Ensuring Quality in Translation – Modlingua Error Control Rubric and DIN 2345
by Anjali Jain

Modlingua is an  ISO 9001:2008 certified company which means it is following a quality management system which helps to continually define its objectives to meet the demands of not only its customers but also other stakeholders associated with the company. This helps Modlingua to improve continually and become more efficient and improve the satisfaction of people associated with it. By launching Modlingua Error Control Rubric it has helped to improve the efficiency of its summer interns 2018 and also provided a general 10 points parameters for anyone who wish to minimize the most common mistakes made by language learners and many a time by professionals alike.
 
The whole business of translation and content writing revolves around ensuring the quality of work delivered to the client. This is necessary for maintaining credibility in the market, acquiring new clients and increase business. As in translation we are dealing with a written commodity, which differs each time in its content and needs to be submitted within a deadline, the possibility of making silly errors increases. The translator or a writer faces the brunt of time and has to manage the quality of content and linguistic and non-linguistics aspects: whether what he has written meets the requirement of the end user? Is it easily comprehensible by the target readers? Do the text reads like original or should certain parts be left out to make it more accessible?

Such questions occupy the mind of a translator or a content writer working with languages. It is quite possible then that common errors are overlooked and therefore reflected in the final product. In similar situations, the Modlingua Error Control Checklist will be very useful as it is made to avoid the common mistakes which are often overlooked in such situations. The 10 points checklist developed by Modlingua comprises the following categories: Articles; Punctuations; Omissions; Spellings; Choice of words; Factual; Consistency; Grammatical; Sentence structure; Formatting (including tags, space, margins, fonts, font size, paragraph settings). For a proofreader, for example, using the modlingua checklist the grammatical errors like punctuations, articles, spellings and formatting errors like inconsistency in paragraphs, font size, spaces etc. can be quickly revised. This will save a lot of time and improve the work speed as the list of commonly made errors is readily available. Even AI checkers like Grammarly works on the identifying most of these structural and grammatical errors. But in a country like India where fewer people have access to the internet or are less familiar with using such automated softwares, the checklist developed by Modlingua can transform the human work into work done by AI.   

The Modlingua Error Control Rubric is based on a comprehensive analysis of the sample profiles of 85 out of 135 interns by our director Mr Ravi Kumar. A databank of 34,218 words, which after editing were reduced to 33,821, were originally analyzed for the purpose of this comprehensive report.  The most numbers of the mistakes were not seen in the articles (73) or spellings (47) or grammatical category (45) but in punctuation (196), choices of words (128) and formatting (110).

Modlingua Error Control Rubric might not be comprehensive like other quality standards for e.g. German DIN 2345 but it more likely to be used by an individual who does not have access to the costly certification process. Quality standards like German DIN 2345 establish the terms and conditions of an agreement between the client and the translation service provider. The main aim of DIN 2345 is to establish clarity between the contracting parties involved in translation. Terms are generic and abstract in nature. For example, translation is defined in clause 3.1.1 as the transfer of text from the original language into the target language in writing. Some of the questions which are answered in greater detail are: what is the purpose of translation; who are the target readers; whether the text will be published; what kind of terminology should be used; which linguistic variant e.g. Indian English American English; what language register i.e. whether the text will be read by children or specialized professionals. Thus, DIN 2345 is only applicable in one domain, Modlingua Error Control Rubric can be used by anyone who is using the language as a tool, be it a content writer or translator. It has wider application.  
 

How is Modlingua Rubric helpful in executing projects through online collaboration? Explain pros and cons through examples.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  -Neha Galhotra
 
Modlingua is one of the most trusted Translation and Interpretation company in India. The services provided by Modlingua are synonymous with quality, excellence, and integration. It is known for providing quality work, within the given timeline. The team of Modlingua believes in building an understanding with the client, defining the terms before starting the project and delivering the services as per the need of service takers. The team is also receptive towards feedback and is always on its toes to serve the clients.
 
