“We provide high-quality translations.” “We guarantee the quality of our translations.“ “Our translation services are top-notch.” How many times have you read such statements?

“High-quality translations” are provided by nearly every translation agency. And we won´t lie: we’re equally guilty of using similar language on our web page. But what’s important for you — as a customer — is picking out the agencies that are serious about quality.

You can identify a professional Translation Agency based on some fundamental points. In this article we´ll divulge the specific steps taken at Lexika to ensure you receive high-quality translations.

Establishing the quality of your translation begins before you assign it to us

While we often hear that translating is easy and possible for anyone with command of a foreign language, this statement is far from the truth. Incorrectly translated words are often the heart of contention. Without high-quality translators, there is no high-quality translation.

That´s why we take extra care when selecting our translators. In order to assign a translator to a difficult project, they must first undergo a demanding selection process consisting of several steps. The selection and testing of new Lexika translators is covered by our specialized Vendor Management department. However, evaluating translator quality doesn´t end there. Their work is continually evaluated during our entire cooperation, and they regularly receive feedback.

Managing translation quality in ordering process

As soon as we receive your source text, the analysis begins. Before we can send the price proposal, we must ensure that we have the right translators for the requested language combination and field. We never promise what we can´t deliver.

Next, we find out what you plan to do with the translation afterward. You might find it strange when the project managers ask you about the translation purpose. But it is an essential factor for providing you with an optimal translation. Did you pause when I used “optimal” instead of “highest”? Let me explain. There are situations when tip-top ranslation with double proofreading is unnecessary. You might just need to understand the text. Therefore, we’ll never offer services that you don’t need. On the contrary, if you plan to publish the translation, we´ll suggest a service package tailored to your needs.

Managing quality in the translation process

Everything is agreed upon, the questions have been answered, and we are about to start translating your texts. But first, we´ll process them technically. In other words, we’ll format and prepare them for translation in translation software. This will help us adhere to uniform terminology throughout the translation. Moreover, this will prepare us for your future translations. If you need us to translate a similar text in the future, we can utilize the same terminology. Therefore, your corporate communication will be consistent from end to end. It will also help you save money.

When the basic translation is complete, we continue with revision or proofreading (if this service was ordered).

Managing translation quality before delivery

We´re nearly finished. Prior to delivery, the translation undergoes internal quality assurance. This check-through ensures that the translation is complete, there are no typos, and every number, name, and date is translated correctly. If you plan on printing the translation, we’ll precisely prepare the graphics according to your ideas.

Have any questions regarding translation quality? Want us to suggest the best services combination for your translation? Feel free to contact us, we’re happy to help. 

You probably already heard about the term base. Term bases, i.e. term dictionaries, are great helping tools by translation from any field.

In the previous article, we wrote about main advantages of term bases. We might mention easier and more effective work, improvement of translation quality, assuring translation consistency, and finally improving your vocabulary. And what’s the best thing? Creation of a term base is a piece of cake!

There are several ways of creating a term base. The basic option is to create a table in Excel and look up the needed terms “manually”. Even easier is to create a term base in a CAT tool which automatically offers the terms during translation. If you are interested in this option, read on. We have prepared a short guide for a creation of term base in memoQ.

Term base creation in memoQ

You can create a term base in two different places:

1. In general, open the Resource Console (in the upper left corner), go to Term base and click on Create new in the bottom part of dialogue box.

 

2. To create a term base in a project, go to Term base tab and click on the Create/Use New button.

 

A dialog box with settings appears:

• Name: name your term base
• Path: you can change the default destination folder
• Meta-information, behaviour: this is additional information for more detailed characteristics of the term base.
  • Project = usually used for the order number (in your records)
  • Client = name of the client
  • Domain = topic or genre of the source text
  • Subject = subject matter of the source
  • Description = detailed information about the project
  • Author = name of the user
  • Moderated = this option serves for “filtering” of useless terms. This is used with memoQ server if there are more translators working on the same project where every one of them adds terms into term base. An authorized person checks and approves all the added terms. Only then they become visible to the other users.
  • Late disclosure = after ticking this field, the selected term is immediately shown in the term base.
• Languages: the source and target languages need to be selected. If you are creating the term base from a project, they are selected by default. Term base is a multi-lingual resource, you can add as many languages to it as you need to.
• New term defaults = this sets a term base to be able also to capture words which are grammatically declined or written specifically in lowercase or capitals.

