The Department for Transport recently played host to a British-Japanese Rail Co-operation Meeting, a reciprocal event that followed a visit to Tokyo in October 2002. To make the meeting flow smoothly, the Department needed a complete linguistic service - and therefore called in K International, the specialist multi-lingual solutions company.
The meeting took the form of a three day summit, held in London, Derby and York. It involved discussions between representatives from the Japanese rail network and Transport Ministry, the Department for Transport, and the UK’s main rail services providers - with the aim of exploring possible methods of improving the UK’s rail transport system and aligning research programmes. This involved a great deal of preparation - and K International was asked to provide not only interpreters for the meeting, but also translation of material before and during the summit.
Laying the groundwork
Rosalba Venturi, K International’s Client Services Director, explains: “We were appointed to manage the entire interpreting and translation process for the summit. I was therefore involved in one of the initial Steering Group meetings for the project, so that I could provide the Department for Transport with a clear idea of the linguistic services that would be needed to meet the requirements of the summit within the given budget.”
She continues: “At the Steering Group, we explained to all the companies involved the cultural issues that could arise during the summit. Because we work closely with linguists whose mother tongue is Japanese, we know all the latest customs and codes of expected behaviour. We were therefore able to provide the Department with information on the etiquette and protocol involved when meeting people from Japan.”
K International kept in regular contact with the Department throughout the lead-up to the summit. During this preparatory stage, the company provided desk top publishing and print layout services for presentations, business cards, meeting notes, and biographies. Rosalba comments: “From experience, we knew that planning, preparation, project management and quality control would play critical roles in the success of this assignment.”
A complete linguistic solution
The full list of services supplied by K International illustrates the complexity of the project:
• Technical interpretation – Japanese
• Linguistic consultation
• Multi-lingual project and account management
• Co-ordination between client and interpreter
• Immovable deadlines
• Last minute flexibility
• Technical translation
• Proofreading
• Quality procedures
• Typesetting and Printing
• Innovative ideas – added value concepts
• Security Measures
An emphasis on quality
Fortunately, with a database of over 2,800 translators, K International had a wide choice of professional linguists available. Rosalba continues: “Due to the technical nature of the subject matter, we pre-selected and tested the interpreters and translators. To assure the highest levels of quality throughout, we provided proofreading for all of the documents. Quality control was paramount: if the material wasn’t 100% accurate, the impact was unthinkable. Following the early desk top publishing stages, further checks were carried out to ensure that the layout of material was flawless.”
The careful co-ordination of material between the Department for Transport and the interpreters guaranteed that everyone had a full understanding of the requirements in preparation for the event. Rosalba says: “Attention to detail is vital. For instance, we ensured that the interpreters had the names and positions of all the participants and the agenda of the summit. Issues like this can be easily overlooked, but they are essential elements that helped to make this event a great success.”
Department for Transport official Brian Spurrell, who co-ordinated the event, comments: “K International did an excellent job: their thorough preparation meant that their interpreters were well-versed in highly technical rail terminology, and that the visiting Japanese had translations of the British papers to hand. The interpreters were versatile and flexible enough to participate fully in all aspects of the event, and seemed to enjoy themselves as much as the delegates did.”
ENDS
|
