Selecting the Right Translation Service for French
Knowing and working with these rules will help you to avoid:
• Having to re-do a botched-up translation job
• Spending inconsiderate time and money proofreading and correcting errors
• Having to repair a corporate image marred by a wrong translation
• Being criticized by unhappy clients and scornful readers
• Litigating with suppliers and customers
When asking a quote for a job to a translation agency, require full disclosure of the experience of those translators they will assign to your job. Do not blindly award a contract on just a price. Select the translators (not the agency) you think are best suited for the job at the right price. Doing otherwise may cost you a lot more.
Ask for valid references for translation work similar to what you require. It's not a guarantee, but a translation companies "bad" work can often limit who they refer to for a "real" reference.
Establishing client-specific glossaries is common practice. It is based on an observed fact: dictionaries lag the language, especially technical dictionaries. Yet, outdated or inadequate terminology will force you to overcorrect a translation job. It is much better to agree on a glossary and save yourself the future trouble. Evaluate your translator's glossary.
Ask whether the translation will be "human" or computer/machine translated. Many companies will simply send your work into translation software and have corrections manually reviewed (if that). This may be OK for non-critical correspondence or e-mails, but if you're paying for translation the only way for it not to lose the meaning or jest of a sentence is for the human brain to do it. Be very careful.
No translator can keep updated on everything and anything. You hold valuable background information, which if shared, will often be beneficial to the quality of the job. Require your translation agency to allow a direct contact between you and your translator.
Your translator is limited by his own speed. And sharing a job between several translators often means compromising quality. It is generally accepted that a translator can process about 1500-2000 words within an 8-hour day depending on complexity. Some translators are much faster, but it is a good rule to reckon your deadline based on this figure. So, if your volume is too fat, review carefully with your translation agency how exactly they intend to proceed to ensure a high quality translation.
Does the cost of a translation include the time spent giving the job a final proofread? Pick the wrong translation service and you may drastically increase the cost of your translation. Saving a penny may wind up costing you a dime (depending on how bad the translation, and how expensive the project). Do not base your judgment only on word price; pick the translation company/translator most suited for the job.
Translating is not an industrial process. Errors do occur. Reputable agencies will assign a team of two to your job: a translator and a proof-reader/editor. The team system allows for errors to be picked up. And agencies with a solid editing process will always do a better job than free-lancers operating alone.
Agencies specialized in French Translation (language specialists) will often provide better service since: (a) you gain a larger share of their attention because your business is more essential to their survival; (b) their recruitment is more focused than that of general-purpose agencies; they usually take greater care of their translators' continuous training. You can have everything from Printing Companies to Web Designers, who can tell you they also do "Translations"; you may be asking for trouble.
The more specialized your translator is, the better the outcome will be. Just as you would not choose a cardiologist to treat a back pain problem, do not ask a finance specialist to translate a computer operator's manual. Pick a computer specialist instead.
