Until very recently, it could be argued that translating documents was a choice. But now, with a global economy that effectively functions as a worldwide marketplace, translation of business documents is simply a must. With hundreds of translation services companies available, how do you find the right one that will deliver accurate, high quality document translations? Poor translations can seriously impact your capacity to do business at a global scale. It makes perfect sense to deal only with the very best. Here are a few questions to take into account when choosing a professional document translation service provider.

Does the document translation company use machine translation?

There is still no machine or software program able to replace a human translator to create high quality and accurate professional translations. Computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools can be helpful when dealing with high-volume jobs of largely repetitive content, such as technical manuals. But they need to be used by professional translators to ensure consistency and carefully match the context throughout each document, and are not suited for most other types of document translation. Professional document translation companies never use online translation engines or stand-alone computer programs, since translations generated this way are not only substandard, but largely incomprehensible.

Does the document translation service hire and retain qualified professional translators?

A reliable professional document translation company hires and retains only qualified, experienced professional translators who are native speakers of their target language(s). Professional translators working for the most reliable document translation company are certified and accredited by the world’s leading organizations, which include the Institute of Linguists, American Translators Association (ATA), La Société Française des Traducteurs, Institute of Translation and Interpreting, US National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators, and the United Nations.

What types of document translation services are available?

A well-established and experienced professional document translation company offers several types of document translation services that are industry-specific. Industry-specific document translations include business and financial translations, marketing brochure translations, intellectual property law and patent contract translations, scientific manual or textbook translations, and pharmacology or medical report translations. Professional translators assigned to such projects are experts on the subject and familiar with the terminology and concepts of the particular field. Specialized material, such as medical, technical, and legal documents, needs the careful translation of experienced translators who are professionals in the field in question.

What is the estimated turnaround for document translation?

It is crucial for every document translation that there is enough time to translate, edit, and proofread. Fast service should never come at the cost of accuracy and quality. However, a reliable, professional document translation agency can offer quick turnaround times should you need urgent translations, but only if they work with a global network of certified translators that allows them to take advantage of different time zones. Some document translations are more time-consuming than others, and the project or account manager taking your translation request will advise and discuss details with you.

How are document deliveries handled?

When you set up an account with a reliable professional document translation service, which can be done online, you will be assigned a project or account manager. Account managers are often assigned to corporate programs that provide special rates, such as volume and yearly discounts. Should you need an on-site document translation anywhere in the world, the account manager will be able to arrange it. Most document traffic, however, will be done online and you will be asked to email or upload your documents to be translated, unless you prefer sending them via fax or mail. Once the document translation is complete, email deliveries and uploads to company ftp or similar sites are performed via secure web servers. Professional document translation providers will always assure confidentiality in all document delivery processes. If you need certified hard copies, they will be sent by authorized shipping services like USPS, UPS, or FEDEX.

Whatever your document translation needs are, let professional document translation companies such as Legal Translation Solutions and its parent company, ASTA-USA Translation Services, assist you in carrying your message to all corners of the globe!

Clients unfamiliar with the process of document translation will sometimes ask the translation company to complete a “quick and easy” document translation. It may be because the text seems relatively short or the subject matter pretty straightforward—as in a business letter, for example. When it comes to professional translation services, however, it is important to understand that all document translation jobs, no matter how small or straightforward they seem, can become quite complicated very quickly and need, at the very least, time allotted for activities such as terminology research.

All documents sent for translation must thus be carefully evaluated before translator and translation agency commit to a deadline. A short text dealing with a complicated subject, such as the latest trends in technology, or with extensive use of scientific jargon, can take as much time to research and translate as a much longer text of a different subject matter or in a simpler linguistic style. Translation company and translator will draw from their experience to identify and overcome difficulties when reviewing and completing professional document translation assignments.

While computer-assisted translation tools such as translation memories may seem like they could be a big time-saver, one of the risks of using them—as discussed in an earlier article—is the tendency to recycle translations. Translation memories can be very useful to assure consistency when dealing with larger professional document translation projects, but they basically involve reusing past translations. Due to context considerations, it is almost impossible to use the exact same translated string in a new document, even if it is similar and deals with much the same subject. This does not mean that every phrase necessarily needs to be retranslated, but that the translators have to make sure it is translated in the most accurate way possible.

