If we rightfully dismiss one of the forms of machine translation, whose quality is slowly improving but will not be even remotely usable for texts of a more demanding nature for some to come, you have little choice. What should you do if you have a technical text to translate, or need a certified translation? You have no choice but to use the services of a freelance translator or a professional translation agency.
A freelance translator can turn out to be cheaper, especially if they are not busy - which, of course, can set off alarm bells in your head about their quality and reliability. The client may also appreciate direct personal contact with the translator. However, the list of benefits of freelancers ends there.
The main disadvantage is that their capacity and expertise are limited and they will usually not have time for you immediately, which will be especially troublesome in the case of an urgent text. These are usually generalists without specialisation who absorb specialist terminology on an ad hoc “on the fly” basis. The result is often a number of factual errors, minor inaccuracies and thus a translation requiring subsequent proofreading by an expert consultant.
Of course, there are also self-employed top performers in their field, but they are paid well for their time and, above all, they are very busy. So if you have not miraculously found someone who has time to devote purely to you, your choice is an agency.
One of the huge advantages of a professional translation agency is that it usually employs a long list of native speakers and professionals who have studied languages and have proven years of experience. Compared to independent freelance translators , a translation agency has incomparably wider possibilities and capacity, which is reflected, among other things, in the very broad range of language combinations. Thus, you can comprehensively assign the translation of the same text into several languages at once with one agency, which you cannot do with one translator.
A large and diverse professional translation team, the possibility of consulting internally with colleagues, the option of cooperation and assistance with associated agencies - all this guarantees the professionalism of translations carried out by a translation agency. As a result, you are guaranteed quality, meeting of deadline and speed of translation (often within hours).
Nowadays, professional translation agencies without exception use professional CAT translation software. What is it? This is an abbreviation of the term “computer-assisted translation” and is basically a tool for computer-assisted translation. In addition to spelling and grammar checking, these tools have a translation memory and a terminology database. The professional translator thus draws on a huge reservoir of collected terminology and established phrases that greatly speed up their work and eliminate the risk of error.
There are many such translation tools on the market and the really good ones are not cheap, which is why you can find them mainly at professional translation agencies. Benefits of CAT software for translators and clients These probably don’t need much explanation.
As it happens, prices vary both between agencies and freelance translators. It also depends on many circumstances, such as the complexity of the translation, the language, or whether it is an active or passive translation (i.e. from Czech or vice versa into Czech). Reputable translation agencies will give you a quote in advance.
In general, it may be true that a freelance translation will cost you less than an agency, but this is far from being a rule. Of course, it depends on how good a freelance translator you approach, their workload, the length and urgency of the text, etc.
For instance, in the case of longer-term cooperation with a translation agency or when using bulk or volume discounts, you will often get a price below what you would pay a quality freelance translator. And we have already mentioned the advantages of commissioning a translation from a professional translation agency in terms of expertise, flexibility and meeting deadlines.
Do you need a professionally translated text? Time is money, so choose certainty and contact us. We will be happy to offer you an optimal solution tailored to your needs.
