upon customer request, a layout service is available for managing or creating special layouts in Adobe InDesign® or QuarkXpress®, etc.
Quale tipo di risorse professionali è impiegato per le traduzioni?
Vengono considerate di primaria importanza le seguenti aree di abilità:
competenza linguistica e di traduzione, intesa come capacità di comprensione (anche semantica) e trasferimento del contenuto linguistico da una lingua di partenza alla lingua di arrivo nel rispetto del sistema linguistico, grammaticale, terminologico, di stile e di convenzioni locali.
competenza e abilità nella ricerca, acquisizione ed elaborazione delle informazioni;
competenza/formazione culturale;
competenze tecniche.
What is a style guide?
A style guide is a document created by CTI – Communication Trend Italia or directly by the customer that contains a set of linguistic rules to be applied and respected while carrying out a translation.
A style guide can be designed for one or many languages.
What is computer-assisted translation or CAT?
Computer-assisted translation or computer-aided translation (CAT) denotes a translation strategy in which translators use software to complete a part of the translation process.
These tools interact within a sophisticated system that enables translators to open and share files in any format, offering a great deal of advantages:
- terminological consistency: the system recognises and updates one or more glossaries (terminology databases, also referred to as term bases). Only previously translated terms are proposed automatically to the translators, thereby avoiding the use of alternative but incorrect terms within a given translation project with many translators working simultaneously, or within a project comprising a complex set of documents.
- efficiency through information retrieval and reuse: whenever a new translation is commissioned, the software compares the new content with any previous translated content saved in the translation memories. All identical sentences or “segments” found in the previous translation are proposed to the translator for the new translation, who can accept, reject or modify them. Any content that is entirely new is specifically highlighted for a purely manual translation. Afterwards, the software updates its translation memories with the terminology and the new target segments produced during the translation process.
- retention of original formatting: a specific programme interface parses the formatting and style codes – without changing them – used in the desktop publishing software to create the original document and separates this visual information from the text to be translated: the translator can therefore concentrate on the texts without needing to worry about the formatting. Upon completion of the translation, the formatting is reapplied to the document by means of specific copy fitting processes that create a document that is an exact visual copy of the original.
Do you oversee the layout of the translated files?
We ensure the correct layout of the translated files, either by using the customer’s file or by creating a new layout where necessary.
The layout in any language (such as Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Russian) is compliant with publishing standards and respects the original layout, as well as the stylistic and hyphenation rules of the target language.
Any specific customer requests regarding the layout in formats such as Adobe InDesign®, QuarkXpress® and others will be quoted separately from the translation fees.
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