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When I started my first job in the translation industry as a project manager more than 15 years ago, one of the biggest surprises for me was the number of translation requests we received for French. After all, weren’t Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic the most “important” languages for translation now?
Now amid the digital age, the need for generating enormous volumes of content has exploded. From marketing materials to website localization, blogs, white papers, news & research articles, manuals, and so much more, many organizations and businesses (and consumers) are struggling to keep up with the seemingly insatiable demand for new and engaging content.
Your marketing team has been working tirelessly on developing catchy and alluring content over the last several months for your imminent global marketing plan. Now, one of the final steps is translating all of that content, perhaps into Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, or even Swahili.
Unlike mathematics or chemistry, translation is not an exact science. One might say that it is much more of an “art” than a “science.” When it comes to evaluating the quality of a translation, there is a great deal of subjectivity involved which can create frustration for both clients and translation companies. Clients may feel that they received a sub-par translation, whereas the translation company may see things quite differently. The cause for much of this confusion comes down to understanding the difference between translation errors and preferential changes.
Translation, interpretation, and localization services have become one of the most important industries in the global marketplace. What was once considered to be a small, niche industry is now valued at close to $50 billion worldwide and serves as one of the key driving forces of global economic integration. However, despite the industry’s importance, it may come as a surprise that there are still many misconceptions when it comes to foreign language translation. Therefore, this week’s blog is devoted to debunking the most common translation myths.
When you’ve finally found the perfect language service provider (LSP) to work with you on your organization’s foreign language translation needs, the next step is how to go about setting your translation partner up for success. If you take the time to develop a plan and institute some fundamental processes, you will be well on your way to establishing a successful and long-term relationship.
One of the fastest-growing segments of the translation industry over the past two decades has been for the Limited English Proficient (LEP) community. According to the U.S. government, LEP individuals are those “who do not speak English as their primary language and who have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English.” Therefore, LEP translations include any types of documents needed to meet the needs of these individuals to provide access to information and services provided by federal, state, and local governments.
A frequent point of confusion for many translation clients relates to “certified” translations. In the translation industry, the word “certified” can refer to different things. For example, a “certification” can be a document attached to a translation for use in a legal proceeding, or a translator or interpreter themselves possessing some form of “certification” that validates their competency. Since this has confused many clients, we’re going to explain what is a “certified” translation.
If you’re an old hand when it comes to working with translation services providers, you have almost certainly worked with a translation project manager. For most clients, the interaction is relatively superficial, and the project manager (PM) is simply the person to whom you send your translation project and then sends back your completed translations.
When it comes to purchasing translation services, one of the first questions a prospective client asks is how much is the translation going to cost. What is important to understand for clients, however, is that unlike typical commodities and services, the cost for a translation is highly variable.