Legal translation is no doubt one of the most challenging types of content to translate. Besides having competent and native Vietnamese legal translators, you need to consider many other factors if you expect to get an accurate and cost-effective Vietnamese legal translation.
So what exactly do you need to do to achieve this goal? In our post today, we will discuss 6 steps and tips that will help you build a strategy for your Vietnamese legal translation project that actually works.
#1. Choose The Right Vietnamese Legal Translation Provider Without Rushing
Not all translators who are fluent in the Vietnamese language can handle Vietnamese legal translation projects due to the complex nature of legal content. You will need Vietnamese translators who have a solid background in legal and an understanding of the legal systems of both source and target countries, as well as real industry experience.
In case your project is of high volume, the option of working with a professional Vietnamese legal translation agency might be more beneficial. Translation agencies usually offer a comprehensive service range and have a support team that helps you coordinate the whole project, minimizing the time and effort you have to put into the project.
Here are our suggestions that will assist you to choose which type of Vietnamese legal translation provider you should work with:
| Factors |
Freelance translators |
Translation agencies |
| Number of languages |
One pair |
Many pairs |
| Number of services |
One to two steps |
One step to the whole process |
| Amount of volume |
Small – Moderate |
Moderate – High |
| Timeframe |
Slower |
Quicker |
Whether you decide to work with freelance translators or translation agencies, we highly recommend you set up a standard process to recruit them. Your process should include the following steps:
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- Step 1 – Make a shortlist of potential Vietnamese legal translation providers
- Step 2 – Compare their profiles
- Step 3 – Discuss via emails or calls
- Step 4 – Sign an NDA and ask them to do a test
- Step 5 – Evaluate the tests and make the final decision
#2. Know Your Team And Working Process
If you work with an agency, it is essential to know who will get involved in your Vietnamese legal translation project and how they contribute to the final legal translations. In case your project is huge and the deadline is tight, the documents are likely to be assigned to different translators before being brought back together. There will be also editors, proofreaders, and sometimes desktop publishers involved in the next steps.
Each project will be coordinated by a project manager. This person plays an important role in the success of a project as they are in charge of communicating, answering translators’ and your inquiries during the translation process, and ensuring the quality of the final files.
But of course, the process of each translation agency is different so you should ask yours to set things clear before starting the project.
#3. Don’t Forget About Data Safety
Legal content contains much sensitive information that cannot be leaked. Thus, data security is always a top consideration. You should always discuss your desired secure data transmission method with your Vietnamese legal translation team so that data and information security are assured from the start.
For highly sensitive legal documents, you should consider a provider who lets you log in and submit files straight to a secure server or portal.
#4. Not Everything Needs Translating
Before sending your legal documents for translation, you should take a close look and decide which content should be translated, which can be worked on later, and which does not need translating at all. Translating everything in your legal documents will cost you a great deal while some parts might not be of use later.
It is also important to optimize your source legal content beforehand. If your source content is of bad quality, more time (and sometimes money) will be needed to complete your Vietnamese legal translation project. You should consider the following tips to have a cost-effective legal translation:
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- Avoid using lengthy words and wordy sentences
- Remove unrelated jargon, idioms, and other expressions
- Avoid text in images and photos
#5. Prepare A Vietnamese Legal Translation Guideline
A translation guideline is like a compass pointing translators in the correct direction. It is even more important when it comes to complex content like legal. Preparing a good translation guideline boosts the quality of your final translation and minimises costs.
What do you need to prepare for your Vietnamese legal translation guideline?
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- A Style Guide that tells your Vietnamese legal translator your preference for punctuation and spelling; numbers; acronyms and abbreviations; date and time formats; writing tones and styles.
- A Glossary that contains a list of frequently used phrases in your legal documents and how you prefer them to be translated, ensuring the consistency and accuracy of the translation.
- A Do-not-translate List to let your translators know which content should be kept intact. It may include people’s names, brand names, addresses, technology, etc.
- Supporting Tools that you wish your translators do, e.g. your prefered CAT tools.
- File Formats that you wish your final translators to be exported into.
#6. Set Measurement Indicators
The definition of a good legal translation is subjective so you will need to set some measurement indicators to make sure the final translation meets your expectations and requirements. Some key criteria to evaluate your Vietnamese legal translation are:
- Delivery Time
- Actual Costs
- Project Quality is evaluated through the LQA process.
Wrap Up
