Translation: why use freelance or agency professionals?

Translation of business documents: why use a professional translator?

If you need to translate specific documents for your company in order to send them to an English, Spanish or German contact, unless you are bilingual, your first instinct will certainly be to go to an online translation tool. Although an online translator can help you, he or she will not be the best one to translate your documents with terms specific to your field and the same intention. This is why using a professional translator will help you gain in content quality and time management.

What does the job of translator involve?

The job of a translator/interpreter is a very demanding job, because its purpose is to connect people who do not speak the same language. Thus, the translator must ensure that his or her interpretations respect the content and form of the original. In the business world, it can be very common to need to translate a document so that it can be understood and used by people who speak a different language, hence the importance of the specialized translator's job.

To become a translator-interpreter, a 5-year study course is necessary. It is possible to obtain a master's degree at a university or a specialized school, such as ESIT or ISIT.

Translation can be applied to all fields. It is a very broad profession divided into several sectors of activity. Thus, there are:

• The literary translator: he works on the translation of a work intended for publication (novels, practical guides, cookbooks, etc.) for publishing or the press.
• The revising translator: the latter checks a translation against the original text and improves the style of a translated text.
• The translator in the audiovisual sector: he/she specializes in subtitling and dubbing films for cinema or television, and in preparing radio programs.
• The technical translator: this profession consists of specializing in a particular field and mastering the vocabulary (medical, legal, electronic, multimedia, etc.). He/she has a double curriculum (specialized training and translator training).
• The forensic translator: translates documents intended to be used in court and may act as an interpreter during a hearing or investigation, appointed by the judicial authority.
• The post-editor translator: he corrects and revises texts automatically translated by translation software.
• The localizing translator: specializes in adapting interfaces for users from other countries and cultures (games, websites, DVDs, etc.) in the web, multimedia or computer fields.
• The terminology translator: specialized in researching and gathering French equivalents of foreign terms in technical fields (aeronautics, medical, etc.).

Each translator has his or her own specificity and will thus have the advantage of finding the right words according to the service you are looking for.

A professional for customized transcriptions: translation, a profession in its own right

In today's society, globalization is present on a daily basis and we often come into contact with non-English speaking people** in the workplace.

In the business world, everyone has their own specificity, and it is to this extent that the translator brings a real and precise added value thanks to his knowledge, his training and his culture. While anyone can translate a document using an online tool, no one can replace the translator, his or her human dimension and linguistic skills, which will adapt to your requests and guarantee qualitative and personalized results. Translation is a real challenge if you want to develop internationally, so it is important that you take communication with non-French speakers seriously. To this extent, using an interpreter represents a considerable time saving.

When you contact a consultant for your translation project, he or she will ask you many questions about your needs in order to better understand them and propose the most appropriate solution. Your translation project is an essential link in the success of your international expansion**, which is why it is important to ensure that it goes smoothly.

The choice is yours. For the translation of your documents, you can call upon freelance translators as well as translators within an agency. Interpreters will work with you on a daily basis to ensure that your translation meets your initial requirements: budget, deadline, writing style... You can also choose a translator based on his or her extra-professional skills, so that they are aligned with your company's field: technology, politics, advertising, commerce, marketing, finance... A specialized translator will be able to transcribe your documents into another language, while knowing exactly what he or she is talking about