How Translation Agencies Really Work
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The translation/localization market is huge and getting bigger every year. There?s a lot of cash to be made, and that attracts not only professional providers, but additionally unscrupulous players that are either outright cheating or just economical with the reality. Buyers get quotes which range from suspiciously rock-bottom to unjustifiably sky-high and don?t know what to think. How can the price for exactly the same task differ so much? Or is someone taking them for a ride?
What is translation?
Before you understand how much translation costs, you need to ask yourself a far more basic question: what is translation? Everybody thinks they know the answer to this one, but think about it for a minute:
Is Google Translate?s output really ?translation??
In case a language student translated something within their homework, does it deserve the same name as what professionals do?
For better and for worse, there is no one standard definition and it?s the type of any creative work that there?ll always be arguments about what?s good enough and what isn?t. Fortunately that there are guidelines out there, widely followed through the entire industry apart from some fly-by-night operators, whom I?ll reach later on.
The standard process goes something like this:
Before translation - Collecting files, deciding what should be translated and what doesn't, putting together reference materials like translation memories, termbases, style guides and so forth, getting quotes and deciding who'll do the work.
Translation - This is where the magic happens. An extremely educated bilingual professional actually enters the words in the new language that reflects the source text in an accurate and perhaps even beautiful manner. There are three things that can happen next:
- The translator says it?s ready and that?s it, often known as ?self-check?;
- it?s sent to another linguist who checks the task word-by-word comparing to source, also referred to as ?editing?, which adds 33-40% to the purchase price;
- it?s sent to another linguist who checks the target-language version only, often known as ?proofreading?, which adds 15-20% to the purchase price.
- Finally, typically automated QA checks will undoubtedly be done on the content to look for issues that are easy to miss for the human eye, such as double spaces or missing punctuation. These checks could be run by the translator, the editor/proofreader or the agency.
After translation ? taking the translation and putting it back into the environment it came from. If it?s a formatted document, such as for example .docx or .pptx files, it is advisable to replace the original text with the translation and usually make some extra adjustments to layout, line-breaking and fonts to make everything look good. If the written text is from software or perhaps a website, things have more complicated and a substantial amount of work may be needed to integrate it correctly.
If you need something translated, that can be done it in a few various ways starting with the simplest (and free!) to probably the most sophisticated:
Translate it yourself, if however you speak the language
Use Google Translate or another free online machine translation tool
Ask an employee or perhaps a friend to do it for free or cheap
Find a freelance translator
Upload your files to an online crowdsourced translation marketplace
Utilize a different agency (Single Language Vendor - SLV) for each language
Work with an Multi-Language Vendor (MLV)
Create a full-service translation department in your company
(Andovar fits into the one before last, in the event you?re wondering.)
Just how much does translation really cost?
Mutiskie tulkojumi, piedāvā LK Translation
It?s a free market, so people can require what they please, based on how they value their work, what their costs of living are, whether they?re just starting and need to get work experience or they are seasoned professionals busy with long-term clients. But there are established averages when it comes to professional translation and one way of finding them is through Proz.com. This can be a huge online marketplace where translators advertise their services and buyers post jobs. Predicated on what rates a large number of translators have entered within their profiles, Proz publishes a table with averages. You can view the most famous languages below and the entire and most recent table here.
how-translation-agencies-work-img-1
Remember that these are rates charged by individual translators, and that:
Agencies often offer translation + editing or proofreading by another translator, which increases cost.
These rates are for what?s called ?new words?, while in every project there may also be ?repeated words? which many providers offer at a discounted rate thanks to translation memory technology.
Agencies may do other work along with translation itself, such as for example: create style guides and termbases, localization engineering, DTP, testing, etc. This is sometimes rolled into the per-word rates, sometimes not.
Short, urgent and technical or creative texts usually call for higher rates, while simple, long rather than urgent ones are cheaper.
Agencies are businesses, so that they add a profit margin to the rates they pay to translators.
Keeping in mind the aforementioned, the rates charged by individual translators are the foundation which agencies calculate their pricing to get rid of clients.
Not absolutely all agencies are alike
Some buyers of translation elect to use freelancers directly. It?s obviously less costly, and can be a good notion for simple jobs in one or two languages. When projects increase, new languages are added and file formats are not straightforward you may need an agency to help handle all of the extra work. Secondly, working with different freelancers and/or online marketplaces on a regular basis means you will have no consistency between projects. Agencies typically maintain reference materials like translation memories, termbases and style guides, which help maintain consistency over time.
