Rush translation happens when someone finds themselves in a rough spot and needs translation service right away. Things get forgotten, new projects pop up, priorities change. That is completely understandable. Not all situations afford the simple benefit of planning and the problem will not go away unless addressed.
And, guess what? Most professionals in our industry are happy to help, drop everything else, roll up their sleeves and help out.
First, let’s talk about what exactly constitutes “rush”. If you need 2,000 words or less translated and you need them back in 3 business days, you will likely not incur any charges.
If we are talking about delivery within 24 hours or EOB today or projects involving multiple languages on a tight schedule, etc., we are definitely talking fast turnaround and you will see an uptick in price. Here are three reasons why:
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- Immediate, dedicated project management is needed: It takes a while for a project manager to find an available translator who is also ready to drop everything else they are doing and focus on your project. The communication that occurs and preparation of the project for translation take time.
- Translators will most likely be paid higher fees: We may use on-call translators who are paid a retainer fee or we may find a translator who is willing to set aside other work – or simply refuse other projects – and this is something that, traditionally, deserves compensation. In addition, any overnight work will also be compensated as overtime work.
- If the volume is very large, some automation may need to be used. A hybrid solution involving machine translation and human solution might be the answer for you. This requires setup and different steps than traditional translation process. If you are a current customer and such structures have been set up for you, you may avoid rush fees. With new customers, this simply depends on complexity of the task on hand.
As always, make sure you understand the process your language services provider uses. Make it clear whether all quality steps need to be included or if some can be skipped in the interest of saving time. This does not mean that the translator is rushing and may not deliver what you need. Cutting a QA step simply means that the translation will be seen and touched by fewer eyes and hands than it normally would – which, depending on circumstances – may be perfectly fine.
Call us today if you have any questions about rush fees! We won some of our best customers after we were able to help them with complex projects with fast turnarounds and are not afraid to take on a new challenge.
By: Hana
Date: November 7, 2017
When taking a business global and considering offering a website in other languages (localization), it is important to understand the difference between the terms “Translation” and “Localization”. These are often used interchangeably but there are important differences between them.
Translation is the process of replacing the original language with the target language version. Localization includes not only translation but also adaptation of materials for foreign markets. The localization process should first ensure that the material says the right thing in the target language. Second, it should also make sure that the text will function well in another culture. This means, among other things, assessing product names (so they do not come close to something inappropriate in the target language), colors used for cultural implications, changing formats of time, date, telephone numbers and changing measurements. The result should read and look not like a translation but rather a product that was originally created for the target audience.
Here are 5 tips on what to consider before making the decision to localize a website:
1. Language(s). If a business only targets one geographic area, the language of choice will be obvious. However, what to do if there are multiple languages to consider? What if the effort needs to target existing customers as well as potential customers? Usually, starting by connecting with audience across the regions in which a business is already active is good practice. That way, current partners can also serve as resources for perfecting the content of the web information.
2. Pages to translate. The first pages to be localized are usually product/services/solutions pages, as well as landing pages and marketing items. It is generally not necessary to translate everything right off the bat.
3. Timing Strategy. Localizing randomly or as needed usually does not produce the best consistency results. The optimal solution is to have a strategy for localization where text is processed either in logical content batches or by languages. This works better not only for quality but also for cost. When processing all content in one language, first, savings realized from repetitive content and/or volume are much more likely.
4. Content. Writing content specifically for localization often works better than using already existing content. There are ways of optimizing content for localization, such as writing shorter sentences, avoiding ambiguity, using pre-approved terminology, describing one concept with one word or a limited number of words. Working with a qualified language services provider will help distinguish between the individual types of content to be localized and to make most out of this process.
5. Format. Web content can exist in different formats – web pages, images, graphic content, script, etc. Localization, translation of web application user interfaces and testing of localized websites are all parts of the localization solution and effort to manage the web content, publish the site and maintain and update it in the future.
Localization also focuses on how the target users will eventually access the target language content. This can be through a menu on a home page, a button, or even by using a completely separate domain name.
