How to choose a Translation Professional Company
What should you look for in a Translation company's linguist?
Ask the following 10 questions of any potential translation vendor before deciding to work with them. Make sure you feel comfortable with the answers provided, and don't hesitate to question any answer with which doesn't seem right. Ultimately, a truly accomplished translation is the product of cooperation between client and vendor.
For even more information about choosing a translator or translation services, please visit the translation resource links below. To find out more about Schreiber Translations, visit STI's Translation FAQ.
10 Questions you should ask your translation vendor:
- What is your Quality Control process?
- Tell me about your linguists.
- How do you ensure confidentiality?
- Who handles your translations from English into foreign languages?
- How do you handle feedback from clients?
- Can you handle monthly or yearly updates to my materials?
- How quickly can you translate my 500-page document?
- Can you provide me with simultaneous interpreters for my multilingual conference tomorrow?
- Can you translate my brochure into 5 languages and provide me with electronic files?
- Do you work with machine translation?
1. What is your quality control process?
First and foremost, make sure that you are talking to a full-service company rather than an agency that simply passes your document or request through to a translator or interpreter and then pretty much bows out of the process at that point. At STI, although 95% of the initial translation work is done by outside freelance personnel (so that we're able to perfectly match a linguist with a document's language pair AND subject matter), all material comes back through our office to undergo our multistage QC process. This QC process includes multiple levels of editing and proofreading. For interpreting assignments, our in-house staff remains involved every step of the way, keeping both interpreter and client informed and remaining available to take care of any last-minute issues or problems.
2. Tell me about your linguists.
Translation companies' linguist pools can vary. The important thing is that you feel comfortable that your situation will be handled by a linguist with both professional translation/interpreting expertise and the necessary subject matter expertise. If, for example, a company handles most of their translations in-house, is it really possible that they will meet your specific subject matter requirement? At STI, our pool consists of more than 3000 qualified professional translators and interpreters. Each of them additionally has background in a specific technical discipline or disciplines. If by some chance we don't have a linguist in our pool with both the language pair and subject matter expertise you require, we match the most qualified linguist with a non-linguist expert in the given field and they work together.
3. How do you ensure confidentiality?
Make sure that you feel very comfortable with this answer. How is your information handled while in the company's hands? Where are your documents stored? If the company is sending your material out to a freelancer, how do they ensure confidentiality on the part of the freelancer? At STI, we have our translators and interpreters sign a work order for each and every project with which they're involved that includes a confidentiality clause for that project. Furthermore, we're always happy to sign client-provided confidentiality or nondisclosure agreements.
4. Who handles your translations from English into foreign languages?
The answer, with very little exception, should be native speakers of the target language. The target language is the language into which the material is being translated. Only a native speaker has the ability to capture all of the idiomatic nuances as well as the cultural references. Only a native speaker can come closest to creating a translation that doesn't "sound" like a translation. At STI, our translations are always handled by linguists with native ability in the target language. When appropriate, we even turn to those in our overseas pool who live day-to-day with the language in question.
5. How do you handle feedback from clients?
What you are looking for here is some kind of system that the company has in place specifically for dealing with feedback. In other words, you want them to say something more than just "very well." At STI, we handle feedback in a proactive manner. At the beginning of an interpreting assignment, we find out as much information as possible about your preferences for the interpreter's capabilities and at the beginning of a translation assignment we work with you to determine at the outset whether or not you have any preferred terminology choices. If you have any questions or concerns once an assignment is completed we have a system in place for handling such inquiries. However, never expect that a company will automatically make any changes you ask for free of charge - changes to the original material or stylistic or preferential changes to the translation will result in an additional charge.
6. Can you handle monthly or yearly updates to my materials?
Although it may not be obvious to you at the outset, there is always the possibility that you may need updates made to previously translated materials. If you are having your website translated, for example, you may very well want to consider updating the information on a regular basis. If you are having a business contract translated, you may need some changes made a year from now when the original contract expires and you are negotiating a new one. At STI, we have procedures in place to handle these situations, from dedicated project managers who are familiar with your needs to a highly customized database and document storage system that allows us to retrieve any previously translated document in seconds.
7. How quickly can you translate my 500-page document?
If two days sounds too good to be true, that's because it is. The best that can be produced when translating 500 pages in two days is a first-run draft translation, and you should be very wary of a company that tells you otherwise. The only way to accomplish such a feat is to use machine translation (see number 10 below) or numerous translators and neither method will produce a polished translation. At STI, we handle these situations by being very up-front with our clients and explaining that we can have the translation back to you in a very short timeframe, as long as you can work with a draft initially. If requested, we will, of course, handle follow-up editing and given enough time, provide a final, polished translation.
8. Can you provide me with simultaneous interpreters for my multilingual conference tomorrow?
Simultaneous interpreting, especially in technical subject areas, is a highly specialized skill. Professional, experienced interpreters are often booked months in advance. Thus, be very wary of a company that instantaneously assures you they can provide this service in such a short timeframe. Will you really be getting qualified individuals? That's not to say it isn't possible. At STI, we are very up front with our clients. We will be happy to check in with our pool to see if by chance someone is willing to give up a few planned days off or perhaps has had a cancellation. Once we have checked we can get back to you and answer your question.
9. Can you translate my brochure into 5 languages and provide me with electronic files?
Here again, be wary of a company that supplies you with an unqualified "yes". It is likely that they can provide you with electronic files in five languages, but will you be able to read them? Especially if languages with non-Roman alphabets, such as Arabic, Russian or Japanese are involved. At STI, we always consult our clients carefully when such a request is made, to ensure that you will be able to work with what we provide. If, for example, you don't have the foreign language capability to read a Chinese file, we will suggest alternate solutions, such as providing a printable file for you to work with.
10. Do you work with machine translation?
Machine translation, or translation software, refers to software that takes a source text and "converts" it into another language. This process remains highly suspect as language is a complex human function that cannot be reduced to a one-to-one exchange of information. Still, machine translation does have some limited uses and you simply need to determine whether it can work for you. At a minimum, it must be combined with a human editing component. And be especially wary if your material has special subtleties, such as a marketing or advertising piece would. At STI, we work only with people; we do not employ machine translation. Where appropriate we work with translation tools, or translation memory software. These tools help with such things as terminology management, but do not replace the human process.
Other Useful Translation Resources
Schreiber Translations
FAQ
How we charge, how long it takes, what services are available
and more.
Ten
Requisites for Professional Translators
An excerpt from "The Translator's Handbook" published
by Schreiber Publishing, Inc.
Ten
Common Misconceptions about Translators and Translation
An excerpt from "The Translator's Handbook" published
by Schreiber Publishing, Inc
