Five es­sen­tial tips for a fluent and na­tural translation!

Have you ever re­ceived a trans­la­tion and thought, “Hmm… That sounds a bit odd” 🤔
No matter what you need trans­lated – whe­ther it’s a con­tract, a web­site, a mar­ke­ting pre­sen­ta­tion, a doctor’s report or insu­rance do­cu­ments – choo­sing the right trans­lator for your con­tent is cru­cial to your success.

Here we pro­vide five key tips to ensure that you end up with a top-qua­lity translation.

• Spe­cia­li­sa­tions – un­der­stan­ding your industry

There’s more to trans­la­tion than simply swap­ping one word for an­o­ther. A legal text is not the same as a mar­ke­ting text and trans­la­ting me­dical con­tent re­quires an en­ti­rely dif­fe­rent set of skills again. Those with ex­pe­ri­ence in the legal, me­dical or tech­nical sec­tors don’t just un­der­stand the words, but also the con­text behind them. And it’s pre­cisely this level of un­der­stan­ding – your trans­lator spea­king the lan­guage of your in­dustry – that makes your trans­lated con­tent ac­cu­rate, cre­dible and professional.

• Uni­ver­sity de­grees and qua­li­fi­ca­tions – a mark of professionalism

A uni­ver­sity degree doesn’t gua­rantee a per­fect trans­la­tion, but it does show that good trans­la­tors know their sub­ject matter. Par­ti­cu­larly when it comes to of­fi­cial or sen­si­tive texts, qua­li­fied or cer­ti­fied trans­la­tors pro­vide an ad­di­tional layer of se­cu­rity and ensure that your do­cu­ments are pro­fes­sio­nally ren­dered in the target language.

• Ex­pe­ri­ence and re­views – proof you can trust

Being able to review your translator’s pre­vious pro­jects, re­fe­rences and re­views often says more than any web­site or Lin­kedIn pro­file. Ex­pe­ri­enced trans­la­tors will im­me­dia­tely spot classic lin­gu­i­stic traps and know exactly how to trans­form tricky texts so they can be cle­arly un­ders­tood in the target lan­guage. The­r­e­fore, a con­vin­cing port­folio is a ge­nuine sign of con­sis­t­ently good quality.

• Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and dead­lines – the key to smooth projects

A suc­cessful col­la­bo­ra­tion always begins with clear com­mu­ni­ca­tion. Our pro­ject coor­di­na­tors are here for you – they answer quickly, ask ques­tions, assist in de­cision making and ensure that dead­lines are faithfully ad­hered to. Par­ti­cu­larly when it comes to time-sen­si­tive pro­jects, re­lia­bi­lity is just as im­portant as lin­gu­i­stic expertise.

• Bud­gets and pri­cing – why qua­lity pays off

Bud­gets ob­viously play a cru­cial role, but be careful… A dirt-cheap trans­la­tion can end up being very ex­pen­sive if the result re­flects the price. Qua­lity costs money and a good trans­la­tion re­quires time, care and ex­per­tise. We use a trans­pa­rent quo­ting method that makes the final price ju­s­ti­fiable and en­sures there are no hidden surprises.

Now it’s your turn!

What do you value most when choo­sing a partner for your trans­la­tion pro­jects? What ex­pe­ri­ence – both good and bad – have you had when or­de­ring trans­la­tions? Share your thoughts in the comm­ents below… 👇

We look for­ward to hea­ring from you!