How to Choose a Translation Agency

Translation mistakes can be costly. In 2009, HSBC had to shell out $10,000,000 to repair the damage caused by a strap-line that was lost in translation in various countries (9 Little Translation Mistakes That Caused Big Problems).

A little closer to home, the New Zealand government still faces troubles due to the poorly translated Treaty of Waitangi fro as far back as 1840. The mistranslated Maori version of the treaty’s text implied that the British government of the time wouldn’t take the New Zealanders’ sovereignty. The English version, clearly stated that it would.

This kind of mistranslation issues can be incredibly costly, flooding your company with red statistics and horribly staining your public or professional profile.

That’s why it’s so important to choose a translation agency you can rely on.
In this article, we’ll consider some factors you should bear in mind when choosing a translation provider and how to compare the quotes you get from them.

Everybody makes mistakes sometimes – even the most experienced professional translators. It’s advisable to pay extra to have the translation edited and proofread by a second linguist to make sure any mistranslations or stylistic issues are corrected before you publish the translation.

Make sure you know what levels of Quality Assurance your service comes with when you request your quote. We’ll explore this a little more below.

You might need to know that your translator has expertise in your industry – particularly if there may be unfamiliar jargon that could be misinterpreted. For example, for most legal practices or medical centres, a translation handled by someone with the right background is vital as the documents tend to be highly technical and small details make a big difference.

To be on the safe side, it is advisable for you and your translator to have an agreed glossary for key terms. Especially those with synonyms in the target language.

Layout and formatting are often disrupted during the translation process. Translations may need to be entered into more complex formats and artwork files by a specialist.

Particular care needs to be taken with complex scripts such as Mandarin Chinese, Arabic or Cantonese. As these three are the three most-spoken languages in Australia other than English, most domestic companies feel the need to guarantee particular accuracy on this point.

You’ll want your provider to go through certain processes in the course of production to get the quality you need before having it delivered to you:

• Project scoping – In this phase, the project manager will compute the time needed to finish the project as well as the quote.
• File Preparation – If the source file is in a format that cannot be edited by the translator, the text must be extracted into a translatable format.
• Glossary Development – This is especially valuable if your project needs multiple translators in order to be finished within a tight timeframe. A unified glossary of terms will ensure that the terminology is consistent, even if there are several translators working on different sections.
• Translation – The project manager selects the most qualified individuals from the pool of translators to start working on your documents.
• Editing and Proofing – Translations should always undergo review by a similarly experienced professional to make sure that the quality is up to par.
• Translator Review – After the initial review by the editor, the amended translation is given back to the original translator who has the option to accept or reject suggested changes prior to formatting.
• Formatting – The translation team then hands the document over to the desktop publishing team to follow the formatting of the source material, minding the nuances of the target audience’s culture.
• Proofreading – A functional proof will be completed to ensure that the layout of the source and the translated material match, the correct fonts are used, names are spelled correctly and the text flows correctly throughout the document. The linguistic proof makes sure the final document is flawless linguistically and logical to a reader of the target language.

Having a professional do all of the work on your documents lessens the need for subsequent proofreading and editing on the client side, resulting in lower overall project costs.

It is not unusual, however, for the original document to be amended after the translation is completed and it is often most cost-effective to build expected rounds of updates into the initial translation quote.

Ask about the use of technology in the translation process. Computer-Aided Translation (CAT) with a well-defined Translation Memory could lead to better productivity for the human translator and will also increase the consistency of terminology used in the document.

Your files should only be touched by people certified to a certain standard. For the translation industry, you might want to check if your translation agency meets the ISO:9001 quality management standard or the ISO: 17100 for translation services.

The National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) is the Australian national body for the language industry. They offer accreditations and recognitions for qualified translators.

A NAATI-certified translator tends to be more expensive than other qualified professional linguists but using one may be necessary or desirable for your particular project. Be sure to ask and specify this when booking your translation service

Information security management is an important issue with translation as your linguist may be handling confidential information. Credible providers will be happy to share their information policies and procedures.

Turnaround times (TAT) differ for each project and there may be rush fees applied to ensure shorter TATs are met. This should be discussed with your translation service provider early on to ensure there are no surprises if your schedule changes unexpectedly.

Before partnering with a provider, you should investigate their reputation, track record and processes so you can be assured that your project is in good hands.

For Australian companies, the decision of whether to use a NAATI-certified translator is often an important one. The choice as to whether to go for a cheap and cheerful service where you can’t guarantee the quality – or to pay a decent industry rate for a translation which is edited and proofread, which uses CAT tools and Translation Memories to ensure cohesive use of terminology and which priorities native-speaking linguists with experience your field…

Well, that’s a priority no matter which part of the world you’re choosing a translation agency in.