FAQ

Should we work with a translator or an agency?

This depends on your requirements and your budget. If you do not need translations in a hurry and have in-house native speakers for the language into which your document needs to be translated you are probably better off working with a translator directly as this is the most cost efficient option. However, if you need to have documents translated at a rate of more than 2000 words per day, you do not have the time to wait until your preferred freelance translator is free or you do not have anyone in your company who can check the quality of a the translation you are better advised to work with an agency.

We are a Fortune 1000 company and have a 6,000,000 word translation project which needs to be managed over a three month period into six languages. Can you send us your prices?

We do not have the linguistic or financial resources to manage projects of this scope. You would be better advised to work with an international MLV. To see a list of these companies see our client list.

Can you tell us how long it will take you to translate this document. It is 100,000 words and quality is foremost?

It is impossible for a human being to read more than 10,000 words per day and make corrections. Translators typically translate 2,000 words a day, thus a team of 5 translators and a proofreaders require a minimum of 11 working days to translate and proof 100,000 words. However, many other factors come into play which extend this. E.g. availability, terminology management, client queries and unforeseen circumstances. Normally, three calendar weeks is the minimum time required so that linguistic quality and consistency can be maintained.

We have a document which is 100,000 words and we need it done as quickly as possible so our engineers can start working on it. We can cope with inconsistencies and small errors. Can you tell us how long it will take you to translate it?

In general it is always possible to add translators to reduce turnaround time. However, this depends greatly on how high the tolerance for inconsistencies is. The fastest we ever handled a project was 100,000 words of faxed accounts documents in four working days. The translation was required for legal reasons and as such quality was not an issue.