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YOUR TRANSLATION NEEDS
“Who can translate my document?” Finding the best answer to this question can be frustrating.
“How much will it cost?” How much time have you invested crafting the text that will promote you, your product or your business? How many pages per hour can a person write?
Sometimes it’s tempting to do it yourself, but being proficient at a spoken level hides the risk that your written command might be immediately recognizable as "foreign". To convey an international image of your business, remember that in many cultures an awkward or sloppy use of the local language can be insulting.
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The second stop is a co-worker who asserts to be bilingual.
Experienced professional translators produce text that not only reads well in the target language: they constitute effective bridges between the languages they work in. Bilingualism is something else: speaking two languages fluently doesn’t necessarily imply being good at conveying information between the two, especially in writing.
Another tempting resource is a school or university language department. But the skill set required to teach a foreign language is rarely the same needed to deliver a smooth, elegant translation. The risk is even greater if you resort to students: would you ask a business student to prepare your company's financial statements to save some money?
What about free machine translation?
If you’re serious about translation don’t even consider it. The Wall Street Journal tested two free online automatic translation services and concluded: "These services are passable for travelers or for those wanting to translate a letter from a distant cousin. I definitely wouldn't use them for business or anything that remotely requires accuracy" (A Closer Look, Oct. 2000)
So who can help you?
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