Due to complex and diversified translation projects and varied client's requirements, a translator or reviser may have some questions about the original text when working on a translation project. Seeking consultation is an important and necessary part of translation. Some clients provide necessary Q&A channels when distributing translation tasks. In seeking consultation, there are some common considerations:

I. Using a specified format

If you seek consultation by email, you need to use a uniform format to submit questions to your client. You can follow the following suggestions:

• If the client has a specific requirement, you need to seek consultation in a format specified by the client.

For example, when working on a Huawei patent translation project or technical translation project, you need to add comments to the original text, and then submit the original text with the comments to a client's technical consultant. Some clients provide their own Query Form, so you need to use the client's Query Form to seek consultation.

• If the client has no specific requirement, you need to use our internal Query Form to seek consultation.

II. Choosing the right time

If you seek consultation by email, you can follow the following suggestions when submitting Query Form to the client:

• For a small project to be completed by a single person, if the project time permits, the translator is advised to fill in the Query Form during translation and submit the Query Form to the client with the aid of a relevant project manager before the translator completes the draft translation and performs self-check.
• For a large project that requires a time span of at least 2 days or involves multi-person cooperation, if there are many questions, the translator is advised to submit questions encountered on that day by using Query Form before the end of each working day. A relevant project manager simply forwards the questions to the client, or summarizes and then forwards the questions to the client.

III. Asking professional questions in a professional way

• Ask professional questions

Before seeking consultation, you need to think and analyze questions. You should not ask very basic or even obviously unprofessional questions without your own thinking or without an attempt to understand the background knowledge or retrieve any related information. The questions raised to the client should be those that still cannot be resolved after your own efforts.

• Ask questions in a professional way

When asking questions, you should try to reflect results of your own thinking and efforts, express your own views or opinions, and let the client's consultant to make selection or judgment rather than statement, to enable the client's consultant to quickly make correct judgment and improve the consultation efficiency.