Rush job. IT>EN. Due tomorrow (23-Sep) at 10am CET. Topic: contracts.

Legal translators with a spare capacity of at least 2,000 words please contact us at info@intrawelt.it.

You’ve got a website. The designers were pretty expensive but, hey, it was worth it – the website looks brilliant. Now you’re thinking about translating it into French and German because you’ve got some pretty big customers in those countries and there’s more money to be made there. Just do a quick search on Google and…..wow! millions of translators and translation agencies.

You have many options from freelancers to the biggest “Language Service Providers” and each comes with their own advantages and disadvantages.

Freelancers

Probably the cheapest. And probably the highest risk. All it takes is a computer and an internet connection to set yourself up as a freelance translator. A professional-looking website costs very little and buying Google Adwords isn’t expensive. But how can you tell if the freelancer is good, bad or ugly? If I were unscrupulous, I could list my (fake) degree, my (fake) experience and even my (fake) clients. And I know you can’t read German so you can’t judge my work. As long as it looks German, you’ll be happy.

Translation Agencies (or Language Service Providers)

Not the cheapest. But there is a range from reasonable to “they-can’t-be-serious-can-they?”.

I can’t speak about all agencies but Intrawelt works like this:
We use freelance translators and reviewers. We’ve got over 500 with whom we work regularly. We test everyone. We check every CV – calling universities to confirm degrees. We take up every reference. We test their language skills – they have to do a sample translation. If we can’t assess their language skills ourselves, we use external trusted sources (such as universities, or known and trusted translators)

In short, we make absolutely certain that our freelancers are qualified, experienced, and capable.

Then we make sure that they continue to improve their skills by attending courses, workshops, conferences, etc. and by continuing to translate or review in their language combination(s), in their area of expertise. Because if someone’s qualified and experienced but hasn’t translated for 10 years, how current are their language skills?

That’s why many companies choose translation agencies. Because only we can guarantee freelancers and only we can guarantee quality.

I like peanut butter. Do you know how many different brands and types of peanut butter there are? (I stopped counting at 74). But I like just peanuts in my peanut butter – no added sugar nor salt – and I feel better buying the organically grown stuff too. Know how big my choice is now? A lot smaller.

When it comes to translation services, you’ve got another massive choice. And if you don’t speak German how can you judge the translation? How can you “filter out” translation agencies or freelance translators?

It’s not easy but consider an average UK-based freelance professional translator (sources/assumptions are listed at the end). A careful and thorough experienced professional can translate about 2,000 words a day or 10,000 words a week. If the translator works 48 weeks a year (well, they must take a holiday sometime!), they translate 480,000 words a year.

The entry-level translator salary is £22,000 a year: 4.5p per word.
Experienced translators can earn £35,000 a year: 7p per word.
And senior translators could reach £50,000 a year: 10p per word.

But just as every author has their work reviewed, so every translation should be checked. “Proof-reading” really means “copy-editing and proof-reading” because we compare the translated text with the original and check the translation. Rates tend to range from a third to a half of the translation cost (although many charge by the hour).

So the next time you need a translation done, consider a senior translator will charge 10p word, then the reviewer will charge 3p-5p per word.

And if you have a large project, or many language combinations, factor in the Project Management costs too.

If you’ve just Googled “English German translation” and agreed 3p a word, are you buying peanut butter made from just organic peanuts or are you buying peanut butter made with added dextrose, palm oil, sugar, salt, colouring, flavouring and preservative?

Which would you rather put into your system?