Language Assistance Services Unit → Written Translation Services

Written Translation Services in MCPS

Get Paid to Translate

The Office of Human Resources offers a multilingual translation test to members of Service Employees International Union Local 500. Employees who pass this test are eligible for a pay differential for time spent translating documents for their local worksite. Those interested in taking the test should speak to their principal or director who can then begin the approval process for testing and for the pay differential.

The translation team of the MCPS Language Assistance Services Unit (LASU) provides written translations of systemwide documents in the five most populous languages of our student body:

  • Spanish
  • Chinese
  • French
  • Vietnamese
  • Korean

Schools may request the translation of schoolwide documents into the languages spoken by 10 or more enrolled students, according to official enrollment data. Since the translation team has staff for only the five top languages countywide, other translation requests must be sent to contracted translators, so no guarantee can be made regarding availability or turnaround time.

What Can the LASU Translate?

Due to legal constraints and capacity issues, there are limitations to the scope of the translation services provided by the LASU.

The LASU translates:

  • Correspondence required by state or federal law and related to student achievement, health, or safety
  • MCPS countywide documents, at the request of the originating unit

The LASU is not in a position to translate:

  • Copyrighted material without written permission from the copyright holder
  • State or federal government documents without written permission from the competent agency official
  • Results of assessments
  • Meeting notes
  • Testing materials
  • Curriculum materials
  • Transcripts
  • Legal documents
  • Personal communications
  • Documentation related to personnel issues

Note: The above list is illustrative, not exhaustive.

Any questions as to whether a particular document can be translated by the LASU should be directed to María Elena Escobar, LASU publications manager.

Preparing Documents for Translation

Authors of materials that need to be translated need to pay particular attention to how they structure the content of their documents before submitting the documents for translation.

  • Meaningful segments should never be separated by returns (hard or soft), section breaks, column breaks, page breaks, or table cells.
  • Any document being submitted for translation should not be formatted for aesthetic purposes, but only for function (e.g., titles, headings, tables, captions, etc.). The spacing will not be exactly the same in any two languages and the underlying code in aesthetic formatting will cause problems in the translation process.
  • Use a table for columns of information, not tabs. This will make it easier to preserve meaningful segments intact, both for translation and for editing in English. If tabs are necessary in a line or series of lines, do not use multiple tabs to place the text where it needs to go, but rather reset the tab to where the text needs to go so only one tab is necessary from one column to the next.
  • Use underlining and a single tab or, preferably, lower borders in tables to create fill-in blanks for forms. Do NOT use underscores.

Requesting a Written Translation in MCPS

Requests for translations of documents that are designed and published by Editorial, Graphics, and Publishing Services (EPGS) or Web Services are sent directly to the respective unit with the publication requests. Complete and submit MCPS Form 311-1 the document(s) to be published and translated. EGPS and Web Services will work with LASU to produce the translated, published documents you need.

As of July 1, 2009, MCPS is using a web-based Translation Request System for all requests for written translations. Requests must be submitted through the local translation coordinator using TRS.

Supported File Types

File Type File Extension Supported
Microsoft Word 2003 .doc Yes
Microsoft Word 2007 .docx Yes
Microsoft Excel 2003 .xls Yes
Microsoft Excel 2007 .xlx Soon
Microsoft Powerpoint 2003 .ppt Soon
Microsoft Powerpoint 2007 .pptx Soon
Microsoft Publisher .pub No (Please export content to a Word file.)
Adobe PDF .pdf No (Please submit the original Word file.)
Adobe InDesign .inx Yes
HTML .html Yes

Please refer procedural questions to María Elena Escobar, LASU publications manager.