Although the sheer size of a document in terms of word count adds to the complexity of document translations—and of course, if the volume is greater, there is more room for errors—close attention to details must be paid regardless of the word count, and every text has to go through a 3-step process of translation, editing, and proofreading.

Last but not least, it is crucial to get tone and formality level right in any document translation—particularly in business correspondence, as a matter of fact, even it is just a short letter, but also in fields like marketing and advertising. This cannot be accomplished by a computer program, and it requires thought and in-depth knowledge of source and target culture on the part of the professional document translator.

Professional translators working for top document translation services companies such as Legal Translation Solutions  and its parent company, ASTA-USA Translation Services, take every translation assignment equally seriously and complete every project with uncompromised professional dedication.

By: L. Amado 02/03/2010

One interesting and seldom discussed aspect of professional translations is the fact that the length of a text in one source language will typically expand or contract when translated to certain target languages. When translating documents from one language to another the content will typically change in length as measured by the number of words. This variation is known as text expansion and text contraction.

When translating documents text expansion and contraction is not a constant ratio… It varies according to the languages involved in the translation of written content. For instance, an English document professionally translated into Spanish can be as much as 25 – 30% longer (a case of text expansion). Conversely, a Spanish document professionally translated into English will, on average, be around 10 – 15% shorter (a case of text contraction). Texts in other European languages may similarly be affected. On the other hand, documents translated in Asian languages tend to be shorter than the English source content.

Text expands and contracts for different reasons. The structure and rules of a language – aspects such as grammar, syntax, terminology, and sentence structure – all play a part in this outcome. The English language is generally more concise and to the point than Romance languages. Subject matter is also a factor in text expansion and contraction in professional document translations. Formal text covering technical, legal and academic subjects tends to be more affected than informal text, such as letters or personal papers.

In the professional translation services industry there are several reasons why it is very useful to know how much texts will expand or contract. Some professional translation services providers calculate costs based on the target language word count, that is to say, the number of words in the finished translation. Some others calculate costs based on the source language word count, that is to say, the number of words in the document to be translated.

Text expansion and contraction is also a major issue when dealing with software localization, web page design, desktop publishing (DTP) and artwork design. In the case of software localization, before the actual professional translation takes place, software developers typically perform what is known as “mock translation”, replacing text lines in the source language with strings of letters, taking into account the average text expansion and contraction ratios. The aim is to make sure that the extra length of the professionally translated text does not affect functionality or the way the text is displayed.

Likewise, in the case of web page design, DTP and artwork, designers need to know if the translated text will fit into an existing webpage or artwork file. Text expansion and contraction will be a major factor to determine the required font size, how much room is needed, the number of pages, amount of block space and so on.

Professional translation services companies such as ASTA-USA Translation Services (www.asta-usa.com) and its legal division Legal Translation Solutions (www.legaltranslationsolutions.com) can help its clientele deal with text expansion and contraction and other issues affecting professional translations.

Professional Translation Services – Common Misconceptions

It is very common for people who are not closely involved in professional translation services to believe that translating from one language to another is a straightforward and simple endeavor.  Any bilingual or multi-lingual individual can do it – seem to be the most obvious and most common misconception. The truth is that the process of translating from one language to another as a professional activity is in fact a very serious business that should be approached with the upmost professionalism in order to execute each translation task in a correct and professional manner.

In order to become a professional language translator one needs a lot more than just familiarity with foreign languages. Command of a foreign language does not qualify anyone to undertake translation work any more than being a fast runner makes somebody a good candidate for an Olympic marathon.

To be considered a professional translator requires in-depth understanding and knowledge of at least two languages. Translating is an acquired skill. Professional translators need formal training to be able to write well and understand the subtleties of language use. Language is a cultural construct and if the professional translator fails to appreciate the culture context underneath a given language it is almost impossible to generate an accurate professional translation.

