TQI Project Guidelines and

Instructions
QUALITY ASSESSMENT
BOOKING.COM

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WHAT NEEDS TO BE DON E?

Review translations by comparing the source text to the target text and count the errors.

Please use the following steps to perform the task:

1. If the translation is error free, place (1) under the Correct category.
2. Use the translation error typology guide provided in page 3 of this document to accurately
categorize errors.
3. Count the number of errors in each category.
4. Provide the correct translation under new translation. For longer texts, please highlight
the changed parts only.
5. Use the comments column if you would like to add a note about the related translation.
Please write your comments in English and, if possible, support your comments with
examples.

If you accidentally enter an incorrect number in the error category, please press Delete and
enter the correct number!

GENERAL RULES FOR CA TEGORIZATION:

The objective is to have translations that deliver the meaning and function of the source text
naturally and in a localized manner.

What is localization? Different words may be used or word order may be changed in order to create
copy that will work best in that particular language.

In the sheet you will find two types of text:

1. Front-End (FE): Text which appears on Booking.com website for users. This text is often
short and meant to engage website users.
2. Back-End (BE): Text only visible to Booking.com hotels and partners. This text is often more
technical and meant to inform and direct partners.

Please be careful to note that:

- In many cases localization is preferred over literal translation. To support localization,

words can be added or omitted to ensure fluency and clarity.
- In cases of inconsistencies (e.g. same word translated differently in the same tag), if both
translations are correct, the translation should be considered correct.
- Translations with the potential to be correct should be categorized as Suggestions for
Improvement.
- Style guides and glossaries DO NOT APPLY for this project.
- There are no general rules when it comes applying punctuation and capitalization, however,
localized translations are always preferred.

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DEALING WITH VARIABLES:

You may come across text that looks like this: {theme_name_lowercase}, {b_companyname},
{num}, {guest_name}, {b_open_since_date}. The text inside the brackets is a variable that will
appear on the website with numbers, dates, destination names, brand names or other differing
values. Each variable has a different purpose.

Example of Booking.com for Business brand name plus fomatting variables:

Changed your mind? If you want to keep up with the latest features from {b_companyname} for Business, it's
easy to {start_link}sign up{end_link}.

Example of brand and company names :

{company_name} is using<br/>{b_companyname} for Business

Example of how hotel name variable can also mean an apartment:

But hurry - {num_apartments} apartments like {hotel_name} are already sold out!

Variables with preposition:

View all cities {country_name_in}

Any text included in the brackets should NOT be translated, but the word order for the brackets
may have been changed and words could have been added to the sentence for fluency purposes.

Variables in the English source text are often stated in the nominative form (property name, guest
name etc.). However, in some languages, it is more common to use the vocative form when
addressing someone. In these cases the language teams have often tried to find a workaround and
sometimes variables may be deleted in the localization process.

Please only use these variables to help you understand the context and flow of information in the
translation.

You may also come across brand names (such as Booking.com, Genius, Rocketmiles etc.). In most
cases, brand names should not be translated. If you encounter a brand name which is translated,
count it as a Suggestion for Improvement and leave a comment indicating that the issue is with
the brand name.

If you are in doubt, please leave a comment in the sheet or contact: freelancing@booking.com.

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ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR SPANISH FREELA NCERS:

Please take into consideration that all content translated into ES must also work in Latin American
Spanish speaking countries.

Support is sometimes translated as soporte as per language teams internal decision.

We follow the Real Academia Espaolas advice of writing the adverb Solo with no accent.

According to the Real Academia Espaola, the percentages should have a space between the
number and the percentage symbol. However, please bear in mind that we dont include it, mainly
for character count reasons.

Please remember we write WiFi, with a capital W and F, exactly the same as it appears in the
glossary: WiFi

Please remember we write el in front of the variable {hotel_name}, regardless of it being

masculine or feminine, because it stands for any property name.

There are many tags for filtering that contain the word first, for example, City center first. In
the Spanish Department, we decided to omit the word first as this is something quite implicit
when sorting these options. Also, it helps us save space.

Please bear in mind that we sometimes write info instead of information for character count
reasons.

We don't always follow the Spanish Freelance Glossary when translating for the website. We've
decided to use terms like "Check-in", "check-out" or "parking". Please note this is not a mistake.

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TRANSLATIONS ERROR TYPOLOGY GUIDE:

Where to count it Error type Definition

Mistranslations A phrase or word that undoubtedly delivers a different and inaccurate
meaning or function that would mislead the reader.
For example:
Wrong translation
EN: Book this hotel for 5 nights

Translation: Book this apartment for 5 nights

Pieces of information in the source text that are not present in the
translation or vice versa.
For example:

EN: You can change or cancel your booking

Translation: You can cancel your booking

Over/under translation
Text that is omitted to avoid repetition should not be counted as a
mistranslation.

EN: Your request to cancel this booking will be processed within 48

hours
Translation: Your request will be processed within 48 hours.

Typos Punctuation Wrong punctuation use for the local style

Spelling Misspelling of a word without affecting the meaning

Grammar Grammar, syntax, or grammatical register issues

Localization Issues Address format

Date format
Currency format A format that is not compliant with the local convention
Measurement format
Telephone format

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 Content that inappropriately uses a culture-specific reference that will
Cultural specific reference not be understandable to the intended audience or that would leave a
negative impression

Suggestions for Commercial mottos, taglines, and phrases that are translated
improvement Creative translation
differently and do not perfectly meet the local audience look and feel

Any translation that is essentially correct yet it can be improved in

Possibility for better translation
structure, tone of voice, dialect, or length

A translation that is theoretically inaccurate but is possibly correct if

Contextual translations
more context is provided

A translation that is correct, but a synonym could be more appropriate

Synonyms
depending on the culture or context

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EXAMPLE OF HOW TO DO THE ASSIGNMENT:

One error should be counted once and under one category. If there are several errors in different parts of one tag, count them and indicate
the final number

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Thank you again for participating, if you have any questions, please
email freelancing@booking.com