To be competitive, agencies look for ways to lower their costs and offer cheaper rates to clients. Ideas are sound, others unscrupulous as well as illegal. Let?s look at several:
What?s included? Some agencies know that it?s risky to offer translation without the editing, proofreading or quality control, they could still do it to make their rates only possible. When you compare rates between agencies, ensure that you find out what they use in the per-word rate. Is it translation-only? Translation with editing? With proofreading? What QA steps are followed? Do they charge for localization engineering, file handing, termbases, style sheets, etc. separately?
Geo-leveraging It?s not a secret that costs of living and running a business are lower in some countries. The world has been becoming flat for a long time and outsourcing or moving offices to less costly regions doesn?t create as much controversy as it did previously. Translation companies do this too. While translators themselves usually live and work in their native countries (see next point), agencies offer localization engineering, desktop publishing, audio recording and project management which may be done cheaper elsewhere. This is one of the reasons Andovar has offices in Thailand, India and Colombia. If you need to know where your work will actually be done, ask your vendor.
Native speakers Native speakers of - let?s say - Norwegian usually live in Norway where costs of living are high. This makes it one of the more expensive languages to translate (as you can plainly see in the table higher up). But what if we look for speakers of Norwegian internationally? Maybe one with low costs of living, like India or Russia? Bingo ? they'll definitely consent to charge lower rates than their friends in snowy Norway! But is Norwegian their mother tongue? And when they're native speakers who eventually live abroad, is their knowledge of the language on par with their compatriots in Norway? It can be, if they made an attempt to stay in touch with their native cultures and the way the language is used.
(Un)qualified translators In addition to being a native speaker, why is someone qualified to translate? There is actually no easy answer to this even though some countries have official certification, translator associations and exams, others don?t and there is no established international standard. What this means is that an agency can call whomever they need a ?qualified translator?, including those who are students, inexperienced and not native speakers. While the results may be acceptable for simple content, there should be transparency about who will do the work.
Outsourcing A lot of the world?s biggest MLVs don?t actually work as simple agents between clients and translators, but add more layers of outsourcing. Once the language pair or subject material isn't their forte, they hire smaller vendors to do the work. However, with every additional level the chance of miscommunication, delay and end price all increase.
Reputation What to do if an agency insists they only use native-speaking and highly-qualified professionals, nevertheless, you still have doubts? Proz, the web site mentioned earlier, also maintains a database of translation providers along with scores translators provide them with. It?s worth looking up the company you?re talking to and see how they fare. If they're not on the list or have minimal scores ? they likely don?t work with professional translators or have only recently opened. If the scores are low, this means they don?t treat their translators well. Another website worth checking is GlassDoor, which stores comments from company employees and ex-employees.
What?s a PM Fee? Most agencies will charge something called the Project Management or PM Fee. It typically ranges from 1 to 10% of the full total and covers the work of the project manager handling your work. Taking the PM Fee out from the per-word rate can make it decrease, but PM Fee will still be added down the road. Some agencies will also have Set-up, Kick-off along with other types of fees. When comparing quotes from agencies, make sure to check just how many percent they charge and include that in your comparison.
Audio quality Many agencies, and Andovar is one of them, also offer audio services in different languages. Some have their very own recording studios created to industry standard and produce broadcast quality audio, while others ask speakers of the language to record the scripts at home using their own computers and even mobile phones. Desire to guess which costs more? And which one is of higher quality?
Bait and switch Some agencies present great-looking CVs of translators they work with and offer their work at rock-bottom rates. How is that possible? It?s not similar people doing the work! The CVs may be real, but the translation is performed by their less-qualified colleagues. The extreme version of this is the following:
Do you know what the latest translation agency scam is? It goes like this:
Advertise to get the best resumes from linguists.
Advertise to get the most reasonably priced amateur translators at 2 or 3 3 cents.
Swap the contact information on the linguists? CVs with newly created Hotmail or Yahoo addresses that visit the scammers.
Advertise unbeatable rates of 6-7 cents and show prospective clients the amazing CVs of the nice linguists.
Get the translation done by the cheap amateur translators.
If possible, get advance payment or at least 50% using PayPal.
If client complains about quality, use that fact to refuse to pay the amateur translators.
Sometimes the scammers even leave the names of the borrowed linguists unchanged.
Laugh completely to the bank.
Focusing on what doesn?t matter Some providers will go at great lengths to generate a good impression:
They?ll say they use thousands of translators to create themselves look like big companies (however they are actually freelancers rather than full-time employees);
Try to impress with ISO or other certification (nonetheless it?s applied to something as meaningless as ?recruitment process? rather than have anything to do with translation quality);
Show off their worldwide locations (but they are only virtual offices with no employees on-site);
Discuss flawless quality and thousands of satisfied customers (but provide no real testimonials with names and contact details).
Business is business?