Professional translation is not a simple endeavor. A professional translator is not the proverbial monkey hitting at the keyboard to eventually come up with a properly translated text. Professional translation is a very time-consuming, intricate, complex and arduous professional activity. It requires simultaneously working with two different texts and can be mentally exhausting. A professional translator moves continuously back and forth between two languages and two mental structures. A professional translator needs to first read and process the information in the source language to be able to reflect it accurately in the target language.

Due to the popularity of some free online translation engines, some people tend to believe that it is perfectly possible nowadays to use a computer program to do translations without human intervention. The truth is that there is no machine translation program in existence able to grasp and accurately transfer the subtleties of human languages. Perhaps it is possible to informally use translation engines or computer programs to translate simple, straightforward phrases, but for the time being they are not able to tackle the complexities of more intricate texts.

It is possible to have a friend who is a native speaker of the target language do a quick and dirty informal translation of a small text. But any context that requires information to be accurately and professionally presented requires a professional translation by a professional translator. There simply is no other way. Inaccurate or unusable translations can cause many problems, including the involuntary presentation of inaccurate or misleading information which may have very serious legal consequences. At the very least, amateurish and incorrect translations reflect poorly on a business or organization. Just as you would go to a professional certified medical doctor if you have a serious medical condition, a professional translation services company who hires only professional translators is the way to go for professional translations.

Professional translation services companies such as ASTA-USA Translation Services (www.asta-usa.com) and its legal division Legal Translation Solutions (www.legaltranslationsolutions.com) are the only option if you are in the market for accurate, high quality professional translations.

Professional Translation Services – The Hallmarks of Truly Professional Translators

The professional translation service industry is highly competitive and challenging. In order to succeed, a professional translator needs more than just familiarity in a language pair. Here are some of the characteristics of successful linguistic experts.

The first and most obvious requirement is language skills. It goes without saying that professional translators must be fluent in at least one language besides their native tongue. A passing or informal knowledge is not enough. Language Translation as a professional service requires the systematic study of a foreign and/or second language. A university or equivalent degree on professional translation or related field may have been desirable a few years ago but in the current market is an absolute must.

A professional in the translation field needs to be curious by nature and possess excellent research skills. Contrary to public perception, professional translators are not walking dictionaries. Even generalists cannot be expected to be experts on every field and to be up to date on the latest terminology. Truly professional translators need to be very straightforward about the things they do know and the things they do not know and be able fill the gaps by researching for the appropriate terminology and information. Research can take many forms, from good old-fashioned paper and ink dictionaries and text books to the vast amounts of information on the Internet.

Professional translators need to be proficient with the latest translation tools, such as translation memory management and glossary creation and maintenance tools. At the very least, they should be advanced users of word processor programs, such as MS Word, and other tools such as the Adobe Acrobat suite.

In addition to possessing professional training on languages, a professional translator has to be highly proficient in written communication. Translating is essentially the transmission of meaning from one language to another. The professional translator has to be able to accurately and thoroughly deliver in the target language the same message expressed in the source language. Remember that good writing skills in one language are usually tied to very solid reading habits in the same language.

With globalization and the opening up of markets in different areas of the planet, professional translations are in very high demand from companies dealing with the most varied commercial activities. The more subjects, fields and industries professional translators can cover the more work they can potentially take. This does not mean professional translators have to improvise or pretend they can deal with professional translations covering any area of expertise. It means that professional translators have to stay current with the changes in the professional translation services industry and the needs of potential customers. Additionally, professional translators must be true experts in the fields they claim they can handle. Improvisation is a recipe for catastrophic failure and a sure sign of lack of professionalism.

Last but not least, it is important to always keep in mind that a translator may have graduated with honors from a very prestigious university but those credentials would mean very little without a proper professional attitude. What does it mean to be professional? It means approaching work with discipline and commitment. Professional translators work in the service industry. Professional translation requires the commitment to deliver the highest quality professional translations according to a previously agreed schedule. Professional translators should have very efficient time management skills and take only the amount of work they can professionally handle. Remember that while it is very nice to get paid for doing what we love, if it is a hobby is not professional translation.