Users around the world prefer to receive information about a product or service online, in a version relevant to their market and in their language. Psychologically, they are also more likely to be attracted to such product or service and, ultimately, more likely to buy. While entering global markets can be challenging and expensive, localization is an investment with a very high rate of return.
By: Hana
Date: October 31, 2017
Fast translation is sought after for many reasons and we are used to it. Even so, questions like “How fast can I get my translation back?” or “How long will you take to translate my document?” are difficult to answer. There are multiple factors that will influence the speed of translation:
- The size of the document
- The type of the document and its intended purpose
- The target language(s)
- Your desired deadline
- Additional complexities such as formatting or need for specific software
- The quality level needed
1. Get Your Document Ready
Your translation services provider will ask you to see the document before committing to price and turnaround time. Be ready to provide it. If your document is a PDF, see if you can locate a copy in the native format (text editable). Read more here about the specific challenges of PDF document translation.
2. Specify Target Audience and Purpose
Who will be the recipient of your document? Where are they? Is there any other demographic information you can share? How will your document be used? Is it for information only or will it be published? Is it to address a customer service issue or to make a presentation to an important business partner? Any information you can share will help your provider select the correct path for translating your document. Avoiding unnecessary steps will speed up the process, as well as correctly understanding your goals.
3. Settle on the Desired Turnaround Time
Come up with the best and the worst case scenario. Allow your translation provider to express their opinion. Keep in mind that while they want to help you meet your deadline they also want to deliver the best possible product. Translation companies have ways of speeding up by changing the process, scaling up available capacity by using multiple translators and/or by using automation. There will almost always be some trade off in terms of quality, though. For example, a document translated by 5 different translators rather than 1 – and without the time for proper editing – will read like a document written by 5 different people.
Last but not least, be available for consultation during the translation process. If you are there to answer questions you might just be able to help speed things up.
Consider working with your translation partner closely during the phase of authoring documents for translation to avoid last minute rush scenarios. Anything that can be done to switch the translation process from reactive to proactive will help.
By: Hana
Date: October 10, 2017
There is no question about translation services playing a significant role in helping businesses grow their footprint in the world. More and more businesses start using translation each day, exploring the impact it can have on their bottom line and how it can help attract wider audiences for their services or products. For those who are just beginning their translation journey, here is an explanation of the most common misconceptions about translation services:
- Free online tools provide an adequate solution. Online translation tools have come a long way and are getting better every day. They will never replace human translators, though, and here is why: translation is a creative activity of an educated mind that takes into account not only the meaning of individual words but also the context in which they occur. Online translation engines work based on statistical methods without much regard for anything else. While they might be adequate for a postcard to a friend in Italy, they are by far not adequate for business.
- There is no need for translation services. Everyone in the world speaks English. Many people around the world do, in fact, speak English. However, psychologically, they are much more likely to buy a product or service if they can read about it in their native language. It makes every business sense to take a step toward the customer and translate marketing and product literature for them.
- It is cheaper to use bilingual employees. Employees who speak other languages are frequently the first ones asked to translate. Translators are people who are not just bilingual but also are educated and/or experienced in the art of translation. Being bilingual is simply not enough. Asking employees to translate produces low quality, unreliable results. Moreover, at standard hourly rates of administrative staff the effort is sure to cost more than hiring a professional translation service.
- Translation companies have translators available at their office at a moment’s notice. While some translation companies will have translators on staff for the most frequently used languages, most of them work with a network of freelancers. This ensures that the linguists live in the country where the target language is spoken and that they keep in touch with their language. Translators are matched with projects based on their language combination but also based on their background and skills such as business, legal, financial, medical, etc. It would be a physical impossibility to have all resources on hand at all times.
- Translation is just replacing words. This could not be any further from the truth! The translation process includes the creative work of a translator, but also editor and proofreader. Oftentimes, desktop publishing as well as additional services such as file pre-processing and post-processing or engineering are also involved.
