Translation Bits - Glossary of Translation Services

Do you need translation services but don't know where to start? You have a lot of questions going through your head: where do I find a translator? How much does a translation cost? How do I choose the right translator?

Here is a small translation vademecum to help you understand what to do and whom to contact when you need a translation service. I have divided it into sections, from the index you can select the topic that interests you most, without having to read the whole article.

• Translation

• Interpreting

• Source language

• Target language

• CAT-Tools

• Translation memories

• Glossaries

• Translation formats

• Specializations

• Editorial translation

• Technical-scientific translation

• Commercial translation

• Sworn translation

• Web translations

• Translation agencies

• How to find a translator

• Costs

Let's start with the basics of the world of language services, even though it may be obvious. Translators are for you if you are looking for a written language service, i.e. a person who can translate your texts from one language to another. In the following sections, I will give you more information about this topic.

If you are looking for an expert in oral language communication, then you need an interpreter.

There are various interpreting techniques:

• Simultaneous interpreting: the interpreter, from a soundproof booth, translates the speaker in real-time;

• Consecutive interpreting: the interpreter translates after the speaker has spoken;

• Chuchotage: the interpreter whispers the translation to the recipients sitting next to him/her.

Let's continue with some basic concepts about translation services. What is the source language? It is nothing else than the original language of the text you need to translate. If your documents are in English, this will be the source language. Therefore, you will have to look for a translator who has English among his working languages.

This is the language into which you need to translate your own content. It is highly recommended that your translator is a native speaker of the target language. To understand a text you need to know the language very well, but writing takes much more than that: the translator must be able to write flawlessly, both in grammar and style, in the target language. He must know how to convey the nuances and tone of a text. And to do this, in-depth knowledge of the language is only the beginning; he or she must be into the culture of the target language to say and write the right thing in the right situation.

What does a cat have to do with translations? Mine always sits on my lap when I'm writing, but other than keeping me company and letting my leg fall asleep, it's otherwise not very useful! A CAT, which stands for Computer-Aided Translation, is the translator's main tool. It is a software program that helps translators do their work accurately and efficiently. It divides the source text into segments and lets you enter the translation for each one, so you won’t forget a single sentence. Then once the translation is complete, you extract it from the program and the target text has the exact same formatting as the source text. Brilliant, huh?

But CAT tools have many other useful features, including identifying repetitions in a text — saving the translator time and money to you!

At the moment, there are a lot of good CAT tools on the market, the most famous are Trados, Wordfast, MemoQ, but you'll be spoilt for choice.

What really makes CAT tools special are the TMs, translation memories. Each segment into which the text has been divided is saved in the program together with its translation and, when an identical or similar segment comes up again, the program suggests the segment stored in memory to the translator, indicating with a percentage value the correspondence between the two segments (100% if they are identical, lower values if some words are different).

In addition, there is the possibility to load or create glossaries within the CAT itself. These suggest the translation of the terms contained in it when they arise during the translation process. Glossaries are very useful in the case of highly specialized vocabulary, but also for more common terms, for example, to comply with the language preferences adopted by your company.

TM and glossaries optimize the translator's work and allow to deliver a piece of work in less time and with its own internal consistency.

The nicest and easiest format to handle is the Word (.docx) file, but these days CAT tools allow you to translate most file formats, from Indesign to HTML. The only format that continues to cause problems is PDF, especially when it comes to scanned files. No need to despair if you only have your document in PDF: there are very advanced optical readers that allow you to extract the whole PDF content. Keep in mind, however, that the formatting may be affected and the translator may charge an extra fee to fix it.

Just as an ENT doctor cannot help you if you have a bunion, a translator cannot translate every type of text. There are so many different branches of knowledge that it is unlikely that one person can cover them all. In fact, be wary of those who claim to be able to translate any type of subject. Each translator specializes in a specific field or niche. There are various translation domains, and I will outline them in the following paragraphs.

It is the translation of all works that fall under copyright: literature, non-fiction, travel guides, magazines, comics, and the like.

This is a very broad field that includes all disciplines of technology and science (such as medicine, biology, law, or physics). Translators often specialize in even narrower niches. Scientific-technical translations require in-depth knowledge, preferably direct knowledge, of the relevant specialist terminology, which has to be translated with great precision.

This field includes all types of texts produced by companies.

These can be financial and tax-related texts (balance sheets, contracts, legal texts, or invoices), or texts relating to communication (e-mails, letters, press releases, newsletters) and advertising (marketing texts, ads, promotional collaterals of various kinds, special offers).

