Johnny Romero, CMI Spanish

A few tips on how to prepare for your language proficiency test would be: 1) Make sure you prepare for the format of how the test is administered. For example, will the test be administered with a live Proctor or will you be recording your answers on a proctoring platform? This will allow you to mentally prepare for the timing ⏱️ and speed. 2) Make sure you answer every question within the allotted time. One of the top reasons people fail a language test is because they don’t give enough of an answer or they have mental fog and time runs out before they give a response. To avoid this, I recommend treating each question like a conversation with a friend. This will not only relax you, but allow you to speak extemporaneously.

As intimidating as language tests can be whether they’re live or recorded, I’ve found that completing language proficiency tests have a lot of benefits. Just to name a few: 1) It’s strengthened my confidence as a polyglot to be able to seek employment as an interpreter in various target languages that I’ve scored with a Native proficiency. 2) It has served as motivation for me to diligently practice in my target language before I schedule the actual language test and make the monetary investment. 3) It had allowed me to experience what the test process involves from the user interface and develop techniques that I can teach in my workshops to help those who struggle with this type of testing. 4) It’s a valuable credential.

Optimization of any successful translation strategy involves an efficient workflow that has appropriate controls to ensure open communication between the translation project lead and the client lead. The use of collaborative online work spaces such as Google, Microsoft Teams, or Notion allow for live real-time interaction, updates, and decision making to keep the translation project on target 🎯. Sharing glossaries of acronyms, subject matter terminology, and any proprietary terms allows for the entire translation team to work in perfect synchronization. Inviting the translation project lead to any internal client meetings that provide further context is also a great way to save time and avoids anything being lost in translation.

Please keep in mind the intangibles that a language service provider (LSP) offers that are easy to overlook, but are very important to consider before making your final choice in a Translation agency. To quote a concept developed in the book “Good to Great” by author Jim Collins: “First Who, Then What”. In other words, before you share your objectives, identify KPI’s, discuss priorities, timeline, and budget (the “What”), you must first know “Who” are you really working with? Is it a large company that’s only interested in landing another account or are you dealing directly with the Owner/Principal who has subject matter expertise with a dedicated translation team that can localize and transcreate as needed with full transparency?

Understanding your objectives requires you to identify your key performance indicators (KPI’s), priorities, and a realistic timeline that aligns with your budget. For example, instead of translating all business communications at once, you can prioritize the level of importance for example legal compliance vs sales generation. If your focus is revenue generation, you can begin with just social media and if your budget is limited, perhaps just start with one of your main social platforms. This insightful planning will allow you to accomplish your objectives as you rollout your quality translation project in phases and spread out your spend while the budget replenishes allowing you to see your ROI in the interim.

In my opinion, any reputable Language Service Provider (LSP), would never recommend to a client to "align their budget and quality" for the simple reason that quality is a standard, not an option. Quality should never be sacrificed to save money as it wouldn't be safe. For example, would you be comfortable going to the supermarket and buying produce with a label that reads: "This produce does not comply with the quality standards established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and may or may not be safe, but aligns with any budget." Of course not, therefore, don't roll the dice on not using professional translation services for any business-related communications. If you don't have the budget, please hold off until you do.