By Sarah-Claire Jordan
Besides legal translation, one of the most challenging types of translation is that of technical manuals. These may be for a household appliance, a computer, or even a car or airplane, but they all have very similar formats and content. There are tons of reasons for this to be done by a human translator, many of them being the same reasons why any translation benefits from a human touch. However, in the case of technical manual translation, there are some reasons for using human translators that are particular to this type of translation.
1. A well-written manual is great marketing
If you use a human translator, you are likely to get the results you want in terms of how the final written product turns out. Human translators will see things and have knowledge that a machine translator simply can’t. Humans are very visual beings generally, and so if the manual isn’t written well, it can have a huge impact on what a consumer’s opinion is concerning the quality of the product. This goes both ways, however, as a well-written and well-translated manual can make an imperfect product seem much more attractive.
2. Accurate translation is imperative for safety reasons
Since many technical manuals are written for products that can be dangerous if used improperly, making sure that the translation is accurate is even more important. Imagine if the manual for a lawn mower were poorly translated, or had even minor errors. It could mean that the consumer understands something completely different from the intended precaution or word of warning, and they could end up hurting themselves or worse. Human translators are experienced and highly trained so that those kinds of errors don’t make it to the final product of the translation.
3. A manual needs to be clear and easy to understand
If any part of a technical manual is unclear or hard to understand due to the language used, then the consumer will have a harder time figuring out how the product works and how to use it. This will lead to dissatisfaction with the product itself, even if it is in fact an excellent and quality product. They are less likely to buy the same product again, as they won’t have a clear understanding of how it is meant to be used.
4. Human translation of a technical manual is easy
Obviously no translation is an easy one, but technical manuals can be actually easier to translate if you use human translators. Once you find a good company to work with that translates a technical manual for you to your satisfaction, you can save time and money by using the same company for other manuals. Setting up a translation memory for the first manual will save time and money for the manuals to be translated in the future, as repeated phrases will be saved already and won’t need to be translated all over again.
For an overview of our translation expertise, visit our technical translation service page.