New Language Wanted

When asking translation agencies for quotes for professional services, not everyone knows what information to include in a request. It’s not unusual to see requests like “I need this document translated”, without any indication as to what language it needs to be translated to, or “I would like to translate a manual from Italian to Spanish”, without attaching any files.

However, it’s understandable when people who don’t work in the sector don’t have the necessary information to ask for a quote for language services. In this article, we will explain what needs to be specified and what files need to be provided to receive a clear and timely response when looking for professional translation.

Essential information for getting a translation quote

When requesting a translation, always include:

1. the language the text is written in (what we call the “source language” in industry jargon)
2. the language it needs to be translated into (“the target language”)
3. the target country or market
4. the desired delivery date
5. any additional services.

As well as this information, do not forget to attach the file, in an editable format if possible, one that can be opened by Word or another word processor, and definitely not in PDF. We’ll have a look at why shortly.

Source and Target languages

Specifying what language the document or site is in may seem redundant. Can’t I just open the file to see what language it’s in? Not always. Take a document written in Serbian for example. If you can’t read Cyrillic characters, it might be difficult to tell it apart from Russian.

There’s more: the person receiving the translation quote might not be the person who actually does the translation itself, and may not be able to recognize all languages at first sight. This is almost always the case when you send a request to a translation agency, where quote requests are routed to the correct department, depending on the language.

Secondly, indicating the document’s language can help the recipient get an idea of the work involved, especially if they are unable to open the attachment at that moment.

Obviously, indicating the language the document is to be translated into is absolutely essential. The country the translation is for should also be specified. For example, whether an English translation, is meant for the United States, Australia, or the United Kingdom, or whether a German translation is meant for Austria, Switzerland, or Germany, and so on.

The destination country of the translation

Why does the translator need to know which country or market the document, site, or software is meant for? If you want a translation into Spanish for example, does it actually matter it is for Spain, Argentina or Mexico? Yes, because doing this will allow you to reach the right recipients of that document successfully.

Does this mean someone from Spain is unable to communicate with someone from Mexico? Not at all. However, between the two variants there are some differences in terminology, the way words are used, the way people address each other, and so on.

Let’s take a look at the different ways of referring to cars and car parts between British and American English, for example:

• American English “hood” = British English “bonnet”
• American English “station wagon” = British English “estate”
• American English “rocker panel” = British English “sill”
• American English “fender” = British English “wing”
• American English “sedan” = British English “saloon”

. Not to mention a plethora of subtle differences in spelling and vocabulary that are notriously easy to miss, like “windshield” vs “windscreen”, or “tire” vs “tyre”, for example. Now imagine the resulting confusion for the reader when a Brit translates a book about cars from Italian to English without having been made aware that it was to be sold in the United States.

On top of this, every country has its own conventions:

• units of measurement,
• date format,
• time format,
• phone number format, etc.

For example, in American English the date is written in the month/day/year order, while in British English, it is day/month/year. Imagine we are translating a website that manages reservations: problems could easily arise if this difference is not accounted for.

How do I set the delivery date of a translation?

In the previous paragraph, we saw why it is always necessary to specify the deadline for the translation’s delivery. It is especially important to:

• indicate an exact date
• give a realistic deadline
• avoid the word “urgent”.

Though the first point may be clear enough, the second likely isn’t.

What kind of delivery date can be considered “realistic”? Before responding to this question, we need to ask another one.

How many words can a translator translate in a day on average?

There is no one answer to this because there are several factors that influence productivity.

• Is the translator specialized in the sector, and do they know the subject matter well?
• Is the delivered file well written and easy to understand?
• Is the subject matter generic or highly specialized?
• Are there images that need translating?
• Has a glossary been provided or will the translator need to search for the terminology?

A single translator translates on average about 3 000 words per day (in 8 hours). Obviously, this does not apply to every translator or all kinds of circumstances. It’s not even always true for the same translator. Of course, a translation agency is much more productive as it can make use of multiple translators at the same time.

Added to the time needed for translation, we also need to add the time dedicated to reviewing the translation, or to checking the texts and, when it’s a website or piece of software, running a functional test.

