Choosing the right translator or translation agency for your project is not always easy, considering the plethora of service providers out there and the various constraints. After taking the decision to translate, people generally wonder who to contact for such task. Our simple response: “You need a professional!”
But how do you get the right provider? How do you get a professional? After investigations, we discovered that there are some traps people generally fall in, which leads them to the wrong choices and decisions. Here below are some of the traps to avoid when you have material you wish to translate, and why.
1. Never look for someone in your entourage “who knows that language”.
Of course, knowing the language is definitely a necessary condition for translation, but it is woefully insufficient. Only true professionals know this! One thing you should know is that translation goes far beyond word transfer, it is a whole process and word transfer is just one of the stages. If you wish to learn more about the other stages of the process, visit our translation process section.
2. Never entrust the work to someone who has never done it but has always wanted to start.
Maybe there’s a friend of yours who has always loved languages and translation but has never translated before, save that for another time. The fact that they have never done it before means they will be learning it on your work. Can you figure out a situation where someone learns surgery on you? Think about the possible consequences. It is exactly the same as allowing someone to learn translation on your project.
3. Never entrust your project to someone who knows “someone” who can do it.
They may be doing so in good faith, for the most sincere. But good faith isn’t enough in business. Performance is. You have to get the job done, and well. But, we have realized that in many cases that ‘someone’ is not a professional. What you could ask them is to lead you to their ‘translator’ for you to assess them. Some of the tips we have mentioned here could be a good start to help you rule out the wrong profiles.
4. Never entrust your work to a general service-provider business, even if the services they render are related to language!
Of course, they render general services and although translation is a service, it is a professional or specialised or technical service that requires a good deal of expertise. That’s the difference! Most often, these service providers know little or nothing about what translation truly entails. It’s therefore a risky bet.
Translation is for professionals
Would you go to an old friend of yours to consult when you are sick, simply because he studied biology in school? Or would you hire your neighbour to build your house merely because he sells building equipment? Maybe you would ask your brothers to be your defence counsel in court because they read the penal code or studied law.
We bet you wouldn’t! And for the simple reason that though they may have some “knowledge” of the domain, they are not professionals or experts in the domain. And you wouldn’t entrust your life into the hands of someone who is not competent to handle it. Why won’t you handle your business with the same care?
Price and quality are vital
Business is about making money, and reducing expenses to the strictest minimum. That is the major reason companies and individuals tend to settle for what is cheap. Unfortunately, quality is generally not the best. Translation is no different. However, this does not mean that every cheap service or product is of low quality.
Professional translation is not cheap, but good quality is assured. On the contrary, unprofessional translation is usually very cheap, but can you really trust the quality of work done? This is the main reason why there is a plethora of “translations” that make absolutely no sense. But since the clients themselves are usually not experts, they just experience the side effects of the catastrophic services on their businesses.
Think of it this way!
Imagine a patient who goes to that old friend to consult because the doctor’s fee is “too high.” Should we be surprised if two days later some complications ensue?
What about that fellow who hires a salesperson in building material to build his house because the services of an architect are deemed expensive? Can the fellow really sleep tight in that house, knowing that it may crumble at any time?
What about asking your brothers to be your defence counsel because “the lawyer’s fee is too much”? Going to prison should not be a surprise to anyone who acts thus. Should it?
Conclusion
The next time you decide to hire someone to translate your documents, think twice, especially if the rates proposed are too low! You may think you are saving some money, whereas you may just be keeping it to spend even more on the same service or its side effects later on.
We understand your constant need to reduce expenses to make your business profitable. That’s perfectly understandable! However, you can still hire cost-effective professional services that will do just fine and deliver great results as well. You may also read our article “When Should I Request Translation Services” to learn more on the subject.