Professional translators working for professional translation services companies such as ASTA-USA Translation Services (www.asta-usa.com) and its legal division Legal Translation Solutions (www.legaltranslationsolutions.com) understand that being a truly professional translator requires much more than bilingualism.

By: L. Amado 01/28/2010

Of the thousands of languages that exist in the world,1 only a few hundred are spoken by at least one million people. The top three languages by the number of native speakers are Mandarin Chinese, English and Spanish. Languages are living, breathing organisms, constantly evolving and, as such, some are expanding and are some contracting. Languages are the bread and butter of professional translation services companies and their language translation experts need to stay as up to date as possible of changes and linguistic tendencies.

Most professional translators try to keep up with the changes in the world of languages, but, as with any other field, predicting the direction of change is an impossible task. Besides being the second language by the number of speakers, English in general and the American or US variety in particular has been the de facto lingua franca for almost a century. Will English manage to maintain its relative importance in the future?

It is very hard to tell. As an old professor at school used to put it, a language is as important as the people who speak it. English owes its status to the importance and extension of the British Empire and later to the ascent of the United States, initially as a world power and later as the sole superpower, and as a scientific, industrial and technological powerhouse.

Few experts doubt that, just as it happened to Latin, the day will come when some other language or group of languages will replace English as the de facto lingua franca. The question is when it will happen and what language or languages will take its place. Predictions are very hard to do. I still remember my university colleagues who decided to specialize in Russian during the 80s to suffer a major letdown after the end of the Cold War. Something similar happened with the Japanese language in the early 90s. Many people were convinced that Japan would soon overtake the United States as the world’s only superpower and Japanese would replace or at least seriously challenge the status of English. Now, due to dynamism of the Chinese society, the major contender seems to be Mandarin Chinese. Time will tell.

In any event, besides the natural decline of the relative importance of English-speaking societies, there are at least two major threats to the supremacy of the English language. One of them is linguistic nationalism, or the desire of many countries and regions in the world to defend and preserve their languages. Many of them have in place very strict language laws to promote the national language. The other major challenge is demographics. Birth rates in English speaking countries are generally lower than those in countries or societies with other languages.

We can now safely say that we are almost living a dual existence: the real world and the virtual world, or the world of Internet. It is interesting to note that to a certain extent the virtual world of Internet replicates the real world, as far as language usage is concerned. Most estimates indicate that English is the most widely used language by Internet users, followed by Chinese and Spanish. Not surprisingly, the ten languages with the most speakers cover more than 80% of the total number of internet users. Far from promoting uniformity, globalization, with its revolution on the availability of faster and cheaper transportation and easier communications, has created the opportunity for many languages to thrive. Easier communications and more readily available transportation mean that interaction between different linguistic groups will definitely grow.

Does the above mean that professional translators need to ditch English studies and start taking Mandarin Chinese classes? Not at all. It simply means that professional translators working for professional translation services companies such as ASTA-USA Translation Services (www.asta-usa.com) and its legal division Legal Translation Solutions (www.legaltranslationsolutions.com) need to stay current with the needs and requirements of the professional translation services market.

1The most extensive catalog of the world’s languages, generally taken to be as authoritative as any, is that of the Ethnologue organization (http://www.ethnologue.com), whose detailed classified list currently includes 6,809 distinct languages.

By: L. Amado 01/28/2010

Languages are systems to encode and decode information. Human or natural languages are cultural constructs; they are arbitrary and based on convention. They not only reflect but effectively shape the way we see reality. The main function of human language is communication and all human language carries meaning. But since all communication and meaning take place in a given environment, context plays a major role.

At its core, translation – whether amateur or professional translation – involves understanding the meaning of a text in a given language and producing an equivalent text that communicates the same meaning in another language. The language of the text to be translated is known as the source language and the language that it is to be translated into is called the target language.

