Coronavirus Medical Translation and Video Subtitling

The coronavirus pandemic has ramped up the need for medical translation and medical interpretation services like never before. The global nature of the outbreak has meant that medical communities around the world need to share information accurately as they race to deal with the virus. 

Communicating those messages to the public often requires careful, timely translations as well. This was the case with a recent Tomedes client, who needed a medical translation of his video, along with professional subtitling services. We were delighted to be able to assist in spreading accurate information to help people stay safe. 

You can read a further example of our COVID-19 medical translation work by clicking the link below. 

Read more: English to Spanish COVID-19 medical translation

Arabic to English Medical Translation

Tomedes has been translating English to Arabic and Arabic to English for well over a decade. We have worked with clients with a wide range of translation needs during that time, helping businesses to operate more efficiently, public sector bodies to better support those they serve, legal professionals to undertake their work more effectively and much more. 

The lingua franca of the Arab world, the Arabic language first emerged between the first and fourth centuries CE. Today, Arabic is the official language of 26 states, as well as being the liturgical language of Islam. 

The standard form of Arabic is Modern Standard Arabic, which is a modernized version of Classical Arabic. In total, the International Organization for Standardization recognises 30 different varieties of the language. 

When it comes to Arabic translation, matching the form of Arabic required with a native translator is key to ensuring that the final document perfectly suits its intended audience. In order to facilitate this, Tomedes has built up a network of professional translators (and interpreters) across the Arab-speaking world, so that we always have the ideal translator for every job. 

For this client, that meant an Arabic translator with experience of providing top quality medical translation, as well as one used to working with videos. 

Video Transcription and Subtitling 

The past decade has seen a huge surge in calls for video translation services, as businesses around the world embrace the marketing wonder that is video. Companies that market their services internationally often have to use video translation services in order to communicate with their customers. 

In the case of this client, she needed her medical video transcribed, translated and subtitled so that she could use the original video, which had been filmed in Arabic, with English-speaking audiences. 

Transcription is an essential part of the video translation process. The transcriptionist needs to type both fast and accurately so as to record the aural element of the video. They also need to time-stamp the transcription so that the translation can, ultimately, be time-synced with the video file. This ensures that the visual and aural parts of the translated video pair up beautifully in the final, target language version. 

For this client, our transcriptionist got straight to work, diligently typing out the content of the original Arabic video. He then translated the resulting copy from Arabic to flawless English, including the medical terminology relating to the coronavirus outbreak. 

The translator’s final task was to provide the subtitles for the translated video. Subtitles don’t always deliver the precise text of the video. It can be necessary to abridge them slightly in order that the reader has time both to read the subtitles and to appreciate the visual elements of what they are watching. It’s a delicate balance that requires the skilled touch of an experienced video translator! 

The client was delighted with the resulting copy – both the transcript and the subtitles. They were precisely what she needed in order to engage with her English-speaking audience.  

Certified Medical Translations for COVID-19 

As part of this job, the client asked for a certificate of translation. This is, in essence, a document that the translation agency provides in order to verify that the translated document is an accurate representation of the original. 

Certified translations have a range of uses, from legal purposes to simply providing peace of mind for the person who has had the translation done. 

Tomedes is happy to provide a certificate of translation for any of the documents that we produce, whether legal documents, identity papers or translated video transcripts. That’s because we only ever deliver accurate translations that we are proud to stand by. It’s the reason we offer a one-year guarantee with every translation that we undertake. 

Does this sound like the kind of service that could help your business, whether to engage more customers domestically or as part of an international expansion strategy? If so, the Tomedes team would be delighted to discuss your language service needs. Call, email or live chat with us today to speak about translation, localization, interpretation, multilingual content writing and much, much more.