The Importance of Good Communication





Professional Communication For Language Translators and Their Clients

This is another article in a series that introduce new language translators and clients to preparing the various types of professional communication.  In this article two senior translators introduce readers to letters and memos and reports and proposals.

Letters and memos

In most cases, translators will find that the letters and memos that they translate will be reasonably short documents that range in size from one to two pages. As on certified Houston translator explain, memos are the “pillars” of international business communication, are intended for regular, every day transmissions of facts and details inside a company. Letters, designed to be targeted at company outsiders (customers, brokers, government agencies, etc.), provide an essential public relations purpose as well as convey specific information.

Letters and memos are generally grouped by objective into one of four types: one-to-one requests; ordinary, congratulatory and friendly messages; unpleasant communications; and persuasive appeals. The objective establishes the order or arrangement of details. Style and tone, on the other hand, are influenced by the connection that links the author and intended recipient.

The format for a letter is based on the culture of the business. Memo style is sort of unique. As an example, the body of a memo, particularly a lengthy memo, normally contains titles and bullet points or numbered lists to draw awareness to significant details as well as to present details conveniently to the intended recipients. The importance of opening paragraphs and transitions are often downplayed in a memo since the author and recipient have a familiar frame of reference.

Reports and proposals

These fact-based, unbiased vehicles of communication can be either sent out to insiders or to outsiders, based on the intention and topic. The Milwaukee Translation worker interviewed for this article wrote that reports and proposals come in a range of formats, such as forms, e-mail messages, memorandums, and manuals. In size, reports and proposals can vary from several pages to several hundred pages. Typically, they are bigger than letters and memos, with a greater quantity of specific elements. Reports and proposals are generally more formal than letters and memos. However in reports and proposals, as with all types of professional interaction, the organization, style, and tone depend upon the purpose, on rapport with the author and intended recipient, and on the culture of the business. As a result, the essential structural approach is common for each type.