@Steffan: I agree with you, nevertheless I would like to comment on your post above, where you say “There simply is only ONE translation and that’s it”. It’s all fine when the translation is good, but when you find out that a translation is not so good or there’s room for improvement, I think that adjustments are in your own interest, especially in the long term. About menus, you’re completely right. A guide or reference is required.

As a client I don’t want heaven – I just want what you offered in your newsletter.

My biggest problem is that translators translate the same glossary word across different texts and come up with different translations for the same terms and words.

This gets worse if multiple translators are involved. Especially when creating software and help files and FAQs this is a huge problem: Menu items always have to have the same translation for example, as users can otherwise not understand how the text ralates to their software.

There is no grading involved. There simply is only ONE translation and that’s it.

I don’t know why an early version – or any version – would need a grading system. If I as a client want a translation of a word or term in the glossary fixed, so that it always is translated in the same way, then that’s what I want. That’s why I place it in the glossary. I do this to take away ANY options from the translators to get the translation wrong.

If you can deliver what you are suggesting in the newsletter, you would provide a great solution.

From the comments I can see above it appears you have translators responding who want a grat Glossry for entirely different reasons than suggested by you. Stick with what you suggested, and you will make many of your clients happy who want to get better quality and more consistent translations across multiple documents.

I do NOT want a glossary such as
“trainer -> (sport) istruttore, allenatore, trainer, mister”
That already exists in translation software. There is no need to reinvent this.

I want a glossary that takes away options from translators and forces them to always translate

X with Y.

This is what I understand you are planning – and this would be a great solution.

DISLIKES:
- ‘small’ translations that follow and glossary given to whomever is free (so called small translations can take up to 450 source words or so, full of technical terms, if say 5 translators have work on a client’s project, priority for instant translations should be given to them, this will also prevent ICL’s risk/fear of abandoned projects)
- SEO done by translators (as a translator, I may suggest terms, but a) terms should be paid, this cannot be done for free and b) I cannot check what people are looking for, this should be done by the client)
- list of the main phrases made manually by the translator (this would take up more time)

“Tell us how you’d like it to work and what you think it should include.”

Desired features:

1. An option to switch the glossary language, from ALL to single language (as an example, suppose some software has been around in Spanish, German and English for 5 years and, at a given point, the client decides to have it translated into Italian too, I would like to see how some terms have been translated in Spanish or German and have the chance to choose the type of display: any translation, or just Spanish, German etc.)

2. The term should be shown in context (to see how it was used: noun, verb, etc.)

3. A button to highlight a term or phrase that will be added to the glossary automatically (but translation to be added manually, so that it can be more accurate, please have a look at mymemory and see for yourself what automatic alignments do, most of the time they are unreliable).

4. Space for translators’ comments/explanations

My two cents:-)

I’m not sure you can do all that, but you asked for my ideas and opinions, so there you are!

trainer -> (sport) istruttore, allenatore, trainer, mister

There are many possibilities and we have to explain -maybe with an example- when one word is better than an other!
My little contribute
Regards

I know it is like asking for heaven but they are ideas. Good luck with glossaries.