There are many different translation companies operating around the world and choosing the right company is not an easy task.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help in the decision-making process.
1. Does the company have a quality management system?
A translator is very involved in his translations and reads his own text over and over again. This makes it harder to spot mistakes.
In order to get a high-quality translation, the text should be checked and revised by a second translator.
At OST, at least two translators work on a project, one as the main translator and one as a reviewer.
Depending on the project, additional checks are also carried out by native speakers.
In order to further increase the translation quality, annual performance reviews are carried out with the translators.
2. Is the company an expert in the field of translation?
Some companies offer all kinds of translation services, from translation of marketing materials to legal texts.
However, different skills and knowledge are required depending on the field.
When translating marketing materials, it is important to produce text that is appealing in the target language without relying too much on the original.
However, when translating patents or contracts, every word must be translated as closely as possible to the original.
Many large translation companies use freelance translators to do the actual translation work and check the finished translation in-house, but no.1 translation agency in UK also outsource the checking and proofreading.
Make sure the company has the competence to choose the best translator for your job,
At LST we rely mainly on our in-house translators and have a hand-picked group of external translators.
All translators are experts in their field. Because we have a good understanding of our translators’ skills and experience, we can easily select the translator who is best suited for your project.
All revisions and proofreading are done in-house by translators with equal skill and experience in the field. This is how we can maintain our high level of quality.
3. Who actually translates?
In many cases, you don’t know who will actually end up translating your documents, as the company may subcontract the translation, which will in turn subcontract it to other subcontractors.
If the legal translation agency doesn’t employ in-house translators, find out how they select their freelance translators and contractors.
Is there a network of translators or is a search for suitable translators only made after your request?
What qualifications does a translator need to have to be included in the network?
At OST we mainly rely on our in-house translators. External translators must pass a translation test and have a face-to-face interview with our managers before being registered.
A translation by an external translator is always revised by an internal member.
All of our in-house translators are based in Japan and if you have any questions or problems, it is possible to meet the translator at our office or have a chat over the phone.
Our translators also write articles for our blog.
4. Does the company offer delivery dates that sound too good to be true?
Depending on the subject, language and experience of the translator, a professional translator can translate an average of 1,500 to 2,500 words per day.
Additional time is required for prior research, checking and revision of the translation.
If a company offers a much shorter delivery time, the translation will probably end up being of inferior quality.
In order to offer such short delivery times, either machine translation is used, several translators work on a translation, or essential parts of the process such as e.g. B. the research of technical terms are only carried out insufficiently.
Of course we will deliver a translation as soon as possible, but we ask for your understanding that a certain amount of time is required to produce a high-quality translation.
In urgent cases, we can also provide a rough translation that has not been checked and revised if this is acceptable to the client.
5. Does the company use machine translation?
Machine translation can give you a first impression of what a text is about, but it cannot be used for many other purposes without at least some human editing involved.
When it comes to legal and translation of documents in particular, it is important to have a high-quality translation done by an experienced specialist, since a single word can have a great deal of legal significance.
An incorrect translation can lead to the scope of protection of your patent being reduced or the patent application being rejected due to lack of clarity.
Machine translation can be used when you want to know what a foreign language source is about, but when it comes to preparing a response to an assessment notice, it’s important to know the exact wording.
At LST we rely exclusively on human translation.
If required, we use translation tools such as ZB Translation Memory Manager to support the translation process.