Key points to remember when ordering a translation

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Who is my target audience?

This may seem like an obvious question, but in a world where everyone communicates about everything, efficiently targeting your message will help you stand out in the crowd. To faithfully reproduce your ideas, your translator will need some extra information such as whether the document will be used in-house or mass marketed. Is it intended for social media or corporate communication? All of these elements will obviously have an impact on the tone of the text, its style, and the choice of vocabulary.

One of my favourite jokes is asking my clients whether the want their translation in proper English or US English! But joking aside, this is a very serious question. Other than different forms of spelling (e.g. colour, color), there are also different words for certain things (boot, trunk; petrol, gas) and grammatical differences. For example, in the UK we would say, “Jenny feels ill. She’s eaten too much”, whereas our US counterparts would favour “Jenny feels ill. She ate too much”.

To stick to what I know best, English has often become a must but it is not necessarily the native language of your target audience. In which case it is important to avoid using colloquialism or convoluted expressions that may confuse the reader.

• What is my ideal deadline?

Of course, we often want things ready for yesterday and I do provide rush translation services on short documents for my clients. Naturally, these kinds of translations are more expensive, but putting that aside don’t forget that a high-quality translation takes time. After all, think of the time you took to draft the original.

Personally, I translate between 1,500 and 2,500 words per day; depending on the complexity of the text and the research time before I start. Add to this the time required for the translation to be proofread by a second pair of eyes; around one working day for between 8,000 and 10,000 words.

• Is my message ready in my language pair (source language) and in what format?

You will also gain precious time if, before sending your document for translation, the version is as final as possible. Of course, last-minute changes, updates or additions are sometimes unavoidable but launching the translation with a document that is as finished as possible helps avoid errors slipping in at the last moment, longer processing times and, of course, the extra cost that comes with all of this.

The file format is also very important. Editable formats are much easier to work with, and if you have a Word, Excel or PowerPoint version your translator will thank you for it! I use conversion software to convert pdf files into word documents, but this process adds a verification stage to ensure that no text has been missed out and can also mean extra formatting.

Finally, to ensure that your translator is fully set to provide you the best possible service once your final text is ready, send an extract or a draft of your text with your request for a quote. As a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, I adhere to a professional code of conduct which includes confidentiality provisions. I also promise not to accept a project if I am not fully at ease with the subject matter.

• Last, but not least

There are a few rare exceptions to this rule, but good translators generally only translate into their mother tongue (in my case, into English). It is essential to have an excellent understanding of the original language of the text to be translated (the source language), but it is also important that your readers feel as if the text has been specifically written for them, in their own language. There are no two ways about it: a translation that it too literal is a less enjoyable read and therefore less efficient.