We recommend filling in as many fields as possible, so that in the future it will be easier to find the term base you want to use in your project.

Finally, click the OK button and you have created and added the term base to your project. In this tab, you will see all the available term bases with the same language combination as your project. You can add as many as you want to, just tick the box next to the name.

If you add more term bases, numbers will appear in the Ranking column. They indicate the priority use with 1 being the most important term base – the higher the number, the lower the priority. If memoQ finds the same term in two term bases, the first hit will come from the term base ranked 1. If you wish, you can change the ranking at any point during translation.

 

Modification of existing terms and addition of new ones

If you’d like to add new terms or modify the existing ones, go to Resource Console, click on Term bases, then right-click the term base you are about to update and choose Edit.

 

The editor for adding and modifying terms will display.

 

If you have a multilingual term base, choose your working language pair (Language 1 – Language 2).
Note: It is possible that for some terms, some of the columns will stay empty – this means that the given terms are defined in another language pair.

To add a new term, click on New on the dashboard.

 

Type the term into the field for the given language in the lower part of the screen and click on .

 

For modifying an existing term, choose it from the list below, update it and click on .

 

You can also add several translation options for a single term. Type the second option into the field of the given language and click on  which adds a new line.

 

In case you make a mistake, you can easily delete the term by clicking . For deletion of the whole entry from the term base, click on the Delete button on the dashboard.

 

The term base can also be modified directly in the project. Term base hits are marked blue in the Translation results.

 

Right-click the term that you want to edit and click on View/Edit – a simplified editor will appear.

 

Now you just follow the same steps as described above.

 

Export/Import Term base

After the successful term base creation, you can use it continuously. In addition to modifying it or adding new terms, you can also export or add the term base to another CAT tool if needed.

If you already have a prepared term base, e.g. in MS Excel as mentioned above, you don’t have to worry about manually adding it to memoQ again. You can easily import it.

How can I export a term base from memoQ?

memoQ offers three export formats:

• CSV (text file with comma-separated values)
• XLSX (similar to CSV, but values are stored in columns)
• MultiTerm XML (files can be imported into SDL Trados MultiTerm)

Go to Resource Console and click on Term bases. Find the term base in the list, right-click it and choose Export Terminology.

 

A dialogue window with settings appears:

• File = destination folder in your PC
• Export as... = options for export
• Fields = information that can be included in the export (for a simple output, we recommend: Entry ID, Term definition, Term text (with wildcards)and Example of use.)

Click on Export to download the term base.

How can I import a term base to memoQ?

For term base import, follow the same steps as when exporting, but choose Import Terminology. In memoQ, you can import term bases in various formats, such as CSV, XLSX, TMX or Multiterm. The dialogue box which pops up differs according to the format. As an example, here is an import of an XLSX file:

In Fields, memoQ displays a list of all columns in your Excel file. Here you define what memoQ should do with them, e.g.

• Import as term = this means that the column contains terms and you choose the language
• Import as definition = this is suitable for the column regarding your notes or closer explanation
• Do not import = in case you import a column by mistake, you can simply exclude it from you term base

To confirm your settings, click OK.

If you want to know the number of terms in your term base, right-click the term base, and then choose Properties.

 

The number of terms is given in the Entries line.

We have illustrated here only the basic methods of managing term bases in memoQ. memoQ certainly offers many more ways of processing and managing term bases, including setting forbidden terms, defining terms, etc. This makes the work of translators and translation agencies even more effective. So put away the unnecessary papers and pens, and dive into the world of CAT tools to speed up your work.

Can you imagine running a computer using only keyboard shortcuts? Why would you even do that?

The answer is simple: Keyboard shortcuts are hyper-efficient way to quickly turn something on and off, switch windows, or type. They only save a few seconds for each task, but if we repeat them ten or one hundred times each day, they quickly become extremely effective and useful.

But let’s not waste any more time. We’ll move past the theory and dive straight into the list of the most useful keyboard shortcuts. Effectiveness, after all, is the key here.

There are thousands out there and our goal is to show you the most common ones utilizing the Ctrl, Shift, Alt, and Windows logo keys.

The most commonly used universal keyboard shortcuts

To kick off the list, here are the 10 most commonly used shortcuts that work well with most apps. 

