Questions and misconceptions about translatION

Well, while this person may be able to translate the meaning of the document for you if the document is for internal use only, she might not be qualified to translate written material intended for the general public or for the president of a company you’re dealing with, for example. Think of it this way: you might have a cousin who is a bit of a handyman and can do minor repairs for you; however, if you need to rewire your entire house, you may prefer to call an electrician. The same holds true for translation. At Grammatix Translations, this is all we do. Translation is an art that requires dedication, knowledge and precision. You need to know the audience, you need to respect the style, the language level, etc. These are things that translators are trained to do.

While AI tools are very powerful in many ways, they aren’t "intelligent" enough yet to be used on their own for professional translation purposes; they still require human intervention. They are just aids that can accelerate the translation process but need to be used by qualified translators who know both languages very well and are able to correct any mistake or nonsense. 

Although some people charge an hourly rate, most translators or agencies charge a rate per word. Rates can vary considerably depending on whether you are dealing directly with a translator or with a large agency where all the translators are contractors (obviously, you have to pay the middleman!). Usually, the word count used for invoicing is the number of words in the source document, but some agencies use the number of words in the target language. So if you are comparing rates, make sure you know which language is being used. For example, the French translation is usually longer than the original text in English.

Yes. If you have already had some materials translated by a different translator or agency (for example product packaging), you can provide them as references. This will help to ensure consistency with the terminology used previously. Also, if you know you’ve used acronyms or terms that are really specific to your company or field and it will probably be difficult for the translator to find them in terminology databases, you may want to provide an explanation right from the start. That way, the translator won’t have to guess what the acronym stands for and this will avoid a long list of questions before the translation can be completed.