By Ravi Kumar

A translation project is more than a text and a deadline. In this Modlingua Live lesson, Ravi Kumar discusses how the client, agency and translators coordinate scope, time, cost, quality and terminology. The point is to make responsibilities visible before work begins and to manage changes while the project is under way.

Agree on the brief

Confirm the purpose, readers, language pair, format, terminology and delivery requirements with the client. An unclear brief can produce a fluent translation that still misses the intended use. Record who can answer questions and how approvals will be handled.

Plan people and handoffs

Schedule translation and review with enough time for questions, corrections and file checks. Assign work to people with the right language and subject experience. Keep a shared glossary and record decisions so that the translator and reviewer work from the same terms. If the scope changes, check the effect on schedule and cost before treating the new work as part of the original brief.

Close with a quality check

Review the delivered file for completeness, consistent terminology and any layout or non-linguistic requirements. The video's project-management view complements Modlingua's lesson on briefs, review and delivery, which looks more closely at quality checkpoints.