Industry Specific Terms Here's a list of some of the most common terms you may hear when enquiring about translation services. ATC Association of Translation Companies BS EN 15038 Is the first European standard to set out the requirements for the provision of quality services by translation service providers (TSPs). It charts the best practice processes involved in providing a translation service through commissioning, translation, review, project management and quality control, to delivery. DPSI Diploma in Public Service Interpreting, a qualification for interpreters to demonstrate their professional level skills in public service interpreting. DTP Desktop Publishing, also referred to as typesetting Interpreting Spoken word in another language Localisation Relates to the act of modifying something to make it both usable and suitable to a target market. Machine translation Translation produced automatically by a machine rather than by a human translator. See our Top Tips for further advice. Minimum Charge Lowest possible cost for service, usually covering up to 250 words for translation, or three hours or interpreting. Right-to-Left Languages Languages whose writing systems read from right to left, rather than left to right like English. Examples include Arabic, Farsi and Urdu. Source Language The original language of the document Subtitling Textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs Target Audience The primary group of people that something is intended for Target Language The language into which you wish to translate Transcription Writing down the spoken word Translation Written word in another language Translation Memory A database that stores segments that have been previously translated, which can then be used for future translations to guarentee consistency. Transliteration The writing of a foreign word in the script of another language so that it phonetically matches the original language. Typesetting In the translation industry, this means placing translated text into the same style, layout and original document as the source text. Word count The number of words in a document. Go Back