Don’t forget that we are here to help with any questions or concerns that you might have about translation services, either the TLC way, or in general.
By: Hana
Date: June 3, 2017
Even though customers pay for professional translation, they still want to feel assured that what they are getting is good quality.
This is completely normal. If someone does not speak the target language, they must trust someone else’s work without being able to check it. If you hired a plumber and your pipe stopped leaking, chances are they did a good job. Determining quality is not as easy with translation.
Plus, translation, a distinctly creative activity, is as subjective a field as they come. Ask five translators to translate the same document and you will receive at least five different versions of it.
How to go about keeping your peace of mind about professional translation?
First, get to know your translation vendor and their process. Find out how they hire and verify translators. What does their quality assurance process look like? Does a separate editor review the translation after the translator completed their part? Do they complete a pre-delivery check? Do they follow a specific process designed for your company and your translation projects?
There are other questions you can ask but the point is that the better you know your Language Services Provider, the more at ease you will be with their work. Or, if their translation service is not up to your expectation, it will become obvious that you should go shopping for a new resource.
If you still feel you must somehow verify the translation received, perhaps by asking a bilingual employee for help, follow the steps below.
Constructive Review
- Review the file side by side with the original AND and take into account any reference material, set terminology, and specific translation instructions.
- Translators always take into account the target audience for the translation – who they are, where they are, what is their level of education, etc. Do the same as you conduct your review.
- You might want to take the resulting document back to your vendor. If so, use the “Track Changes” feature in Word so they could easily see the revisions. It is a good idea to give them the opportunity to accept or reject your changes.
- Strive to be as objective as possible and do not make any preferential and/or stylistic changes unless doing so increases the accessibility to your particular audience. Never make changes just because the new solution “sounds better”. Instead, focus solely on errors in grammar, usage, punctuation, proper tense, inconsistencies, etc.
The final, and perhaps the most important point, is that it is completely acceptable to review a translated document and NOT find anything that must be changed. The person conducting the review must be instructed in a way that tells them this is a possible and acceptable outcome. Otherwise, since they were asked to review the translation, they will feel compelled to “find something”. Perhapsf just to prove they have done their job. This will almost certainly result in resentment and unnecessary work for you and your vendor.
A professional translation service is all about trust. You will do your part of building trust if you help your vendor keep reviews objective and constructive.
By: Hana
Date: February 1, 2017
When considering professional translation, i.e. translation done by creative, qualified humans, translation cost is one of the most important factors. If you are a frequent translation user on behalf of your business, this article is for you.
Sometimes we wish translation pricing was a straightforward as a price per word or per page. But things are generally not that easy and translation companies often come up with complicated pricing scenarios that include many different items.
Here are a few of those you would likely not expect, along with information on how to avoid them.
Layout and Formatting
For one reason or another, many documents for translation are in PDF format. PDF, a Portable Document Format, is just what it says it is: a document that is easy to send to someone, and one that is easy to open across various software platforms. Although a PDF is an excellent choice for many, translators and translation companies will not like it. The main reason is that it is hard for them to use a PDF in the software tools they use to ensure consistency of their translation. A PDF document, especially one that was produced by scanning, also needs to be formatted to look like the original.
Here is what to do:
- Always keep track of “native” files. These are in a format in which your document was in before it was converted or exported into a PDF. Examples include Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher, etc. Providing native files to your translation vendor will cut the cost of processing.
- When asked for a “text-editable” file, do not just run your PDF through an OCR program (same results are sometimes achieved by saving a PDF as a Word or rtf document, for example). Such documents may look text editable but in fact are worse than a PDF. Oddly placed line and section breaks will result in a disastrous segmentation of a document and difficult translation that will take a lot of time and likely lead to mistakes.
- If it is inevitable for your translation vendor to recreate a PDF file, make sure they do so on the front end, before translation begins, and provide you with a copy of the original, formatted document.
