Keys to acquiring translation services in a conscious and informed manner
If you are an entrepreneur who wants to export your products abroad, you should know how to request professional translation services in an intelligent and informed way traduzioni certificate online.
It is difficult, especially the first few times, to find the right provider and technologies for your needs. To receive a good quality translation service the first time, you need to know a little about the industry.
Peculiarities of the translation market
The translation market is special. In recent years it has been affected by two trends that are related but contrast in their effects.
On the one hand, it is worth knowing that in this sector long chains of intermediaries usually form , so the end client (you) often loses sight of who is doing the translation, which increases the price but not the added value. .
On the other hand, companies compete with each other on a more global level. Due to the “ commoditization ” of the product, for many customers only the price matters. To win over these customers, suppliers compete to see who offers the cheapest price, thus reaching prices that in some cases become unsustainable. For this reason, they often hire or outsource young, inexperienced staff. The result is a deterioration in overall quality.
To exemplify this situation, we could make an analogy with the tomato market. On a farm in Almería, a kilo of tomatoes costs 30 cents; This same kilo can be found for a price five times higher in the supermarket; and at the same time, those tomatoes must compete with the tomatoes that come from Dutch greenhouses that don’t taste like tomatoes, but are very economical. This means that Spanish farmers end up giving away their vegetables in a square, in protest.
As if this were not enough, another peculiarity of the sector is the presence of subjects who are not always fully qualified , which has given rise to a plethora of translation agencies actually made up of one or two people, usually husband and wife, who advertise with a website that looks like that of a large company.
These websites are recognizable because they all look a bit alike: typical stock photos with handshakes, smiling employees, views of world cities, flags, bridges… etc. And, if you read the texts, you will find the same concepts repeated over and over again: we offer translations in any language combination, with the best native graduate professionals, we are fast, punctual, etc. But in reality it is a couple who works from home.
What to do when translations are needed
The solution involves 3 fundamental concepts:
reduce or even eliminate intermediaries ,
Judging only based on price is not the best strategy,
To obtain the best result, the first thing we have to do is “bring homework done from home .”
When you need a translation, you have to resist the temptation to find a shortcut.
For example, I do not recommend launching into a simple Google search and choosing among the first results that appear.
Even less is doing it yourself or the option of “I have a nephew who did Erasmus in London…”
This does not mean that we should immediately rule out machine translation. For years we have been defending the appropriate use of automation and technology applied to translation, which we have discussed in several conferences.
Instead of these improvised remedies, you have to follow a structured path that can be summarized in 5 steps:
plan your multilingual communication,
define objectives and needs,
appoint a project manager,
select resources appropriately,
stick to a service contract.
- Plan multilingual communication
Translation should be included in a broader context of business communication . For example, when a company needs to select a specific technology to publish content, it must consider from the beginning whether that content will need to be translated and, if so, into which languages. From that decision, different factors related to the graphic part, language coding and development must be taken into account.
As a general rule, it is always advisable to opt for “open” formats , that is, those that are not linked to particular technologies or systems. Open formats have the main advantage of not being limited to a single developer and therefore do not follow the whims of the market. I am referring to the formats used by OpenOffice / LibreOffice, such as OpenDocument, or the HTML, XML, Portable Object, LaTeX , etc. formats.
Some of these formats are more translation-friendly than others. For documents, I would put XML and HTML on the “good” side and especially PDF on the “bad” side.
In short: the important thing is to use the appropriate format in each case. If it can be opened, the better, and if it can be easy to translate, even better.
By “easy to translate” I mean that it can be processed directly by assisted translation software (the so-called CAT tools ), without the need for format conversions or other intermediate steps, which are always risky and never have a 100% guarantee. that they will not lose data. Therefore, it is good to do your research or consult localization experts before making a decision, as doing so can save you money and headaches.
- Define objectives and requirements
At this point, we must establish exactly the objective of the translation project , or rather, your company’s multilingual communication project.
What do we need? What exactly do we want to obtain?
If our goal were to introduce and sell one of our products to an international audience, we would prioritize the content of that product.
Sometimes it is not necessary to translate all the content at the same time, but it is recommended to choose only those that interest us to reach the target audience.
A typical example is the news section of a website. Is it of interest to our French clients to know that in 2014 we participated in a fair in Turin?
To reduce translation costs, instead of asking for 5 quotes and choosing the cheapest one, it would be better to remove all unnecessary content. Or rewrite the original texts first, seeking clarity and synthesis, perhaps using controlled language .
It is equally necessary to clearly define the languages and countries of destination. Let’s not make the mistake of asking for translations “in African”, as I have heard.
