14. June, 2024
How to create a bilingual contract in MS Word
In this article, we will explain the options for creating a bilingual contract (bilingual contract) and why Make It Bilingual gives you the best translation results in the least amount of time. First, however, we will briefly explain what a bilingual contract is and what special features need to be taken into account.
Bilingual contracts
If the parties to a contract come from different language areas, it is often advisable to draw up the contract in two languages. To do this, a table row is created for each paragraph of a contract. The original version is shown in the left-hand column and the translation in the right-hand column.
The advantage of bilingual contracts is that the contracting parties can see exactly which contractual clause in the original version is assigned to which translation. Legal misunderstandings and nasty surprises after the contract has been concluded can thus be avoided. Furthermore, in many cases, meaningful contract negotiations are only possible once a bilingual draft contract is available.
Beware of adjustments after contract negotiations
Typically, when a contract is concluded between parties who speak different languages, a bilingual draft contract is drawn up first. The next step is to negotiate the contract - often in several rounds of negotiations.
If the outcome of the negotiations requires an adjustment or change in a certain part of the contract, "chaos" often breaks out in bilingual contracts - namely when the adjustment is only made in one language version and the translation is forgotten to be adjusted at the same time. This can lead to unpleasant surprises for the contracting parties.
How to create bilingual contracts
Option 1: Manually with a translation tool
The first way to create a bilingual draft contract is to use the classic MS Word functions manually. To obtain the translation version, you can be supported by a translation tool, e.g. Google Translater
The following steps are required for this:Create a two-column table in Word or add another row to an existing table.
Copy the first paragraph of your contract text in the original language to the clipboard.
Paste this first paragraph into the left-hand column of your table.
Call up Google Translator and paste the paragraph still on the clipboard into the translation field.
Select the source and target language in Google Translator.
Let Google Translator generate the translation.
Correct any translation errors.
Copy the translated language version to the clipboard.
In Word, insert the translated paragraph into the right-hand column of the current table row.
Repeat the above steps with the following paragraphs, e.g. 400 - 1000 times (= typical number of paragraphs in a 20-page contract document).
It should be obvious that the manual creation of bilingual contracts can be an extremely time-consuming undertaking.
Putting contract texts into a bilingual table format requires an enormous amount of work, which is usually also extremely tedious - and therefore error-prone. A two-column table row must be created for each paragraph, the original version must be copied and pasted into the left-hand column and the translated version into the right-hand column. For a typical contract of around 20 pages, this can easily take a highly paid lawyer the better part of a working day, even if a translation tool is used for the translation.
The manual method is just as time-consuming when it comes to updating language versions for contract amendments.
Option 2: Make It Bilingual Word Add-in
With Make It Bilingual, there is finally an alternative to the manual method. With Make It Bilingual, you can convert a contract text into a bilingual contract text in just 3 steps:
Select contract text
Select target language
Start translation
Finished!
The translation of Make It Bilingual is carried out by an artificial intelligence specially trained for legal texts, which is 100% data protection compliant.
In just a few seconds, Make It Bilingual! converts the original contract into a bilingual table. A legally compliant prevailing language clause can also be added with a click. Such a clause stipulates that the original version is prevailing if there is a discrepancy with the translation.
Particularly practical: Make It Bilingual also applies all bulleted lists and formatting to the translated version. This prevents, for example, the possibility of a different enumeration sequence for numbered lists.
If individual clauses need to be changed during subsequent rounds of negotiations, the amended version in one language version can be transferred to the other language version with a single click.
Conclusion
Bilingual contract texts fulfill an important function in international legal relations. However, converting a contract text into a bilingual table format can be very time-consuming and expensive and complicate subsequent contract adaptations. With Make It Bilingual you can now finally reduce this time expenditure to a few seconds.
