In our globalised world, the demand for translation services is ever increasing; this is mirrored in the incidence of foreign correspondence crossing our desks and likewise, the increased need for us to commission foreign translations of our own output. To most businesses that use translation services, these services are often a vital necessity as well as being an unavoidable business overhead. There are, however, certain easy steps that can be taken in order save money on translations.
The first step is to realise that translations are charged on the amount of text to be translated, therefore, to reduce the cost…reduce the amount of text.
For documents that will only be used internally, within international offices of the same company, there is somewhat more latitude in this regard; for instance, a combination of in house ability combined with the use of free online translation tools could substantially reduce the amount of un-translated text to be passed on to a translator.
Oftentimes, however, this is simply not an option as the translations are required for external recipients and must, consequently, be linguistically sound. There are though, some equally beneficial strategies that can substantially reduce the quantity of text to be passed on for translation.
- Dispense with excess verbosity and unnecessary detail. Whilst reading through a submission, decide if some of the detail is really necessary to communicating the key message of the text. Hand in hand with the reduction of detail, is the judicious use of vocabulary…don’t use ten words to say something when you can re-word it using only five.
- Eliminate the over use of descriptive terms. Whenever communicating with external parties regarding a product or service, most of us have the habit of slipping into ‘sales mode’. Sometimes, this might be apropos, however, would “This leading user friendly, high end software bundle”, really be any better than “This high end software”?
- Avoid the repetition of text. If writing an analysis on the diminishing value of the dollar entitled ‘Analysis of the falling Dollar’, then repeating this text under an illustrative graph and then using this phrase in the opening line will cause you to be charged three times over for an identical phrase.
- Delete any non market specific information. If writing instructions for a Return Material Authorisation procedure for the Chinese or Japanese markets, there is no point in including information about the procedures for any other market.
- Use a master index. Using just one master index or table of contents at the beginning of a publication eliminates the need to repeat this information at the beginning of subsequent chapters.
The aforementioned suggestions can, through a ‘hands on’ practical approach, lead to impressive reductions in translation costs; but here are some further suggestions that managers might find useful to bear in mind as a key to further cost reductions.
- If there is a large corpus of work to be translated, there may be a possibility of negotiating a special rate with a translation company and thus, gain a sort of ‘economy of scale’. Likewise, should you opt to use one regular translation company and give them ‘preferred supplier’ status; you might also gain a preferential rate for your company.
- By allowing sufficient time for translations to be carried out, excess tariffs can be avoided. A translator might on average translate some 2,500 words per day with an additional day upon completion for checking and quality assurance. Although a translations company will always try to assist you with a last minute or vitally urgent emergency job, if you do require this, it will almost certainly incur an extra charge which might run to between 30% and 50%.
- Different languages attract different translation rates. As you might intuitively expect, European languages such as German and French, cost less than more difficult oriental languages such as Chinese or Japanese. It is always worth asking whether your Chinese or Japanese clients really need a translation of a specific text.
By being aware of these cost reducing strategies, solid reductions in translational overheads can be easily achieved, there is, however a proviso; very often financial and legal tracts are couched in very verbose language and are often filled with what might be deemed to be ‘throwaway’ phrases. By dispensing with some of these phrases, the whole nature and meaning of the tract is changed…caveat editor!
Nonetheless, where changes can safely be made, here is a point worth considering…a text of 100 words, which is reduced by just 15 words, would yield a saving of 15%...certainly something worth baring in mind.
Ioana Mihailas
Lingo24 Translation Service
ioana at lingo24.com
+441224446021
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