How to send one proposal in two languages.
Atlas Freight is sending a partnership proposal to a distributor in Istanbul. The deal team writes in English. The distributor's managing director reads English well, but the operations team who will judge whether the plan works reads Turkish. So the proposal has to work in both.
The usual result is two files, Proposal_EN.pdf and Teklif_TR.pdf, that match on the day they are sent and drift apart with the first edit. There is a calmer way: write once, translate from that source, have someone fluent review it, keep your terms fixed and send one link that lets each reader choose the language.
Which language should you write first?
Write in the language you negotiate in. That version is the source: every translation comes from it, and when two versions disagree, it is the one you check against. For Atlas Freight, the source is English.
Then write the source so it survives translation. Short sentences. One idea per sentence. No idioms like "move the needle" or "low-hanging fruit", which come out as nonsense or as something oddly literal. Spell out numbers, dates and units instead of leaving them to context. A sentence that is clear to someone reading English as a second language translates well, and it reads better in English too.
Can a machine do the translation?
A machine draft is a fast first pass, and on a twelve-page proposal it saves real time. Treat it as a draft, though, and mark it as one until a person approves it. Machine drafts tend to slip in exactly the places that matter in a business document.
Register is a good example. Turkish has a formal and an informal "you", and a proposal uses the formal one. The English line "You can track every shipment in Atlas Track" can come back informal, as if it were written to a friend:
Machine draftHer gönderini Atlas Track'te takip edebilirsin.Grammatical, but it uses the informal "you".
ReviewedTüm gönderilerinizi Atlas Track üzerinden takip edebilirsiniz.The formal "you", and the tone a distributor expects.
The other common slip is drift. "Lead time" becomes teslim süresi on page 2 and tedarik süresi on page 5. Both are real phrases, they do not mean quite the same thing, and an operations reader will notice.
Who should review the Turkish version?
Someone fluent who knows the business. A professional translator is a good choice. A colleague who will run the account in Istanbul is often better, because they know how a distributor's operations team talks about pickups, depots and delivery windows.
Give the reviewer a short brief instead of "can you check this?":
- Does it sound like someone in our industry wrote it?
- Is the formal "you" used on every page?
- Do numbers, dates and currency follow Turkish conventions?
- Does the closing ask sound natural, or translated?
Approve the Turkish version only after that review. Until then it is a draft, and it should say so.
How do you keep your terms consistent?
Before anyone translates a word, write a short term list. It is a small job, and it prevents the most common embarrassment in bilingual documents. For Atlas Freight it starts like this:
| English | Turkish |
|---|---|
| lead time | teslim süresi |
| proof of delivery | teslim belgesi |
| service level | hizmet seviyesi |
| route | rota |
| Atlas Track | Atlas TrackProduct name, never translated |
Formats belong on the same list. Turkish writes 1.250,50 where English writes 1,250.50, and a date reads 22 Ekim 2026. Headings in capitals need care too. Turkish has a dotted and a dotless i, so "istanbul" in capitals is İSTANBUL, not ISTANBUL. A tool that does not know the text is Turkish gets this wrong, and every Turkish reader sees it.
A glossary that every translation follows, so names stay names and each term reads the same way on every page, is coming soon in Decktrace. Until then, give your reviewer the term list and check each term while you review the draft.
Why send one link instead of two files?
Two files mean two things to update, two attachments to forward and a constant risk that someone reads the old one. One link avoids all three.
The reader can switch language at any time, and any page you have not translated shows in the original language. That matters more than it sounds. The managing director in Istanbul may prefer English. The operations lead may read in Turkish and switch to English to check one sentence against the source. A colleague in Amsterdam who is sent the link reads it in English without asking you for another file. Decktrace offers 10 languages, so the same link also works for Spanish, German or Arabic readers.
One link also keeps one set of facts. You can see which language each reader read in, next to how long they spent on each page, in one report, instead of piecing it together from two documents.
What happens when the English changes?
It will. The rates on page 5 move, or a new depot opens. When you change the source, the same page in Turkish needs another look. In Decktrace, editing a page in the original marks that page in every approved translation as out of date, while the pages you did not touch stay approved. Your reviewer checks one page instead of rereading twelve.
For a small wording change, a short gap between the two languages does little harm. For a price, do not let them disagree: get the Turkish page reviewed and approved before you tell anyone about the change.
What about the legal wording?
A proposal is not a contract, but it often carries prices and terms that end up in one. If both languages go out, say which one applies if they ever differ, and ask your lawyer how to word that. When the deal moves to a contract, have the legal text translated by a professional and reviewed on both sides.
Before you send it in two languages
- Write the source in short, plain sentences, without idioms.
- Make a term list, including the names that are never translated, before anyone translates.
- Treat the machine draft as a draft until someone fluent approves it.
- Check the formal "you", numbers, dates, currency and capital letters.
- Send one link and let each reader switch language.
- When the source changes, have the changed pages reviewed before anyone reads them.
- Say which language applies if the two ever differ.