I hope this article explained a few of the tactics translation agencies employ. Business is business and as long as it?s not illegal, an organization can do whatever it wants. However, as a buyer of translation you need to know who you?re coping with before hiring an agency to work for you
What is translation?
Before you understand how much translation costs, you need to ask yourself a far more basic question: what is translation? Everybody thinks they know the answer to this one, but think about it for a minute:
Is Google Translate?s output really ?translation??
In case a language student translated something within their homework, does it deserve the same name as what professionals do?
For better and for worse, there is no one standard definition and it?s the type of any creative work that there?ll always be arguments about what?s good enough and what isn?t. Fortunately that there are guidelines out there, widely followed through the entire industry apart from some fly-by-night operators, whom I?ll reach later on.
The standard process goes something like this:
Before translation - Collecting files, deciding what should be translated and what doesn't, putting together reference materials like translation memories, termbases, style guides and so forth, getting quotes and deciding who'll do the work.
Translation - This is where the magic happens. An extremely educated bilingual professional actually enters the words in the new language that reflects the source text in an accurate and perhaps even beautiful manner. There are three things that can happen next:
- The translator says it?s ready and that?s it, often known as ?self-check?;
- it?s sent to another linguist who checks the task word-by-word comparing to source, also referred to as ?editing?, which adds 33-40% to the purchase price;
- it?s sent to another linguist who checks the target-language version only, often known as ?proofreading?, which adds 15-20% to the purchase price.
- Finally, typically automated QA checks will undoubtedly be done on the content to look for issues that are easy to miss for the human eye, such as double spaces or missing punctuation. These checks could be run by the translator, the editor/proofreader or the agency.
After translation ? taking the translation and putting it back into the environment it came from. If it?s a formatted document, such as for example .docx or .pptx files, it is advisable to replace the original text with the translation and usually make some extra adjustments to layout, line-breaking and fonts to make everything look good. If the written text is from software or perhaps a website, things have more complicated and a substantial amount of work may be needed to integrate it correctly.
If you need something translated, that can be done it in a few various ways starting with the simplest (and free!) to probably the most sophisticated:
Translate it yourself, if however you speak the language
Use Google Translate or another free online machine translation tool
Ask an employee or perhaps a friend to do it for free or cheap
Find a freelance translator
Upload your files to an online crowdsourced translation marketplace
Utilize a different agency (Single Language Vendor - SLV) for each language
Work with an Multi-Language Vendor (MLV)
Create a full-service translation department in your company
(Andovar fits into the one before last, in the event you?re wondering.)
Just how much does translation really cost?
Mutiskie tulkojumi, piedāvā LK Translation
It?s a free market, so people can require what they please, based on how they value their work, what their costs of living are, whether they?re just starting and need to get work experience or they are seasoned professionals busy with long-term clients. But there are established averages when it comes to professional translation and one way of finding them is through Proz.com. This can be a huge online marketplace where translators advertise their services and buyers post jobs. Predicated on what rates a large number of translators have entered within their profiles, Proz publishes a table with averages. You can view the most famous languages below and the entire and most recent table here.
how-translation-agencies-work-img-1
Remember that these are rates charged by individual translators, and that:
Agencies often offer translation + editing or proofreading by another translator, which increases cost.
These rates are for what?s called ?new words?, while in every project there may also be ?repeated words? which many providers offer at a discounted rate thanks to translation memory technology.
Agencies may do other work along with translation itself, such as for example: create style guides and termbases, localization engineering, DTP, testing, etc. This is sometimes rolled into the per-word rates, sometimes not.
Short, urgent and technical or creative texts usually call for higher rates, while simple, long rather than urgent ones are cheaper.
Agencies are businesses, so that they add a profit margin to the rates they pay to translators.
Keeping in mind the aforementioned, the rates charged by individual translators are the foundation which agencies calculate their pricing to get rid of clients.
Not absolutely all agencies are alike
Some buyers of translation elect to use freelancers directly. It?s obviously less costly, and can be a good notion for simple jobs in one or two languages. When projects increase, new languages are added and file formats are not straightforward you may need an agency to help handle all of the extra work. Secondly, working with different freelancers and/or online marketplaces on a regular basis means you will have no consistency between projects. Agencies typically maintain reference materials like translation memories, termbases and style guides, which help maintain consistency over time.
To be competitive, agencies look for ways to lower their costs and offer cheaper rates to clients. Ideas are sound, others unscrupulous as well as illegal. Let?s look at several:
What?s included? Some agencies know that it?s risky to offer translation without the editing, proofreading or quality control, they could still do it to make their rates only possible. When you compare rates between agencies, ensure that you find out what they use in the per-word rate. Is it translation-only? Translation with editing? With proofreading? What QA steps are followed? Do they charge for localization engineering, file handing, termbases, style sheets, etc. separately?
