The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2022 - 19

A Faster Solution:
QuickTips
Then we thought, " What if
we share a few tips regularly
Is that doable? " This is
how QuickTips was born!
Focused on improving
consistency to speed up
quality assurance reviews, we
began sharing brief tips on
style and terminology issues
every month.
It was easy to implement
QuickTips on the fly using
a few bullet points and a
simple glossary format.
Without the urgent need
to write a traditional style
guide, these informal tips
were developed during
quality assurance reviews
or whenever style issues
came up. (See Figure 3 on
page 20.) For example:
y Use médico for doctor
or physician.
y For M.D. or Ph.D., use the
title doctor or doctora:
" la doctora Casablanca. "
Do not abbreviate as
" Dra. Casablanca. "
y Use medicamento instead of
fármaco for plain language.
Using clear language and a
friendly tone, this approach
helps communicate and finetune
style and terminology
issues on a regular basis.
While reviewers can always
track changes and add
comments, these are often
not shared with everyone.
Flagging style issues or terms
and phrases for the entire
team improved consistency
in translations. After they
are shared in QuickTips,
translators and reviewers
can be on the lookout
and implement changes
immediately, making the
overall quality assurance
process more efficient.
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Figure 2: The introduction explains the purpose of the guide and points to specific resources for general spelling
and grammar questions.
Benefits
After more than two years,
we have found that QuickTips
offers these benefits:
y Simple template to create,
update, and share
y Highly relevant and
specific tips
y Greater consistency in
style and terminology
y Standard way to address
style issues
y Easy to integrate into
quality assurance
Starting Your Own
QuickTips
If you're wondering what to
include in your QuickTips,
remember this: focus on
answering frequently asked
questions and addressing
common mistakes found
during quality assurance
reviews. Most of the time,
translation style guides are
either too short or too long
to be practical.
We suggest leaving out
explanations on basic
grammar, punctuation, or
spelling rules that trained
translators already know.
Instead, list reference
materials that your style is
based on. (If you haven't
identified reliable sources
as reference materials, it's
time to choose them. See the
sidebar on page 21 for some
examples.) Then, identify
any differences with those
style rules and provide
examples. If you find you're
simply copying and pasting
from grammar or style
manuals, you're creating
redundant content.
Focus on
answering
frequently asked
questions and
addressing
common
mistakes found
during quality
assurance
reviews.
American Translators Association 19

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The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2022

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