Photo: foter.com
English may be the international language and the default operating language for many businesses, but in today’s global economy, it is expected for competitive companies to be able to switch to a required language immediately.
Whether the content is a 100 page corporate privacy policy or one paragraph of instructions for how to properly make the franchise famous burger, one thing is very clear: document translations are not only important but for many industries required to make a profit.
Identifying the need for translation is relatively easy, the difficult task is to determine which route to take to obtain the needed translations.
There are a plenty of options and a variety of methods for businesses to have their content translated to another language the most common are:
HIRING INTERNATIONAL TRANSLATORS
This method is a traditional and common method for many older organizations, which hire translators as permanent employees to constantly translate any documents as a full-time or part-time employee in the organization. As is the case with every option in any decision, there are pros and cons.
PROS
Reliable; once an internal translator is hired and has been working for a while it becomes apparent how productive and efficient he or she is. This helps in scheduling and managing translation projects since the employer knows the skill, certifications, experience, and schedule of the translator. Thus the employer knows exactly what to expect from internal translators.
CONS
Significant investment; hiring an internal translator comes with all the costs and overhead that come with hiring any other employee, i.e. salary, benefits, insurance, etc. Internal translators also require a commitment and steady stream of projects to keep him or her gainfully employed.
Lack of flexibility; internal translators are bound to limits as any other individual is. Limited by the amount of languages he or she knows as well as industry experience or technical terminology. To be put simply a single translator cannot know every language and/or terminology for every field. If an employer wanted to expand these limits the inherent option is to hire another translator which would add to the significant investment mentioned.
HIRING FREELANCE TRANSLATORS
One way a company can avoid the investment and long term commitment of having an in-house translator is by hiring a freelancer on a per project basis. Freelancers are a dime a dozen and come in all varieties, from bilingual college students to seasoned and extremely certified veterans of the translation industry.
PROS
Cost; hiring a freelancer bypasses all of the long term cost and commitment that can be associated with hiring an in-house translator and can also be relatively cheap depending on the experience and skill of the translator.
CONS
Reliability; Given that freelancers differ for each other regarding skill, experience, certification, etc. This also means they differ on levels of professionalism and dependability and it could cost a company more than money to place the responsibility of an important project on a freelancer that exaggerated their skills or experiences. (In no way is this meant to imply that free lancers are unprofessional. There are many very professional translators available as well as the less professional individuals. )
SOFTWARE TRANSLATION
Software translation doesn’t require too much of an introduction. We have all used google translate one in a while. Software translation has come a long way and show potential but at the moment it seems more of a novelty than a professional solution for businesses.
PROS
Free & instant
CONS
Security
Read more… ( original from Japan Times)
Quality can be very bad to the point that a basic sentence cannot be understood
TRANSLATION SERVICE PROVIDERS
Translation service providers (such as flexword) are by far the best solution for almost any size or type of company. This is the method that many global companies use so as to cut out the overhead of an internal translation department. Generally, translation services have all of the positive aspects of the aforementioned methods and almost none of the negatives.
PROS
Reliable; in the same aspect that a full time employee is reliable and predictable, Translation service providers have the same reliability due to the fact that translations are all they do, all day, every day.
Certifications, experience, skills; flexword is able to show what certifications they have, show reference letters from clients to verify experience, and make available translator profiles detailing minimum skills and specialties required to be a translator at flexword.
Flexibility; translation service providers such as flexword also have the unique ability to translate a large volume of text to and from any language in a matter of days while maintaining the highest quality.
No significant investment; translation service providers can be easily contacted to translate a document immediately and paid on a per project basis, without any commitment.
Security; Not only do we use fail-proof secure servers for all data transfers but have detailed privacy policy and non-disclosure agreement for all clients and prospects.
From reading the above there are numerous ways a company can translate documents but the questions to keep in mind when trying to make this decision should be:
1. Does my document require the translation to be as accurate as possible?
2. Does my document contain sensitive company information?
3. Does the document need to be processed in a short amount of time?
4. Does my document need to be translated to several languages?
If the answer to these questions is yes contact us
