Translation: Determining what service you need and what it will cost
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Revision as of 15:32, 27 March 2010
Contents |
Overview
This article is intended to for companies and individuals that require translation services. The goals of the article are to:
- Introduce the three types of translation service that are available
- Provide an overview and links to resources that can be used to estimate the costs associated with each service type
First question: What level of quality is required?
Before answering the question of how much translation costs, or which type of service is best, one first has to ask the question "What level of quality is required?" The answer to this question will determine the category of service will be required.
If a translation is required only for informational purposes, automatic translation may be suitable. When automatic translation is not acceptable but errors can be tolerated, human translation of unspecified quality can be suitable. Translation of material in which the presence of errors could have undesirable consequences requires the service of professionals that offer some level of guarantee or assurance concerning quality.
Automatic translation
Free, general purpose automatic translation
Automatic (or "machine") translation ("MT") is available for free in many languages. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and other companies offer rapid automatic translation in a host of languages at no cost. For translations being performed for informational purposes, these solutions may be adequate -- although caution is required.
Automatic translation customized / trained for specific fields
There are also companies that specialize in building custom machine translation solutions, optimized for a given set of material. These solutions, which carry a fee but tend to be less expensive than human translation, may be appropriate, especially when translation of very large volumes of texts is needed (and again, there is room for error.)
Human translation of unspecified quality
There is a class of people and companies that offer translation services without offering concrete guarantees or assurances concerning the quality of their work. Rates charged for this category of service vary significantly, from 20 cents or more per word down to as low as 1 cent per word. Established businesses and organizations may even find fans or enthusiasts willing to contribute translations for free. In cases where machine translation is not suitable but there is still ample room for error, working with this class of individuals may be an option.
High-quality human translation
When it is important that a translation read well and be free of errors because it is intended for publication, use with customers, etc., it is necessary to work with professional translators and translation companies that can offer some level of guarantee or assurance concerning the quality of their service (for example in contracted terms and conditions, services agreements, or other ways). To understand the rates charged by this class of translators, it is useful to understand what is involved in their work.
To produce top level work, a translator must not only be bilingual, he or she must also be a subject matter expert and a good writer. The number of people who have this combination of skills is limited. What is more, skill alone is not enough; most projects require some amount of research, and at a minimum, a careful word-by-word check for accuracy. So a certain amount of time must be spent to ensure quality in any given project.
For these reasons, high-quality translation has a certain cost associated with it. Budget less than that rate as a translation buyer, and you put yourself in a position where it is unlikely that you will receive high-quality work on an ongoing basis.
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