Marketing texts are very important because they outline the company's image in another country and have to be approached with a consistent and conscious strategy. Marketing activities have to be always aimed at the target audience and therefore translation also needs to be more creative in order to adapt to the new customers' needs. As a result, transcreation is often used in marketing, a more or less substantial rewriting of promotional campaigns designed for an audience with a different language and culture.

Not to be confused with legal translations, which fall within the technical and scientific sector. Sworn translation is used when an official translation of various documents is required: in this case, the translation needs to keep the same legal value as the original. Each country has its own rules for sworn translations. In Germany and Austria, the translator must be qualified to issue this type of translation. In Italy, there is no specific training, but the translator has to present himself at a State Court and sign a declaration of the translation authenticity.

All texts intended for online publication have some common features. The translator for the web must know the basics of web design and HTML to be able to translate a website in the most appropriate way (for example, recognizing a button or a link and translating it according to the conventions of the target language).

But they also need to be familiar with the fundamentals of online writing, which are based on user experience (UX writing) and readability of texts, so they need to be able to write well, in a simple, direct, and engaging way that keeps the reader involved and provides useful information.

In web translations, SEO is also crucial: the online content translator knows how to research keywords for the target language (using keyword research tools such as Google Keyword Planner and other fee-based tools) and place them properly in the text and in all the page sections where they are needed (title, meta-description, URL, etc.). 

If you want to find the right translator, you first have to define what are you looking for:

• Source language and target language (e.g. German to Italian);

• Type of translation (medical, legal, website localization);

• Remote or in-house collaboration (do you want to work remotely, or would you prefer someone to work more closely with who lives in your area?).

Once you know what you need, you can look for a professional freelance translator in several ways:

• Google search: many translators have a website, or at least an online presence. With a simple search engine query, you can find what you need. Just specify language combination, sector, and eventually location. For example, "German-Italian translation marketing Vienna".

• LinkedIn: Most translators have a profile on the professional networking platform LinkedIn, so it won't be hard to find the right one for you.

• Proz: is the most popular translators and interpreters portal, you will find valuable information about the professional you are looking for, including translation samples, reviews, credibility among colleagues.

• National and international associations of translators and interpreters: the most important are ATA (in the United States), AITI and ANITI (in Italy), BDÜ in Germany, Universitas in Austria, but there are also more specific ones that group together categories of specialist translators (e.g. editorial translators).

Check out his or her online presence and reputation. Look for reviews, translation samples, case studies on her/his website, Proz or LinkedIn.

If you're still not sure whether the translator is really the best fit for your content, contact her/him and ask her/him to take a translation test. Most translators welcome it, as long as the translation test is around 300 words.

An alternative to freelance translators are translation agencies. How do translation agencies work? They act as intermediaries between the client and the freelance translators. They manage and coordinate the project and forward the texts and related instructions to the translators.

They can handle many more languages and more areas of specialization because they rely on many translation specialists.

This is a very good and convenient option if you need to translate content into many languages, so you will have a single point of contact for the entire project. However, it also has disadvantages: you may not always have the same person working on your texts, and communication between you and the translator is always mediated, so it may be difficult to fulfill your specific needs.

And last but not least, we come to the thorniest question: how much does a translation cost? Each translator and each agency has its own prices. This can vary from project to project. The most common unit of measure for calculating the price of a translation is the word. In the German area, a line price is also common. The hourly rate is unfortunately not very popular in the translation world, but for me, it would be the most appropriate. Be wary of rates of a few cents per word, you will easily have to deal with people who are not competent in the field of translation. Well, what is the right price for a translation? It's the price you're willing to pay for accurate and useful text in another language.

The quote you receive from the translator will depend on the following factors:

• type of translation: is it for internal use within the company or does it have a much wider audience (internet, publication, printed material)?

• difficulty/degree of specialization: is it a highly specialized topic that requires a lot of research or is it a relatively simple text?

• urgency: do you need the translation right away or do you have a generous time frame?

• quantity: expect a minimum price even for a few words and maybe a discount if you have a large volume to translate;

• repetitions: if the text contains many repetitions, the translator will gladly offer you a discount.

• format: if the text is in a complex format to be processed, this could affect the price;

• additional services: if your file is in InDesign format or similar, you may also need a DTP (Desktop Publishing) service to layout the content in a foreign language. Some translators, including myself, offer this. If the texts are for a company website or blog, you might also be interested in SEO in the target language, i.e. keyword research and SEO-optimized translation.

I decided to share some indicative prices for my translation services, so you can get an idea before asking me for a custom quote.

Did you enjoy this guide? Is there anything else you'd like to know? Drop me a line and let me know what you think.