- 25 March 2021
PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR WHEN YOU NEED A TRANSLATION.
For people and/or companies not used to requesting translation services, having to translate any type of text or document can be a problem.
With this series of articles, Easy Translations will try to help you make the best decision.
Decide on what really needs to be translated:
Always ask yourself: Is it really necessary to translate this text?
Before you start translating page after page of text that you probably won't need later, we recommend you first decide what really needs to be translated. This will save you both time and money.
It is often evident that the catalogues, manuals, brochures or web pages of some companies contain content with too much unnecessary information which doesn’t need to be translated.
Too much written text can have a negative effect on the reader.
Similarly, we’d advise you to revise the content in the original language before sending it for translation so as to have a clear and concise text that contains only the most important parts of the document.
This type of editing will help you when it comes to internationalizing your company.
How much does a translation cost?
We recommend that you always request a quote before commissioning any translation project.
You will rarely find the rates published on translation agency websites.
This is because each project is different and the price-per-word can vary due to a variety of factors such as the document format, delivery date, language or specialization.
And you should also be aware that, sometimes, very low rates might mean that the translation will not be up to the expected standard.
Unfortunately, it is a common fact that not much importance is given to the quality of the translation while, on the contrary, usually a significant expense is made to ensure that the design and image of the catalogue, the manual or the web page is impeccable.
A mistranslated term or a spelling mistake creates a bad impression and it is very difficult to rectify errors once they’ve been published.
With a translation, what you pay for not only includes the simple act of translating a certain number of words from one language to another.
Sometimes, before the translator starts to do his or her work, many hours are spent in reviewing the texts, checking the format of the documents, carrying out the word count for the estimate, as well as creating the project and finding the translator for the required language combination, among other things.
Therefore, if you are interested in having a translation done well, we advise you to choose the one that offers you the best guarantee of quality.