How We Translated School Policies into Québécois French: A Case Study

At Translation Agency of Canada, we focus on delivering precise and culturally appropriate translations. In a recent project, we were asked to translate school policies — such as weapons policies, vehicle usage policies, teacher leave policies, etc. — from English to French. This case study outlines our process to ensure the translations complied with local Québécois French language standards and maintained consistency throughout.

First, we used the computer-assisted translation application Smartcat to translate all of the files. This platform employs translation memory, which retains and reuses previously translated segments, ensuring consistency and accuracy throughout all translated files.

Since legal and procedural terminology is frequently used in school policies, translation memory is very helpful in guaranteeing uniformity and correctness.

Machine translations, while efficient, are far from perfect. In this project, it was crucial that the post-editing be performed by a Senior Translator with 8 years of experience in English to French translation, specifically Québécois French. Furthermore, the translator was born and bred in Montreal and holds a Master’s degree from UQAM, which made him an excellent candidate!

The post-editing process focused on two main areas: punctuation and vocabulary localization. Key adjustments included:

• Punctuation correction. French (France) machine translations often insert non-breaking spaces before punctuation marks like exclamation points (!), question marks (?), and semicolons (;). In Québécois French, however, these spaces are unnecessary, so they were carefully removed.
• Apostrophe adjustments. Machine translations typically use straight apostrophes ('), which were changed to the correct curly apostrophes (') used in both French (France) and Québécois French.
• Vocabulary localization. Several English terms commonly accepted in French (France) needed replacement to align with Québécois standards. For example, the English word "spray" was replaced with "pulvérisateur," "manager" with "gestionnaire," "coaching" with "encadrement," and "e-mail" with "courriel." These changes ensured the accurate representation of the local language.

By using the Search and Replace tool, our translator efficiently handled these common issues, carefully checking each instance to maintain grammatical accuracy and correct article use (masculine/feminine + contractions). The rest of the post-editing involved fine-tuning the text to ensure it was accurate, clear, and grammatically sound, reflecting Québécois French usage.

The translation process also required us to adapt certain design elements. Since the school’s logo was included in the source files, we created a French-adapted version of it. The word "écoles" was ideal for this, as the letter "o" in the word could be replaced with an apple image, maintaining visual consistency and enhancing alignment with the French text.

Although Smartcat retains most of the original formatting, certain elements — such as electronic signatures and fillable forms — needed manual adjustments. To address this, we brought in a layout designer to ensure the final documents preserved the original format and functionality.

In addition to delivering polished PDF and Word files, we offered a “READ ME” file as an extra service. This document contained valuable notes on:

• Errors found in the source material.
• Broken links.
• Logical inconsistencies that we corrected during the translation process.

These remarks provide the client with useful insights for future updates and revisions to their documents.

To deliver this comprehensive service, we assembled a skilled team:

• Senior Translator
• Project Manager
• Designer
• Layout Designer
• Quality Control Manager

Our team worked collaboratively to make sure that the translated policies met the strict criteria of the school board while maintaining accuracy, consistency, and professional design.

We didn't mention it in this article, but the project manager's efforts to stay in touch with team members at each stage of the project deserve special recognition for enabling us to reach the deadline.

Translating school policies into Québécois French was a multi-step process that required precision, expertise, and attention to detail. By leveraging CAT-tools, expert post-editing, design adaptation, and thorough formatting, we delivered a final product that exceeded the client’s expectations.

For more information about our translation services, feel free to reach out to Translation Agency of Canada to discuss your next project!