Top Five Questions from First-Time Translation Buyers
By Matthew Howell
In my experience answering the phones here at Applied Language
Solutions, I've found that we get a lot of the same questions from
first-time translation buyers. We like to reward our customers for
instances of repetition, but only in your source documents (more on
that later). So, for those who are quite new to the field of
translation, here is a collection of some of the most frequently
asked questions we get from first-time translation buyers.
1. Will you be doing the translation?
I am a man of many talents, but alas, translation is not one of
them. Your translation will be handled by one of the 15,000
qualified, professional translators in our network. With such a
strong and extensive network, Applied Language is able to find the
perfect linguist for your project, whether you require a rare or
exotic language or a translator capable of working with a highly
technical subject matter. Trust me; you'd rather have one of them
working on your translation than me!
2. Which languages can you translate?
Applied Language Solutions works with 150
languages. We can translate into almost any language, as long
as English is either the source or the target language. That is not
to say that we are limited to English-only translations. In fact,
our catalogue of non-English language capabilities grows by the
day! Our apologies to the Trekkies and Tolkein fans who have called
in -Vulcan and Elvish are just about the only languages we can't
cover.
3. Do you use machines to do the translations?
An old fashioned language service provider will tell you that
they only use professional human translators for all their
translations. Applied Language Solutions did not become one of the
fastest growing language service providers by being old fashioned.
We realize that there are different solutions for different needs -
and that almost every translation project will benefit from
technology.
If your project requires perfect accuracy and style, we will
always use a professional, human translator. There are many tools
that a translator uses when working, which will improve the
efficiency of the translation process, cut production time, and
save you money. These tools include Translation Memory, which is a
database that stores previous translations for use in future
translation projects. More on that later…
Not to be confused with Translation Memory, Machine Translation
software is notorious for producing poor translations. However, the
technology is constantly improving to a point where this software
can be deployed - in conjunction with human post-editing processes
- to generate acceptable translations for gisting or
information-only purposes. This is a viable solution for many of
our customers, one that can generate cost savings of 50%!
4. I have this document that I need translated into Turkish.
How much will it cost?
To answer this question, we would need more details about the
translation requirement. The more knowledgeable you are about your
own document, the faster we can get you a quote, and the sooner we
can get you that translation. For example, if you tell me that
you've got 10 bicycle repair manuals of 1,500 words each that need
to be translated from English into Turkish and formatted in
InDesign for a bicycle repair seminar that you are hosting next
month in Istanbul, I can give you a very accurate quote.
Translation providers charge per word of source text. This per-word
rate varies depending on the language, subject matter, file type,
requested deadline and the volume of work.
5. If I have a lot of the same information across documents, do
I have to pay for it to be translated twice?
This is one of the great things about working with technology!
The Translation Memory software I mentioned earlier identifies any
repetitious sentences or phrases across a single document or
multiple documents. These Repetitions are charged at a fraction of
the translation rate, since the translator only needs to translate
the repetitious segment one time. Why do we charge anything at all
for Repetitions? Because, a translator must still check each
instance of the Repetition for contextual accuracy - since the
context of the surrounding text may change the meaning of the
phrase. Many people ask if single words are counted toward
Repetition, and the answer is no. Consider the word "the"; in
French, "the" can be translated as "le", "la", or "les", depending
on the gender and number of the noun it precedes.
A Translation Memory also stores previously completed
translations for future use. So, if you have a new document to be
translated, any text in the new document that matches previously
translated text stored in the Translation Memory will be counted as
a Match. Matches are charged at a fraction of the translation rate,
because the translation will automatically be applied to the new
document. Why do we charge anything at all for Matches? For the
same reason we charge something for Repetitions - the translator
still needs to do the work to ensure contextual accuracy.