Depending on the type of text, you must also pay attention to regional variants , as in the case of Spanish , which is written and spoken differently in different Latin American countries.
If we need a translation in one or two languages, it may be appropriate to assign the task to freelance translators, rather than to a company or even temporarily hire an in-house translator. In this way, we will have more direct contact and communication will be more fluid. In other cases, especially if the target languages are numerous, choosing a translation company will save us the arduous task of searching and communicating with multiple candidates.
- Appoint a project manager
The first two phases typically involve more than one person in a company, but there will come a time when only one person will be responsible for making certain decisions and who will be responsible for researching and selecting the right supplier based on the needs identified in the phase. former. Among the various tasks of this person, in addition to choosing the supplier, are:
maintain contacts,
be aware of all aspects of the project that are open to questions,
be able to successfully convey useful information,
answer the questions,
and, what is very important, give feedback during and after the project.
To ensure that everyone involved in the translation project follows the same rules, it can be helpful to create a style guide . In this way the translator will know, for example, whether the client wants to maintain a formal or informal tone, how to treat certain terms, whether to avoid “forbidden” words, etc.
Likewise, for projects of a certain complexity, a simple question and answer system can be established to communicate more systematically with the translators and resolve any questions. To do this, you can share a simple spreadsheet, or you can find an online system that allows you to manage, respond, archive, search and reuse information, or you can even use a chat system like Slack or Mattermost. In any case, the ideal is to centralize all communication to avoid losing information and time.
- Select the appropriate resources
Depending on the type of assignment, size, complexity and delivery time, selecting a translation provider can take a long time. In this case there are some shortcuts to reduce unforeseen events.
To start, it may be a good idea to ask personal and business contacts if they can recommend a translator or agency. Having reliable references is of great importance. Social networks and professional forums like LinkedIn help a lot in this regard. If someone we know has been in the same situation as us and has done at least some of our “homework” for us, why not take advantage of it?
Then there are translator associations , which in many cases offer lists of translators and some search and filtering tools on their website. In Spain there are several, including Asetrad , ACE-traductores and ATRAE .
For more options, we can turn to specific portals for translators and companies, such as ProZ , Translatorscafé , Translatorsbase and many others.
At this point, we should have found a sufficient number of potential suppliers.
In the case of companies, the steps are similar: after asking our contacts, we can turn to professional associations, such as Unilingue or Federlingue and then to the markets already mentioned. The goal of all this is to select potential suppliers to contact. Although today it is much more convenient to send an email, it is surprising how much information is obtained from a phone call. In some cases, telephone contact may be a determining factor in the final choice.
After the first contact, we can send an application, indicating all the information about the job in question, in particular:
the language of the original text,
the language to be translated into (also called “language 2”, “language b”, “target language” or “target language”),
delivery term,
estimated volume (in words, pages or pages),
the full text (or at least a sample).
In addition to requesting a quote, we can also ask if there is the possibility of doing a test translation . Translators generally accept a translation proof of at least 300 words, and once received, proofs can be sent to other translators or agencies for evaluation. Sometimes some translators prefer to send samples of work they have done in the past.
In short, it is advisable to ask if they have the capacity to take care of the required volumes and if they offer guarantees in case of claims. Furthermore, it is not necessary to send all the content to be translated at the same time, but the first delivery will serve to confirm our choice.
- Sign a service contract
If the workload and type of work require it, before starting, it is recommended to stipulate a contract that binds the parties. This contract must include the terms of the provision of services, for example:
definition of the service (translation, revision, layout…),
source and target languages,
source and destination formats,
the delivery conditions,
the rates and payment conditions,
protocol in case of complaints.
Conclusions
In this short article I have avoided the topic of technology applied to translation, because I take it for granted that potential providers use all the IT tools necessary to offer a modern and efficient service.
Again, I recommend choosing, if possible, open source alternatives like OmegaT, which use file formats compatible with other programs. Over the years, Qabiria has worked with this program and we can guarantee that the maturity it has achieved places it on the same level as commercial software.
The important thing to keep in mind is that in our industry haste is never a good ally , both in terms of cost and in terms of results.
The three factors that typically come into play are rate , deadlines , and quality , and they must be balanced.
If we insist on a low rate, time and quality may be affected. Likewise, if the delivery date is very close, because we waited until the last minute to contact the translator, it is likely that the rate will be higher and the quality will not be satisfactory. If we dedicate ourselves to carrying out each of the steps calmly, we will have more time to make a decision, and this will surely benefit our pockets and we will obtain a better result.