Ctrl + C	Copy the selected item
Ctrl + V	Insert the selected item
Ctrl + A	Select all items
Ctrl + F	Find in text
Ctrl + S	Save
Ctrl + P	Print
Ctrl + Z	Undo your last action
Ctrl + Y	Redo your last action (used after the Undo command)
Ctrl + Esc	Bring up the start menu
Alt + F4	Close the focused window/program

The Most Commonly Used Browser Keyboard Shortcuts

We use web browsers nearly daily. Utilize these shortcuts with practically all of them, be it Chrome, Firefox, Opera, or Internet Explorer.

Ctrl + N	Open a new window
Ctrl + T	Open a new tab
Ctrl + Shift + N	Open a new window in Incognito mode
Ctrl + Shift + T	Reopen a previously closed tab
Ctrl + W, Ctrl + F4	Close the current tab
Ctrl + 1 through 8	Jump to a specific tab
Ctrl + 9	Jump to the rightmost tab
Ctrl + Tab, Ctrl + Page Down	Jump to the next open tab
Ctrl + Shift + Tab , Ctrl + Page Up	Jump to the previous open tab
Alt + Home	Open your home page in the current tab
Ctrl + B	Show or hide the Bookmarks bar
Ctrl + Shift + B	Open the Bookmarks Manager
Ctrl + H	Open the History page
Ctrl + J	Open the Downloads page
F6, Ctrl + L, Alt + D	Jump to the address bar
F5	Reload the current page
Space	Scroll down
Home	Go to the top of the page
End	Go to the bottom of the page

The Most Commonly Used Windows Keyboard Shortcuts

Utilize keyboard shortcuts to manage open windows and work with multiple applications or monitors simultaneously. Let’s explore the Windows logo key that, on its own, opens the Start menu.

Win + Tab	Open Task view
Alt + Tab	Switch between open apps/windows
Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow (←)/Right Arrow (→)	Move an app or window in the desktop from one monitor to another
Win + Up Arrow (↑)/Down Arrow (↓)	Maximize/minimize the window
Win + Right Arrow (→)/Left Arrow (←)	Maximize the app or desktop window to the right/left side of the screen
Win + „+“ or „-“	Zoom in or out using Magnifier
Win + E	Open File Explorer
Win + D	Minimize all windows and display the desktop
Win + M	Minimize all windows
Win + L	Lock your PC without shutting down the running processes
Win + X	Open the Quick Access menu where you can find settings for basic functions such as volume, Wi-Fi, display backlight, etc.
Win + R	Open the Run dialog box in the bottom left corner where you can enter the name of a folder, program, or document, and Windows opens it immediately
Win + Pause/Break	Display the System Properties dialog box
Win + Space/Alt + Shift	Switch input language
Shift + Delete	Delete the selected item without moving it to the Recycle Bin first

The Most Commonly Used MS Word Keyboard Shortcuts

Utilize the following shortcuts in text editors.

Home	Move the cursor to the beginning of the current line
End	Move the cursor to the end of the current line
Ctrl + H	Display the Replace dialog where you can replace keywords/characters
Ctrl + B	Apply bold formatting to text
Ctrl + I	Apply italic formatting to text
Ctrl + U	Apply underline formatting to text
Ctrl + L/R	Align the text to the left/right
Ctrl + E	Centre the text
Ctrl + J	Justify the paragraph
Ctrl + X	Cut the selected content to the Clipboard
Ctrl + Left Arrow (←)/Right Arrow (→)	Move the cursor one word to the left or right
Ctrl + Enter	Insert a page break
Ctrl + Shift + Space	Insert a nonbreaking space
Shift + Enter	Insert a line break
Shift + Left Arrow (←)/Right arrow (→)	Select text
Shift + Ctrl + Left Arrow (←)/Right Arrow (→)	Select the word to the left/right
Shift + Ctrl + Up Arrow (↑)/Down Arrow (↓)	Select from the current position to the beginning/end of the current paragraph
Shift + End	Select from the current position to the end of the current line
Shift + Home	Select from the current position to the beginning of the current line
Shift + Ctrl + End	Select from the current position to the end of the document
Shift + Ctrl + Home	Select from the current position to the beginning of the document
Shift + Ctrl + C	Copy the selected formatting
Shift + Ctrl + V	Paste the selected formatting

Just a little practice and these keyboard shortcuts will keep you from ever touching the mouse again.

