Mercedes Pacheco

Linguistic Quality Assurance/Audit (LQA)

Some agencies and private companies use reverse translation to make sure the final translation conveys the source message in the target language, but this technique may result in literal translations with very poor style.
LQA is an evaluation provided by external auditors/evaluators who assess not only the message itself, but the way it is conveyed, focusing on other important factors which may affect the company image such as accuracy (ambiguous translation, repetitions), compliance (client terminology and style guide, inconsistencies), language (typos, lack of fluency) or style (literal translation, inappropriate register used).
LQA are also required by different quality evaluation bodies to get a Quality Certification (such as ISO), so the number of language service providers which hire linguists to do this task is increasing.
As a regular auditor/evaluator for different companies, in this short workshop I will analyze:

• What is an LQA and its different purposes (what companies use it for, and why you should use this system if you collaborate with other translators to provide different languages you don´t speak)
• Evaluation process and template filling out
• Common errors found by evaluators
• Translators/reviewers feedback
• Questions and answers

BIOGRAPHY

Mercedes Pacheco is an English to Spanish freelance translator, with more than 20 years of experience and specialized in Medicine, Science, Technology, and Marketing. She is an Associate of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI), a member of the ITI Medical & Pharmaceutical Network, a PRO member of Proz.com, and a member of International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters (IAPTI). She holds a BA degree in English Philology (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), and a Diploma in Translation (UNED) and in Simultaneous and Consecutive Interpretation (Estudio Sampere, Escuela de traductores e intérpretes). Mercedes also teaches Medical Translation at Estudio Sampere. See: www.mprtraducciones.com.