What are the costs incurred in translation services that ultimately factor into the price paid? Among the ones I can identify, listed in no particular order are: 1. The translator. A skilled linguist sits down and translates. 2. Proofreading. A second skilled linguist proofreads the translator’s work. For full TEP (translation, editing, proofreading) a third phase of […]
The biggest threat to the well being of our translation business doesn’t come from competitors. It’s not the up and down economic cycles, nor any other external factor we can point to either. The biggest threats to our business comes from within our company if we: 1) Don’t take the time to improve our marketing, customer communication and […]
Recently we read another translation blog that suggested paying translators by the hour rather than by the word. Hourly compensation would: 1) Mean that the longer a translation project takes the more a translator makes. 2) Disincentivize translators’ investment in translation technologies, which have some cost, to encourage more efficient and consistent translation work. 3) Make […]
As I’ve stated before in previous blogs we receive numerous resumes emailed to us from translators interested in doing projects. We welcome them although each translator’s contact addresses only a portion of the services we deliver to clients. Affinity Translation’s standard translation services includes post-translation revision/proofing by a second translator. We prefer that translators and […]
Perfect is in the eye of the beholder as the saying goes. Since no two people typically view language in the exact same way, the perfect translation is an elusive goal. In our company post-translation proofreading is a standard part of the translation process. Post-translation proofing (or revision as it’s sometimes called) is an essential part […]
Occasionally we receive feedback from a translation client that a third party recommends changes to our prepared translation. Sometimes these requested changes are even characterized (inaccurately) as “errors.” Preferential changes are part of the translation business. Ideally preferred terms are provided by a client at the outset of a project as a resource for translators. […]
