You may need to translate a medical, legal, engineering or natural sciences text. What if there are more texts you need translated? What are your options? Who can you trust? What is better: a freelance translator, or a translation agency. What are the pros and con of both these options? This article will help you to understand.
What translator should you request a translation?
There are not many choices if you quickly and correctly dismiss some form of machine translated text. The quality is gradually improving, but it won’t be able to handle more complex texts for long periods of time. What do you do when you have a specialist text that needs to be translated? Do you even require a certified translation of the text? There is no other option than to hire a freelancer or professional UK translation agency.
You are a freelancer who has always had time for you. Miracles do happen.
It is possible to find cheaper freelancers or self-employed translators, especially if they don’t have to work a lot. This could cause alarms about your quality and reliability. A client may be open to having direct, personal contact. This is not the end of the benefits freelancers have.
The downside is their limited capacity and specialization. They also don’t always have the time to assist you at the moment. This is especially frustrating when you require an urgent translation. They are generally universal translators with no specialization and absorb technical terminology ad-hoc. The translation must therefore be proofread by a qualified consultant.
You will also find top freelancers in specialist fields who are highly paid and very busy. You should consider hiring an agency if you don’t find someone who will give priority to your project.
There are three things that make a good translation agency: quality, speed, and deadlines
One of the great advantages of professional translation agencies is their ability to employ a lot native speakers and professionals with many years of experience. A translation agency is more flexible than freelance translators and has a greater range of language combinations. A translation agency can translate the same text into multiple languages in one job, something that is impossible to do from one translator.
An experienced and multi-skilled professional translator team, peer consultation and the opportunity to work with or get help from other agencies — all this ensures expert translations by a translation agency. This ensures that you receive high quality translations and prompt delivery (sometimes within hours).
CAT: Not a cat but professional translation tools
Today, professional translator agencies use CAT software. What exactly is it? It stands for Computer-Assisted Translation, and it basically a tool for computer supported translations. These tools also include grammar and spelling checks. They also have termbases and language memories. This allows professional translators to draw on a large repository of phrases and terms, which greatly speeds up their work and eliminates the chance of errors.
These translation tools are plentiful on the market. The best ones are costly, so they can only be found in top-quality translation agencies. The benefits of CAT software to the translator and client These are not necessary to be explained.
The price of translation?
Price ranges between agencies and freelance translators are a common occurrence. These prices depend on many factors, including the level of specialization and language. You will receive a quotation from reliable translation agencies in advance.
Although it is common to believe that a translation done by a freelancer will be cheaper than one provided by an agency, that is not always true. The cost of a translation depends on many factors, including the translator’s skills, their capabilities, the length and urgency and other factors.
Your price will usually be lower than what you would pay for a professional translator. The benefits of working with a professional translator in terms of flexibility, expertise and timely delivery have been discussed before.
Do you require a professional translator? Contact us. Time is money. We are happy to provide a tailored solution to meet your needs.