Leave translating to professional translators!
Many project managers think that they can cut costs by giving a text that has been translated in-house to a translator, who then “just needs to make a few corrections”.
If top quality is required, this is absolutely the wrong approach! Our experience has shown that:
- In 5 out of every 10 cases, the product of this method is, to put it bluntly, only fit for the waste bin.
- In 7 out of every 10 cases, it would have been cheaper and quicker to have the text translated from scratch by a professional translator than to have the in-house translation proof-read and corrected. The client does not save any time or money, as the employee charged with the translation – irrespective of how long he may have spent abroad –needs many more (naturally paid) hours to translate the text into what is, for him, a foreign language, than does the experienced translator translating into his native language. Answering the frequent enquiries from the translator is also a much more time-consuming exercise than it would appear at first glance.
- In 10 out of 10 cases, it is necessary to edit and correct the translation to a varying degree.
Translators are a waste of space
Food for thought…:
Uploaded on 01.09.2013. Reversible text. Written and performed by Erik Skuggevik for The Norwegian Association of Literary Translators. Produced by Iver Grimstad.