The choice of a translation agency to translate your material, often created by your own sweat, blood, and tears, is not a task to be taken lightly. Only you know how much energy was put into your original document. In my opinion, the idea of translating your material "cheap and fast" is to be looked at with great caution. You get what you pay for, as the old saying goes.
Before I go further…
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Obviously, it is important to look for a fair price when it comes time to translate, it would be unwise to not shop around and explore various translation agencies. After all, there are literally thousands of translation agencies ready to translate for you, not to mention all the freelance translators - my above listed translation price quote service can help you enormously in this
It would require a super human task to list all the translation agencies that I have looked at here, and evaluate each one. I don't have the time nor desire to do this. But I felt that my experience might help you in making a wise choice, my translation agency price quote service provides price quotes from up to 5 high quality translation agencies - already (pre-selected).
Generally speaking, many translation agencies offer a quality service, others, on the other hand, had blatant translation errors on their own web site! Then, even amongst the good translation agencies, there were noticeable price differences.
What does one do? What are the qualities in a translation agency that one should look for to guarantee quality, and what are the lurking perils that might indicate a potentially poor translation? You want to be able to compare each on an even level for price considerations. You don't want to compare the apples to dirt clods!
I've put together a translation agency quality check list for you to at least recognize the apples when you come across them, and some potential red flags that may compromise your translation endeavor.
How does the translation agency guarantee quality? I have noticed that there are various ways of demonstrating quality, the good agencies will make it very clear how they go about this.
Each translation agency or company is run by an individual, or group of individuals, their track record and approach to running a translation agency is perhaps the greatest factor that will determine the seriousness of the service provided - thus the quality. Often they will explain how they hire translators, how they choose them for each project, how they apply quality control processes, and what they will do if the translation is not satisfactory to the client (guarantee). This requires some intuition on your part, but I have noticed that it becomes evident when a translation service is serious and qualified.
It is important to shop around for a good deal, but watch out for the rock bottom prices. To provide quality it takes time and effort, corners can't be cut. The opposite is also true, there is no need to pay extra for swollen overhead costs, some of the smaller "exclusively online" translation agencies offer great services with relatively low overhead.
Avoid machine translations! There is some decent translation software available, but they are very undependable for producing a high quality finish product. A machine translation can help a human translator, but it cannot replace him or her.
Does the translation agency use native language translators exclusively? This isn't a necessary quality, but generally speaking, native language translators will produce a higher quality finish product for you. It is one thing to understand a language well, it is another completely different thing to write well in a language. This doesn't mean that a non-native translator won't produce excellent results, just be cautious, especially with younger less experienced non-native translators.
Does the translation agency utilize translators with university degrees and/or several years of experience in the source language and in areas of specialization (medical, legal, marketing, etc.)? A good translator is good because of the results he/she puts out consistently (nothing beats experience and a solid track record). A University degree demonstrates that they are probably not "improvising", and that there was a formal deepening of knowledge.
Are the translators utilized by the translation agency specialized in the field that they are translating into? You probably don't want a translator that specializes in marketing translating medical or legal documents for you (if they have no prior experience). There is a good chance that they may not know all the correct terminology. This will reflect on YOUR professional status, you might risk being perceived as unknowledgeable and lacking professional literature.
How large is the database of available, qualified translators that the translation agency utilizes to find the right translator for your specific project? Except for translation agencies that limit themselves to target specializations and/or target languages, when it comes to finding a qualified translator for your target language and target specialization, the bigger the database, the better. You don't want a translator to "wing it" just because there was no other choice, but this is more of a question of the integrity of the project manager, if they don't have a qualified translator, and they can't find one, they should renounce the job.
Does the translation agency offer testimonials? Do satisfied clients keep coming back? It is always helpful to see what past clients have to say about any particular translation agency. It is obvious that a translation agency will not post negative testimonials, so this cannot be your ultimate yardstick, but testimonials might show a consistent approach to a principle of service.
Who chooses the correct translator for your job? Is it a computer, or a person? A computerized system is necessary to keep track of large databases, but I believe that the final decision should be human. There is nothing like a personal touch, from a qualified work flow manager. He or she, after a time, begins to feel the right translator for the right job, he/she begins to know the translators that are in the database, and use them for their best qualities.
If a problem comes up with your translation, that is, you are not satisfied with the results for whatever reason, how will the translation agency in question deal with this problem? This is an important consideration, because even with the best intentions, and excellent "safety nets" in place to assure a quality translation, no one is infallible.
The above considerations are simply intended to help you be more aware of both the positive and negative qualities that might surface when exploring translation companies to translate your material. They are not meant to be the final quality control list.
It would be wise to allow sufficient time to translate your material, this will help guarantee that the right translation agency and the right translator will be found for your project. It would be a good idea to present your project before you desperately need it.
