The dilemma: translate it yourself or ask a translation agency for help?

Each company that decides to work with foreign partners or present its products on the international market, needs a high-quality and professional translation of all documents. At such moments, many managers have a logical question: how to translate, hire a translation agency or try and cope on their own?

In order to answer this question, you need to consider several important aspects, such as your abilities, your needs and of course the cost. People who do not deal with translations, think that this is easy and simple. Only the person who deals with this matter every day can confirm that translation is a complex and time-consuming process that requires certain knowledge and skills. In fact, the literal meaning of the word “translation” can be interpreted as “moving” words from one language into another. In order for the translation to be understandable and not offensive to any person who reads it, it must be done very competently, accurately and specifically for the place which it is intended for.

Your Opportunities

Do you or any worker of your company have experience with translation work? When you need to make a translation, and you or your employee knows a foreign language, you can contact him or make it yourself. This seems as the simplest option. But in such situation it is necessary to understand that a professional translator is not just a person who speaks two or more languages, he/she is also a writer. The translator must have a thorough knowledge of the foreign language and know the specifics of the translated material. Usually, translators translate into their native language. If a company employee is not a native speaker of a foreign language, then even the best acquired knowledge will not help him in carrying out such a task. When it comes to important materials for a foreign company, in addition to a translation which has not a single mistake, it must also show literary and artistic writing skills, which is rarely found in a common person.

If your company plans on an ongoing basis to contact the services of an interpreter, you can hire a full-time employee. Thus, you get a person who knows all the subtleties of the translation and at any time can prepare the necessary documentation. But in this situation there is a possibility that the translator can make a mistake, which you will not even notice, because you do not know the target language. There are many examples of mistakes in translating marketing texts. In some cases, the company lost millions due to incorrect translation of advertising slogans.

The best and most correct option for any owner of the company is to contact a professional translation agency. By signing a contract with a translation agency, you receive a team of professionals who will be responsible for the work done and will not allow any mistakes. Let’s consider why a translation agency can timely perform a quality translation.

Firstly, such agencies have a large staff of trained translators who not only have the necessary education in the field of foreign languages, but are qualified specialists in various fields of knowledge, such as management, law, technical topics, etc. Thus, when contacting a translation agency, you receive the full range of services.

Secondly, translation agencies have employees who not only translate materials, but also know how to write it correctly, using literary and artistic writing skills. This will help you a lot when translating marketing texts. It is important not only to provide the target audience with translated material, it is important that they understand and remember it. How people in a foreign market will appreciate your company and what reputation it will receive depend only on the translation you provide.

The most important advantage in cooperation with translation agencies is quality. Quality is the responsibility of the whole team that worked on your texts, but the most part of responsibility falls on the shoulders of the proofreader. He/she is the last person in the team who reads the text and checks for possible errors. The proofreader is responsible both for the translation itself, and for its correspondence to the target audience. Another task of the proofreader is to check the grammar. Thanks to this, you can always be sure of the correctness of any word, especially if you do not know the foreign language, which the translation was done into.

Your Needs

In order to make the right decision regarding self-translation or cooperation with a professional translation agency, you need to define your needs. When a company enters the international market, the need for translation grows instantly. You need to translate contracts with all customers, contracts with foreign employees, technical documentation, all materials accompanying the promotion of goods and services in a foreign market. The number of texts grows strongly and requires specific knowledge of the subject and the target market. Tt is almost impossible to cope with such an assignment on your own, this is a work for a whole staff of translators. A very important role in any business is played by time. Sometimes the failure of terms leads to serious consequences. If you decide to perform a large amount of translation work yourself, you may have a risk of breaking deadlines, which can not be done in cooperation with a translation agency.

If you need to translate a contract with one foreign partner, you, of course, can try to manage on your own, but you will never get full confidence in the quality of this translation. Even when it seems that there is no need for professional translation services, it is better to think several times about what you are risking by doing such work yourself.

Cost of Work

Of course, it’s not a secret for anyone that if you do the work yourself, you can save money. This is sometimes true, but not in the matter of translations. If you see a low price for translation services, do not immediately sign a contract for the provision of services. A low price does not mean high quality. Translation of texts is a big work that requires appropriate payment.

Only you can make this choice. The most important aspect of any translation is quality, this should not be forgotten.

The dilemma: translate it yourself or ask a translation agency for help? обновлено: September 28, 2017 автором: azurit