Press Releases

Project: S.R.Smith (http://srsmith.com) manufactures swimming pool equipment.  The company distributes products globally and needed technical installation manuals translated into French (for Canada) and Spanish (for Chile).

Process: Oregon Translation worked with S.R.Smith to identify linguistically and culturally appropriate language for these manuals. First, we determined which dialects and measurement systems to use in the documents for this to be understood by S.R. Smith’s customers.  By analyzing the readers’ demographics, we were able to identify which words would best translate the original intended meanings.

For example, Oregon Translation was able to ensure the dialect was relevant for the Chilean market, as opposed to different wording used in Mexico. Oregon Translation applied the same care when translating into Canadian French. There are subtle language differences between groups of readers, even within the same language. For example, punctuation and accent marks used in Canada differ as compared to France, even though both populations speak and read ‘French.’

All documents were put through our quality assurance process. The Oregon Translation team rigorously reviewed all user manuals. We worked interactively with the S.R.Smith team to clarify terminology and meaning, and even to correct errors in the original English. Our careful process ensured that the French, Spanish, and English manuals were all publication-ready.

Results: In two weeks time, we translated four French manuals (length: 14,000 words about a highly technical topic) and later one Spanish manual (length: 7500 words) to meet their global needs. We also provided additional linguistic feedback for their original English document, making sure it too was publication-ready.

Quote: “Oregon Translation helped us produce sales and technical documents that better support our global customers’ needs. It was not just any flavor of Spanish; it was specifically translated by a Chilean for our Chilean customers. In fact, Oregon Translation even went so far as to offer several suggestions on technical document structure that helped us optimize document usability.”