Professional translators: Are they really necessary?

In today’s globalized economy, the need to communicate with speakers of other languages is sure to arise. This could be in the form of a recurring communication, or perhaps just a one-time need. No matter whether your business deals in finance, health care, legal, education, e-commerce, or another field, this issue is bound to come up. And when it does, is it worth the money to involve professional translators? Could a bilingual staff member just translate for you? Wouldn’t that save the company money? This blog deals with these questions. It will show that professional translators save you time and money and, ultimately, help ensure your business’ success.

Can a bilingual coworker translate that for me?

Let’s look at the idea of having a bilingual member of the staff perform translations. Is this person trained in translating material? Consider that the employee likely has responsibilities to worry about before the added translation task. Would it be a good idea to give this individual more work and risk potential burn-out? It is unlikely that this person is trained in translation. Professional translators are linguists and subject matter experts in both your industry and in translation. Using the proper terms in both the original and the target languages ensures the success of your communication.

Is it worth the cost?

There are so many reasons why professional translators will save you time and therefore money. An experienced translation company understands the proper order of operations involved in translating material. From accurate translation of materials, to matching design layout with this original language, they do it right the first time, so your business can stay on track.

Accuracy is crucial!

Last but certainly not least is accuracy. A simple internet search will turn up hundreds of stories of improperly translated materials that ruined deals and damaged businesses. For example, a 2017 article produced in Britain and translated into German, meant to persuade members of the E.U. of the importance of “Brexit” had disastrous effects. This article was originally written in English, but the German translation was complete gibberish. Nearly every single line had grammatical errors. As a result of these mistranslations, the article was heavily damaging to the movement. The culprit of the botched translation was an internet web-site translation.

Some think translation is not “real work” and anyone can do it, especially if they have access to the internet. This clearly is not the case. When translating ideas and information from one language to another, hiring professional translators will elevate your business, and will save you time and money. Professional translators preserve the ideas you want to communicate, ensuring that nothing becomes “lost in translation”.

At Australis Localization, we take translating very seriously. Our team of dedicated translators are professional linguists with years of experience working in your field. Contact us today for a free consultation and let us show you why we are the best!