Apart from the policies and procedures, the team spirit among the members and harmony in work environment are the major reasons for Modlingua’s success. The expert team of Modlingua includes members from India and abroad. The online collaboration system at Modlingua bridges the communication gap between the members of its team and keeps it integrated. The members collaborate and work together, discuss and share information on portals like Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, WhatsApp etc. Modlingua holds a Summer Internship Programme every year, working with hundreds of interns and building future translators, writers, and marketers. Apart from collaborating through the internet, video conferencing is yet another method used by Modlingua to conduct its meetings, make announcements and work with people across the country and all around the world. The Conferences conducted through Zoom for the Summer Internship Programme 2018 at Modlingua is one such example.
 
In the last Conference conducted through Zoom, history was made as the Modlingua Rubric was launched by Mr. Ravi Kumar, the honorable Director of Modlingua. He explained how the Modlingua Rubric was developed, which would be a breakthrough in the field of language. Mr. Ravi Kumar, with his team, did the analysis of errors of the articles submitted on Modlingua website over the years. With this data as a sample, they could together devise the Modlingua Rubric, a ten pointer system which can be used manually to avoid errors in content writing. It serves as a guideline, helping writers to avoid silly mistakes like spelling errors, punctuation errors, grammatical errors, factual errors, spacing errors etc and follow the instructions while writing plus save time and maintain quality.
 
The Modlingua Rubric serves as a link between all the projects and helps maintain uniformity and quality of all the articles submitted and published at Modlingua website. This Rubric helps in online collaboration as the team works as a whole, performing the given tasks together in a group or individually, keeping in mind the possible errors listed in the Modlingua Rubric. There are many Artificial Intelligence tools available online to correct your errors, but through Modlingua Rubric you are made aware of the possible errors in advance which enable you to avoid making errors and save your time.
 
The Modlingua Rubric and its use in online collaboration serve as a double-edged sword, having both pros and cons:
 
Pros

• Builds team spirit and maintains the quality of work. For example- The interns at Modlingua volunteer and submit write-ups by working together in groups through online collaboration. With the help of Modlingua Rubric, the tasks can be done efficiently, avoiding misunderstanding between the group members performing the task as the format and list of possible errors is always in front of them. This makes smooth teamwork possible, as well as maintains the quality of work.
• Saves time and strengthens writing skills. For example- With the Modlingua Rubric, the writing team is able to control the errors at first place, which in turn also helps in improving the skills of a writer and enables him to deliver better work to the client. Apart from skill development, the time spent in editing and proofreading is also reduced as the silly mistakes are controlled in the first place.
• Analysis of errors can be done easily. For example- The interns at Modlingua were asked to make an Error Analysis Report, comparing their original career goals document to the one published at Modlingua website after editing and proofreading. The Rubric helped the interns in identifying areas where the tendency to make errors was high, as well as their strengths. Also, it brought to their notice the important technical errors like spacing and formatting which are often overlooked.
• Flexible and suitable for all types of contents. For example, Modlingua Rubric serves as a standard guideline, useful in writing any type of content, be it a report, a letter while translating, subtitling etc. These are the possible errors which can be there in any form of written content.

Cons

• Ineffective in case of lack of understanding. For example- Someone who is new with writing may tend to make repeated errors ( like that of articles, spacing, spelling, punctuation etc) without being aware that there is any mistake. Despite religiously following the Rubric, the errors may persist. Hence, in such cases, use of Artificial Intelligence tools becomes necessary to identify the errors, when someone is unable to identify them on their own in the first place.
• May restrict creativity and flow of writing. For example- When the team members are expected to follow a particular format and control the errors while writing, the mind may get busy in controlling and editing the errors due to which the ideas and creativity of the writer and the flow of thoughts might get restricted.

 
Thus, it can be concluded that Modlingua Rubric is a handy tool for executing projects through online collaboration. This error control mechanism is the future of content writing!