For non-linguist, purchasing translation services can be a source of frustration. One sure takeaway is that you, as purchaser, control a lot more than you may realize. Here are ten golden rules for the well-advised client, which will make your job easier, save you money, shorten turnaround time and improve translation quality.
1. Be concise. Invoices for translations are calculated per word, so keep to the essential when drafting documents to be translated.
2. Be prepared. Send your documents to us by email as soon as they are ready; if you wait until the last minute, you may find that a supplement is invoiced. Rushing a translation project can hurt the quality or raise the price. Give your translator the time to do it right. You’ll be glad you did.
3. Be well organized. As far as possible, always send us the final versions of documents. Once the translation is finished, translators will naturally invoice any modifications required. It is always better to wait until your document is final to start on the translation. Once the translation is in progress, alterations and additions incur revision costs. Include reference material like past publications, catalogs and glossaries of industry terms with the text to be translated. Translators work for many different companies and translate a wide array of documents. Reference material provides background and helps them become familiar with your subject matter.
4. Be shrewd. Send small documents all together. A minimum charge is made for any job of less than 300 words. If you have several small documents to be translated, send them to us all together. We can then draw up an estimate for them all at the same time.
5. Be sensible. Always call on professional translators working in their mother tongue. If you ask us to proofread a document that has been translated into English by a French-speaking member of your staff, for example, this can end up being more expensive than sending us the translation directly.
6. 
Be intelligent. Delete any tables with figures in them if you do not require these to be modified by the translators (if you have these translated in-house, don’t forget that each language has its own typographical rules. For example, the decimal places that separate thousands in English become indivisible spaces in French). Advertising and creative text require reflection and extensive editing, which can add to the cost of translation. Edit out idioms, catchphrases, puns and the like. Double meanings equal double trouble for translators. Keep your content simple and crystal clear.
7. Stay in charge. The translation took two weeks. Getting it reviewed by your in country people may take three months. If you plan to have your own people review the translation, choose someone who has the knowledge, excellent dual-language fluency and time to dedicate to the task. Then follow it through and keep the reviewer on task.
8. Remember. Overseas dealers, on-site agents and in-country staff know your products and the local language. However, translation isn’t part of their job description. Leave the translating to the translators. You get what you pay for. Professional translation isn’t free or cheap. Translation requires fluency in two languages, education, subject matter knowledge, tools and much more. Those who are skilled at their craft are paid accordingly.
9. Be pragmatic. Design and layout matters. Some electronic files don’t support diacritical marks and foreign hyphenation rules. Some programs are outdated and difficult to work with. Cumbersome layouts require extra formatting, which adds to the cost. Ask us for a FREE estimate for the typesetting of your foreign language documents. We translate into all languages and we provide multilingual desktop Publishing services. Choose one company only for the entire process of translating and typesetting and you will save time and money!
10. Download our Translation Guide for the next time you purchase translation services. It may well guide you to savings, a quicker turnaround and a higher quality translation.
For an overview of our translation expertise, visit our software translation and localization service page.