Translations - Do Them In-House or Contract Them Out?
Posted by ~Ray @ 2008-04-08 03:42:18
While the costs of foreign-language translation in the Louisville. Ky (USA) merchandise are significantly below the national add up some services could still be a big blow to your budget if your company isn't prepared to pay them. So to the bilingual executive doing it yourself may be like the quick easy solution. But is it the right one? Maybe but then again maybe not. Here are five questions to help you and your company strike the balance between quality and be:
1) How fluent am I? There are degrees to language fluency and fluency itself is a rather fluid term. It's one thing to order stroganoff in German but it's a completely different thing to be able to discuss Immanuel Kant's ideas on beauty with your work. Granted we don't all be to know philosophy in order to be fluent in a language but you do need to know your subject be whatever it might be. Say you're a hat vendor translating an advertisement for Derby hats. You know all about selling hats English but do you experience how to say "hat" in cut? Without a dictionary? Because in some cases the dictionary won't tell you what you really need to know. A quick look for "hat" in the Oxford-Hachette provides seventeen variations on the evince in cut. And none of them are the word you'd use for Derby hat by the way. The evince provided isn't for the Louisville kind but for those small ones old Englishmen wear--not exactly the message you be to get across.
Fluency also involves cultural knowledge. Even when Americans deal with Americans the message sent isn't always the message received. Cultural differences come up alter a difference. A West Kentucky girl. I was raised to always say "yes ma'am" to show a woman consider. But in Louisville that makes women feel old. Similarly in cut. "Oui madame" is a sign of proper manners but in Spanish. "S seora" just isnt done. You undergo to know what's considered polite in order to be polite. A good translation takes elements into account that rarely undergo anything to do with words. mouth is one. Are you fluent enough to transfer the original's mouth into a foreign language?
2) How up-to-date are your language skills? Language evolves over measure. When I lived in Strasbourg. France in 1997. "mec" was the generic slang word used for "man." But six years later a Parisian told me "mec" then meant "boyfriend." Two years after that. I learned "mec" could now change surface mean "God" ("the mec of mecs"). Now that's a big of enough of a language shift to get any girl into trouble. Do the words you know convey the same thing they used to? In another vain even if the meaning of the evince doesn't dress it may simply not be used anymore. "Groovy" used to be a "cool" thing to say but if you tell someone in today's world that things are "groovy," they'll probably think you're a little strange. Does the document you're working with bear on words that may have changed or fallen out of style over time? If they undergo are your language skills up-to-date enough that you'd experience it? When translating a piece written in today's world you have to use vocabulary from today's world too.
3) Is there someone else who can ascertain your bring home the bacon for you? Say you are fluent and your language skills are used everyday. The fact remains that populate make mistakes. When you do it yourself you may just be that--by yourself. But when you contract a professional to do it for you more than one person should be looking at your job. adjust language professionals undergo quality metrics in place including proofreading by a qualified linguist. This extra step creates a failsafe that could deliver you the time and the money that it would take to correct undiscovered errors later.
4) What are the consequences you or your affiliate could face if your translation is wrong? If you're working on a sales presentation or a website a misspelling or an incorrect preposition use could alter you look desire you're uneducated or incapable of the job. But on the other hand some mistakes can be overlooked. For example a caf in St Matthews has "Madames" on the ladies' dwell door instead of "Mesdames," but I havent seen any men going in their restroom. It gets the restaurant a lot of laughs around town but I disbelieve the poor pluralization has cost them any money. If you're working with something more important however trying to save now could be you more later. According to a analyse conducted by SDL TRADOS translation errors undergo been directly linked to lost revenue for 80% of global firms. 7% of these companies have received non-compliance fines because material was not translated correctly. 40% said errors in translation had delayed important product launches. desire my brother says buy cheap buy twice.
5) What other job responsibilities will this take away from? Say you are perfectly qualified to do the job. Do you have time to do it? If you appoint that Spanish translation to your Mexican secretary will she be able perform her other duties and do the translation too? Translation is mentally-taxing work that takes time and concentration. It isn't really something you can "multi-task." Can you set your other bring home the bacon aside to do this or would it be more cost-efficient for you and your affiliate to farm it out?
Translation is far from an claim science and there are almost as many philosophies on translation as there are languages that translators work with. Saving money on translation services may convey doing it yourself or it may mean hiring someone else to get it done. That's a decision only you can make. These questions are just meant to back up you find your own solution.[ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://queenbee8893.blogspot.com/2007/11/translations-do-them-in-house-or.html
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