Note: Providing native files, in formats such as InDesign, may not mean you can drop the Desktop Publishing charge altogether. Adjustments frequently need to be made to account for text expansion or shrinkage, depending on the target language. But, any such charges will be greatly reduced compared to re-creating layout from scratch.
Rush Fees
Rush fees occur when the volume for translation exceeds standard daily translation capacity and/or when project managers must prioritize processing of your project over everyone else’s. Consider the following:
- Is your translation only for information purposes? If you just want to know what the document says, ask for a lower rate and a simplified work flow that will not include anything beyond basic translation. In such cases, proofreading/editing and quality assurance can usually be skipped. This solution should cost a lot less.
- Translation companies can usually “speed up” by splitting translation among several translators. If you are not concerned about unified style and tone, ask for this option. It may resolve the capacity issue and having to compensate someone for pulling an all-night shift.
- Another option is asking about post-edited machine translation. This is translation completed by a machine and edited by a human. Depending on the type of your document(s), this process maybe much faster and cheaper.
- If you know what both your deadline AND budget are, share those with your vendor. They might be able to come up with solutions that fit both requirements.
Lack of Transparency
Translation companies use many advanced software tools. These improve the actual translation and should also result in financial savings for you. Most translation companies use CAT (Computer Assisted Translation) tools. These basically represent a software environment in which human translators work. The software tool helps them by “remembering” everything that has already been translated and by suggesting already used solutions as translation progresses.
The result is quick, quality translation that is 100% consistent.
You should also never pay full price again for any repetitive content across documents and orders.
- Before placing an order, ask if your vendor uses CAT tools.
- Look for signs of CAT or TM (Translation Memory) savings on your quotes and bids.
- If you translate often and yet you have never heard ofCAT savings, find another vendor who will be honest with you.
Translation can be expensive, there is no doubt about that. However, just like with many other things in life, you also get what you pay for. That does not mean that you should blindly accept what is offered to you.
Know what the costs related to translation are and how you can minimize or avoid them altogether. You will also be better equipped to find and evaluate the right translation vendor.
By: Hana
Date: October 1, 2016
St. Jerome, born around year 347, was a scholar, a theologian and the first truly accomplished translator we are aware of. He translated the Bible into Latin – the Old Testament from Hebrew and the New Testament from Greek. He very much thought about his target audience, just like every good translator should, and did not choose just any version of Latin. He used the one people actually used and spoke at the time, the “Vulgate” Latin. Vulgate means “language of of the common people”. St. Jerome died on September 30, (year 420), hence the celebration of the International Day of Translators on 9/30.
There are many timeless quotes that have been attributed to St. Jerome: “A friend is long sought, hardly found, and with difficulty kept”. “Why do you not practice what you preach”. “True friendship ought never to conceal what it thinks”. My favorite by far, though, is this one:
“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Till your good is better and your better is best.”
The reason I love this quote is because it describes the attitude so many translators actually embody. Most of them probably never heard about this quote but, still, their passion for learning and improvement permeates their professional careers. Translators often work on a freelance basis, from their homes, far removed from anything that looks or feels like a team that could provide some motivation and support. And yet they live in a highly competitive environment where one needs to work very hard to succeed. The translators we have come to know as our own work family show great self-discipline and desire to go above and beyond. It is amazing, sometimes, to see just how much effort they put into their work and making their skills better – and we are honored to be able to call them our colleagues.
Our vision for what drives our business is similar – continuous learning and improvement – that lead us to achieving success for our clients. If something worked yesterday, it does not mean it will also work tomorrow. What works for one client may not be the best solution for another one. And the technology we did not think could exist is now here and we need to adapt and learn to use it for our client’s benefit. There are countless examples of how we get better each day, how we learn and apply what we know so we can make our “good” far “better” and turn the “better” into the “best” so we can always be proud of what we do.
And so we celebrate all lovers of language who were fortunate enough, just like us, to be able to turn their passion into their profession. But above all, we celebrate and are proud of all those who never stop learning, growing, and achieving. Here is a big thank you and cheers to them!