An acceptable time for the translation of a 10,000-word manual could be a week, or a couple of days for a 3000-word datasheet, if the agency decides to assign it to just one person.

It’s also important to keep in mind that translators do not work weekends and that if a request is sent at five o’clock on a Friday afternoon, it most likely will not be picked up until the following Monday. It’s important to remember that the agency may also be busy with other, previously commissioned work, which can take longer to deliver.

So, let’s get to the final point: urgency.

“Urgent” is not a delivery date. Although translation services are often one the last activities when it comes to product distribution, and therefore effectively a customer always sees his translation as “urgent”, it is much more useful for a translation provider to be given a specific deadline, so as they can either confirm it or propose another one. Therefore, a specific date must always be given, even when the translation is for the following day. It’s important to highlight here that almost all translators apply fees or surcharges for urgent work (especially if it implies working evening/night hours, or on the weekend).

Looking for more than just translation?

As well as translating documents, software, or sites, you may also need other services like:

• revising a document which has already been translated
• converting a file from one format to another
• layout or formatting (desktop publishing)
• creating a glossary (to help technical editors, for example) from other translated documents.

These services are quoted separately and in a different way compared to translation. To find out more, read our post “The (dis)counted hours: how to read a quote for a translation”.

File format

As we were saying, when it comes to requesting a quote, it is best to always attach the file in an editable format (Word, Excel, .txt etc.) and not in PDF. If the file is editable, the translator can calculate the quote more easily and therefore respond faster.

In the post “How to count the words of and translate PDF files”, we explain why files in non-editable formats are difficult to manage and why they often imply increased translation costs (or times).

But what if it’s not a manual or document I need to translate, but a site? This is where things get a bit complicated. The file format depends on how the website was developed.

This is quite a complex topic, and we recommend going to “How to translate a site developed with WordPress” to find out more.

Here, suffice it to say that just providing a web address is not enough to get you an accurate quote. The translator needs to have access to the site’s translatable content (blog posts, interface strings, system messages, etc.) which can be found in simple HTML files, or, if the site was developed with a content management system like WordPress, in a database and in other configuration files.

If you don’t have access to these files or don’t know how to retrieve them, we recommend asking the developer or even the translator themselves for help.

Useful documents for the translator

To help the translator give a more accurate delivery deadline, the translation client should also provide (as far as possible):

• previously translated documents or, if they are available on the Internet, their web addresses
• other texts on the same topic
• web addresses, perhaps even those of competitors that sell the same products or services and that can serve as examples (to be followed or avoided)
• a glossary (a collection of sector-specific terms)
• a style guide, if one exists, i.e. a document containing all the business’ conventions concerning tone, style (e.g. formal vs informal), words to use and to avoid, etc.

In this sense, the translator won’t have to gather all the information on their own, and this will save time in terms of researching the material, and delivery times will reduce.

Additional, but always useful information

If you need to translate a manual or technical brochure containing images, graphics, or tables, don’t forget to indicate whether these graphic elements need to be translated. For example, it might not be necessary to translate screenshots of a piece of software in another language when the software is only available in English.

Otherwise, if you have previously commissioned work with the same agency or translator and now need the updates or changes translating, it’s best to make this clear when you make the request. In addition to bring the delivery time forward, the translator will be able to discounts for pre-translated parts. In our post “The (dis)counted hours: how to read a quote for a translation”, we explain why we do not charge for all the words that need translating.

However, if you want to translate a site or a document which is more complex, we recommend specifying whether it is all to be translated, or whether some sections can be left out. You need to evaluate, for example, whether all the products of an [e-commerce]](/translation/ecommerce-translation) site are to be sold in a specific country or whether blog posts or chapters of a technical manual are all relevant to a specific market.

With the right information, you’ll get a better translation service

Provide the information listed in this article when you request a translation quote, and you will receive a faster response, a more accurate delivery time and cost estimate, and you will reduce the length email exchanges for clarification. Essentially, by making just a little more effort to improve initial communication, you will get a better professional translation service in return.