If you liked this article, follow our blog and Facebook page, or subscribe to our newsletter. Soon, we will bring you an article on keyboard shortcuts for special characters. Can you find the en-dash (–), double quotation marks ("), at sign (@), or hashtag (#) on your keyboard?

People throughout history have never had as many opportunities to learn foreign languages at home as today. And by opportunities, we mean interesting ways to learn languages, not simply learning vocabulary mechanically or reading unending schoolbooks (although their power is worth recognizing).

Mobile apps have become so popular because they provide fast and effective learning opportunities. Moreover, there are many language learning apps. Let’s have a look at some.

Duolingo

Source: play.google.com

The lively green owl is one of the most popular apps to learn language, and it focuses mainly on beginners. The lessons are grouped in lists of skills according to different topic. All you need is 20 minutes each day to improve your vocabulary and grammar. You can also learn multiple languages simultaneously.

Duolingo is popular mainly because the lessons are very playful. And if you make a mistake, you lose one life. If you lose all of your lives, you must go through the lesson again.

When you have become familiar with the language’s basics, you can skip the first lessons (although repetition is the mother of wisdom). After choosing a language you want to learn, the app offers option to take a skill test in the given language. According to the results, Duolingo then automatically chooses the lesson corresponding to your language skill level.

Busuu

Source: busuu.com

The Busuu app is really multifunctional – you can choose lessons about various topics. Its central function is learning to form grammatically correct sentences. The words that you have already learned are displayed in a separate window along with their translations, so that you can revise them multiple times. Furthermore, you can choose from many different tests to practise your language skills. Busuu also lets you create a study plan or communicate with native speakers within the community.

Babbel

Babbel is a considerably more expensive yet simultaneously more useful app. Its main principle is phrase repetition. The app listens to your voice, recognizes it and decides whether you have correctly pronounced the phrase. You can also chat with people and that way practise your language skills. Moreover, you can choose different forms of revising what you have already learned according to your needs—writing, listening or speaking. The app also allows you to set the time (day and hour) for learning. At the set time, the app sends you a convenient reminder.

Memrise

Memrise utilizes a playful style that is similar to Duolingo. Your task is collecting points by correctly translating words and sentences. The app also includes various games for improving your speaking pace, the pronunciation of complicated words and your listening skills.

Choose from 23 languages, most of them European, and dive into short  demonstrations where native speakers pronounce specific phrases.

Rosseta Stone

Rosseta Stone was first created in 1992 as computer software. In our quickly developing world, it’s no surprise that a new version for smartphones already exists. Just like the other apps, Rosetta Stone utilizes flash cards, audio demonstrations and speech recognition for pronunciation practise. However, it stands as more formal and less playful than apps like Duolingo. But if you are in earnest learning the language, it certainly isn’t an obstacle. Quite the contrary!

The first lesson can be completed for free, and if you like the app, then you can choose to subscribe for 3, 12, or 24 months. A great innovation is the subscription that includes all 24 languages which you can combine as you please.

Clozemaster

In English, cloze test refers to a language learning method in which you fill in the words missing in a sentence. The advantage of the Clozemaster app is that you see the words used directly in the sentence. This means that you learn not only the words but also the grammar and phrase structures.

The second advantage is that you can select the words you cannot remember or which you want to revise more often. Additionally, you can even select the words which the app shouldn’t offer because they are already familiar or irrelevant. Therefore, your learning process becomes even more effective.

HelloTalk

We learn languages to be able to communicate. And that is what the HelloTalk app is all about. This app lets you easily communicate with people all around the world via text or voice messages. The app, or rather your communication partner, checks your grammar in written communication and also suggests corrections if needed.

LinGo Play

The most competitive learners will love the LinGo Play app because it offers almost 30 languages. You can even choose whether you want to learn British or American English. And just like the other apps, this one includes a wide variety of lessons to help you improve your language skills through flashcards.

The distinctive trait of this app is its very playful style. The online games let you compete against your friends or other users from around the world.

So many men, so many apps. Today there is an app for everything. To learn a new language, there are countless apps to try. You just have to find the one that suits you best and fulfils your specific needs. The world of foreign languages is waiting for you ?

Have you already tried any of the apps above? Do you like some other app which we don’t mention in our article? Share your experiences with us in the comments.