Company Profiles, Catalogs, Manual Translations (with Trados Support), and DVD Authoring
We offer both specialized and general translation and writing services. For example, we currently provide ongoing translations for financial, securities, and biotechnology firms, as well as yearly translations of CSR reports. We also deliver quality translations for a top European luxury brand. We produce technical writing and translation for global manufacturers, and utilize Trados® software to create and maintain terminology databases. Clients also turn to us also for simultaneous translation, narrations, dubbing, and other foreign-language requirements. In addition to support for English and European languages, we can also translate to Arabic and other less frequently requested languages.
Our translation coordinators select the best translators and interpreters for each job. In particular, we have long experience at supplying excellent translations in finance and securities, biotechnology, and CSR. To ensure both accuracy and fluency, all translations are first proofread and are then double-checked by coordinators.
If your translation needs involve periodic translations of similar materials, we can use Trados software to help you build and maintain a terminology database. This type of database helps to reduce the workload while also promoting consistent style and terminology over the long term.
Translation Philosophy
We believe that effective translation must start with a true understanding of the product or service being described. Before we translate a brochure, for example, we review support materials and learn the basics about the products and services on offer. Background knowledge is essential to prevent mistranslations and to assure accurate and high-quality translation. Similarly, if we are translating a workplace manual, we begin by learning the workflow and focusing on how best to provide an accurate and easy-to-understand presentation that meets the needs of target users. This basic approach is shared, and fully implemented, by all of our coordinators and translators alike.
Supported Languages
- Languages of Europe
Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, European Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish. - Languages of Latin America
Brazilian Portuguese, Latin-American Spanish. - Languages of Asia
Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Burmese, Indonesian, Khmer, Lao, Malay, Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, Bengali, Dari, Gujarati, Hindi, Nepali, Oriya, Sinhala, Urdu, Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, Tamil, Urdu.
Many Types of Documents
We handle many different types of documents. These include business contracts and sales proposals; technical documentation for pharmaceutical, chemical, IT, and financial concerns; annual CSRs published by major corporations; and in-house journals for foreign companies in Japan. We are also involved in localizing business systems and in supporting the deployment of multilingual websites. Most of the jobs we handle require some degree of specialized knowledge and experience. Consequently, our translation coordinators are very careful to choose translators who can meet the specific requirements of each job.
Translators and Checkers
We carefully evaluate all prospective translators—through interviews, resumes, and trial translations—and register only those who are fully qualified. Registration is valid for one year only, during which time we continue to track quality through reports from proofreaders and customers, and through evaluations by other translators. Our coordinators review all of these evaluations and decide whether or not to renew registration for another year.
When a translation request is received, the coordinator picks several suitable candidates from among our list of registered translators, asks them to complete sample translations, and presents the customer with the best of these samples. (Note that all translators sign a confidentiality agreement with us, and are fully aware of the need to keep all information secure.)
To ensure quality, the translation sent to us from our translator is double-checked to ensure that the translation is accurate, that terminology is consistent, and that the overall style is effective and appropriate.
Many customers require periodic translations for an ongoing series of products, services, or updates. When supporting this type of work, we need to focus on maintaining consistent terminology over the long term. We also would like, where possible, to reduce the workload by reusing existing resources. Obun was one of the first companies in Japan to introduce Trados® translation memory software to help realize these goals.
The Trados system maintains a dynamic database of past translations. When presented with a new translation text, the software looks for matches and provides sophisticated suggestions. The translator can accept, reject, or revise the suggestions; and revisions can then be written into the database. The system helps to maintain consistency of style and terminology among multiple translators, and can significantly reduce the time required to translate repetitive material.
Of course, the translator remains in full control, and is ultimately responsible for the quality of the final text. Like any tool, Trados is only as good as the person who is using it. This is why we are careful to ensure that all translations are handled by fully qualified translators.
By supporting consistency and reducing workload, Trados can help customers achieve better quality at lower cost. The software is particularly effective when used for product manuals, workplace manuals, and other continuously updated texts. And the effectiveness improves as the database grows.
Obun currently offers Trados support for a wide range of languages, including English, European languages, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic. Customers who require desktop publishing should note that Trados can work directly with Adobe FrameMaker, providing for cost reductions not only at the translation stage but also in the compositing process.
Interpretation & Narration
Obun is pleased to provide interpreters and target-language narrators for a wide variety of business needs. Our interpreters and narrators have helped customers with in-house training, negotiations and business discussions, support for visiting guests, interpretation at trade-show booths, support at symposiums and receptions, accompaniment for fact-finders sent abroad, and much more.
We also offer narrative support for training and product videos. Indeed, we can send a video director and translation coordinator to work as a team to provide carefully planned and high-level dubbing and narration for videos, CD-ROMs, DVDs, and other audiovisual materials.
Supported Languages
English, French, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Arabic