Before translating, the translator needs to understand the meaning of a text. To do so, the translator has to take context into consideration. Context refers to the total environment in which a word, phrase, or sentence appears. Context is very important because we do not translate words in isolation but rather words bound by their syntactic, situational and cultural contexts. We can safely say that for most practical purposes context determines the meaning of a text.

Take the word “bat” in English. It can be used as a noun or as a verb. In the sentences “He hit the ball with the bat” and “The bat flew into the night”, the term is used as the same part of speech, a noun, but with two completely different meanings. In the first sentence, we are talking about a wooden or metallic club, in the second about a winged, furry, nocturnal mammal. Things get more complicated when we consider “bat” as a verb. For example, “He will bat next” (meaning to strike with a bat) or “She did not bat an eyelid” (informal, to blink).

According to pragmatics, the subfield of linguistics which studies the ways in which context influences meaning, there are two primary types of context with relevance to meaning: linguistic (sometimes also referred to as verbal) and situational (or social).

Linguistic context refers to all the linguistic factors which influence or shape the meaning of the text. Words or lexical units in a text do not occur in isolation; they interact with other words and the text as a whole. Most words have more than one meaning or category and translators need to understand the way in which they are used. The best way to find the particular meaning of a word is to look into the context.

Situational context refers to the non-linguistic factors which influence or shape the meaning of a text. The same sentence or statement used in different circumstances may have quite different or even opposite meanings. Situational factors may include the body language of the speaker and the hearer in oral communication, and the social, political, moral, cultural and economical environment. Other factors to take into account are conventions, value systems, religious beliefs and even ideology.

Experienced professional and certified translators working for professional translation services companies such as such as ASTA-USA Translation Services (www.asta-usa.com) and its legal division Legal Translation Solutions (www.legaltranslationsolutions.com) are well aware that they do not translate words in isolation, but rather words with meanings determined by linguistic and situational context and that developing context awareness is one of the most important requisites for a professional translator.

By: L. Amado 01/26/2010

A professional translation services company should be able to help its customers identify the best target language (the company’s translation team must be sensitive to the idiosyncrasies of individual countries and their regional differences) in order to maximize the benefits and impact of its professional translations.

Language translation experts will tell you that this can be particularly tricky when translating from one language into Spanish. It is important to take into account the fact that the Spanish language has a vast geographic dispersion. From Spain to the Philippines and from the US and Canadian border to Tierra del Fuego, the Spanish language is spoken by nearly 350 million people and is the official language of more than 20 countries as well as being the de facto second language of the United States after English, with around 43 million native speakers.

If feasible, and when appropriate, the best and safest course of action is to go for a neutral or not country-specific professional translation. Such a professional translation would assure clear communication and would be perfectly suitable for all Spanish-speaking markets from a linguistic point of view. Such a professional translation approach should use standard Spanish terminology and grammar, instead of a vocabulary and style which denote a particular geographic preference.

Abiding by the standard linguistic rules and terminology of the Spanish language and producing a professional standard Spanish translation is the best option for most usages. However, one of the issues with this approach is that it does so without the particular local flavor of individual Spanish-speaking countries, such as preferences for verb tenses, regional idiomatic expressions, distinctive terminology, etc.

If using a professional standard Spanish translation is not possible, the first difference to be made is between the Spanish used in Spain (usually referred to as European Spanish) and the Spanish used in Latin America (or Latin American Spanish).

As mentioned before, it is important to remember that Latin American Spanish may be a very nice abstraction, but it is not a language in the real sense of the term. Latin American Spanish is a simplification. There are also very important stylistic and terminological differences among the Spanish speakers in the region. When dealing with certain types of material, such as marketing material, legal material, or sales material, it may not be possible to use the same professional translation for audiences in Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Chile and the vast number of Spanish-speakers in the United States.

Professional translation services providers such as ASTA-USA Translation Services (www.asta-usa.com) and its legal division Legal Translation Solutions (www.legaltranslationsolutions.com) will be able to help the customer to determine whether a professional standard Spanish translation is suitable for a given professional translation project or if it requires a more country-specific professional translation, depending on issues such as the type of text to be translated, the domain, the target audience, the level of specialization and the specific market.