Geo-leveraging It?s not a secret that costs of living and running a business are lower in some countries. The world has been becoming flat for a long time and outsourcing or moving offices to less costly regions doesn?t create as much controversy as it did previously. Translation companies do this too. While translators themselves usually live and work in their native countries (see next point), agencies offer localization engineering, desktop publishing, audio recording and project management which may be done cheaper elsewhere. This is one of the reasons Andovar has offices in Thailand, India and Colombia. If you need to know where your work will actually be done, ask your vendor.
Native speakers Native speakers of - let?s say - Norwegian usually live in Norway where costs of living are high. This makes it one of the more expensive languages to translate (as you can plainly see in the table higher up). But what if we look for speakers of Norwegian internationally? Maybe one with low costs of living, like India or Russia? Bingo ? they'll definitely consent to charge lower rates than their friends in snowy Norway! But is Norwegian their mother tongue? And when they're native speakers who eventually live abroad, is their knowledge of the language on par with their compatriots in Norway? It can be, if they made an attempt to stay in touch with their native cultures and the way the language is used.
(Un)qualified translators In addition to being a native speaker, why is someone qualified to translate? There is actually no easy answer to this even though some countries have official certification, translator associations and exams, others don?t and there is no established international standard. What this means is that an agency can call whomever they need a ?qualified translator?, including those who are students, inexperienced and not native speakers. While the results may be acceptable for simple content, there should be transparency about who will do the work.
Outsourcing A lot of the world?s biggest MLVs don?t actually work as simple agents between clients and translators, but add more layers of outsourcing. Once the language pair or subject material isn't their forte, they hire smaller vendors to do the work. However, with every additional level the chance of miscommunication, delay and end price all increase.
Reputation What to do if an agency insists they only use native-speaking and highly-qualified professionals, nevertheless, you still have doubts? Proz, the web site mentioned earlier, also maintains a database of translation providers along with scores translators provide them with. It?s worth looking up the company you?re talking to and see how they fare. If they're not on the list or have minimal scores ? they likely don?t work with professional translators or have only recently opened. If the scores are low, this means they don?t treat their translators well. Another website worth checking is GlassDoor, which stores comments from company employees and ex-employees.
What?s a PM Fee? Most agencies will charge something called the Project Management or PM Fee. It typically ranges from 1 to 10% of the full total and covers the work of the project manager handling your work. Taking the PM Fee out from the per-word rate can make it decrease, but PM Fee will still be added down the road. Some agencies will also have Set-up, Kick-off along with other types of fees. When comparing quotes from agencies, make sure to check just how many percent they charge and include that in your comparison.
Audio quality Many agencies, and Andovar is one of them, also offer audio services in different languages. Some have their very own recording studios created to industry standard and produce broadcast quality audio, while others ask speakers of the language to record the scripts at home using their own computers and even mobile phones. Desire to guess which costs more? And which one is of higher quality?
Bait and switch Some agencies present great-looking CVs of translators they work with and offer their work at rock-bottom rates. How is that possible? It?s not similar people doing the work! The CVs may be real, but the translation is performed by their less-qualified colleagues. The extreme version of this is the following:
Do you know what the latest translation agency scam is? It goes like this:
Advertise to get the best resumes from linguists.
Advertise to get the most reasonably priced amateur translators at 2 or 3 3 cents.
Swap the contact information on the linguists? CVs with newly created Hotmail or Yahoo addresses that visit the scammers.
Advertise unbeatable rates of 6-7 cents and show prospective clients the amazing CVs of the nice linguists.
Get the translation done by the cheap amateur translators.
If possible, get advance payment or at least 50% using PayPal.
If client complains about quality, use that fact to refuse to pay the amateur translators.
Sometimes the scammers even leave the names of the borrowed linguists unchanged.
Laugh completely to the bank.
Focusing on what doesn?t matter Some providers will go at great lengths to generate a good impression:
They?ll say they use thousands of translators to create themselves look like big companies (however they are actually freelancers rather than full-time employees);
Try to impress with ISO or other certification (nonetheless it?s applied to something as meaningless as ?recruitment process? rather than have anything to do with translation quality);
Show off their worldwide locations (but they are only virtual offices with no employees on-site);
Discuss flawless quality and thousands of satisfied customers (but provide no real testimonials with names and contact details).
Business is business?
I hope this article explained a few of the tactics translation agencies employ. Business is business and as long as it?s not illegal, an organization can do whatever it wants. However, as a buyer of translation you need to know who you?re coping with before hiring an agency to work for you