By: L. Amado – 01/25/2010

If you are in the market for a translation, there are basically two ways to go. You could either opt for what is known as “machine translation” (sometimes abbreviated as “MT”) or for human translation. Call me a conservative, but I can tell you right away that there is no contest here. Good old-fashioned human translation is simply the only option if you are looking for high quality (correct and accurate) professional translation services.

What does “machine translation” mean? You have probably seen it before. In its more popular versions, it takes the form of online translation engines or computer programs which can be installed on a PC. In either case the result is an automated translation created exclusively with some sort of computer software, with no intervention from a human translator, professional certified or otherwise. Translation software uses algorithms and relies mainly on language usage statistics and word substitution. At its core, automated translation is an attempt to simplify human language and it very seldom, if ever, produces a viable and usable translation.

The main issue with this type of approach is that human languages are very sophisticated and complex constructs. They cannot be reduced to their bare bones without significantly hindering communication. It would take considerable advances in artificial intelligence to develop a software program able to grasp the extremely complex subtleties of human languages. Therefore, for the conceivable future, my favorite Star Trek gadget, the “universal translator”, will remain exclusively in the realm of science fiction.

Professional human translations, on the other hand, are created exclusively by professional certified human translators. They rely on extensive knowledge of both the source and target languages and the ability to naturally recognize and incorporate all the subtleties of human languages, taking into account such considerations as the cultural context, intended market, domain, target audience, etc.

Nowadays, it is common for professional certified human translators to use professional translation tools, such as translation memory management tools, to aid them with their work. They are known as “computer-assisted translation” (sometimes abbreviated as “CAT”) tools.

Just as using a word processor was a huge leap forward in productivity from using a typewriter, the use of computer tools can have a very positive impact on the quality of professional human translations.

“Computer-assisted translation” tools are used by professional human translators in order to have quick access to more accurate glossaries and terminology lists. They also allow professional certified human translators to develop their own glossaries and lexicons according to the requirements of the professional translation process. They are not suitable for all types of professional translation projects, but can have a considerable impact on productivity and consistency, especially in complex professional translation projects with higher word counts.

Truly professional translation services providers such as ASTA-USA Translation Services (www.asta-usa.com) and its legal division Legal Translation Solutions (www.legaltranslationsolutions.com) offer exclusively human translations done by professional certified human translators, assisted by the latest and most productivity-enhancing tools of the trade.

By: L. Amado – 01/22/2010

As is the case with any business the most valuable resource in any professional translation service company is its people.

A professional translation service company can spend a fortune in the latest computers, professional translation software and translation memory management tools and it all would go to waste if those tools are not manned by professional translators.

Much in the same way, a professional translation service company can have in place professional translation and language quality assurance processes which look great on paper and they will still have little or no impact in the professional translation process if the people in charge of putting them into practice are not up to the task.

Professional translation services companies must strive to hire and retain highly qualified certified professional translators and reviewers with experience in the field and who are highly motivated. It is also important to point out that ideally, in order to assure the highest quality of professional translations, professional certified translators and reviewers/proofreaders should be native speakers of the target language and highly proficient in the source language in question.

Some professional translation service companies choose to work with the linguistics and related departments of universities, colleges and other higher education organizations in the places where they conduct their business for a better chance at catching the best talents.

Most professional translation service companies develop and maintain professional translator networks and databases to have in hand a readily available pool of highly motivated and professional language translation specialists. Professional certified translators and linguists may then be categorized by field of expertise, level of experience and internal professional translation Quality Assurance results.

Emphasis should be on hiring and retaining professional certified translators but also on providing and encouraging training and specialization whenever possible. Languages are living, breathing organisms and terminology changes very rapidly, particularly in highly specialized technical domains.

Professional translation service companies such as ASTA-USA Translation Services (www.asta-usa.com) and its legal division Legal Translation Solutions (www.legaltranslationsolutions.com) understand that the single most important factor for success is their human resources and that it is impossible to consistently provide high quality professional translation services without a readily available pool of highly motivated professional certified translators and linguistic experts.