Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find online translation services for affordable, 24-hour service

If you need to find a language translation agency, want fast service and are on a small budget, online translation may be the ideal solution. With this type of service, you can email your text to a company and interpreters working around the clock will have the translation to you in no time. Online services also sometimes feature online translators, which function much like online dictionaries and are perfect for quickly looking up one word or simple phrase.

I recommend: WorldLingo offers online document translation services in more than 141 languages. Translators are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you only need to translate one word or short phrase, the free online translation program Babelfish may help. It's a good resource for small translation jobs for which professional translation services are unnecessary.

Look for phone-based language translation services to save time and money

If you need an interpreter for an informal meeting with a client, employee or customer, over-the-phone translation services are affordable and fast. Simply call the translation service company, explain your needs and many companies can connect you with the appropriate translator right away.

I recommend: Language Line Services provides over the phone translation services in more than 170 languages. NetworkOmni is one of the largest language translation vendors providing over-the-phone interpretation. The company has more than 1,500 certified over-the-phone translators.

Hire on-site language translation services for significant translation jobs

On-site language translation services are used for interpretation of audio material. This sort of translation service often costs more but is ideal for important meetings and long-term interpretation projects. Often, you can select the right interpreter for the job, allowing you to work with the most qualified translator possible.

I recommend: Language123 is a freelance job directory for translators. Here, you can find professional translators in your area for long-term or short-term online projects, and can also post your projects so that translators are able to contact you. Andalex Telelanguage offers on-site consecutive and simultaneous interpretation services in over 150 languages.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When working with an on-site language translation service, keep the difference between consecutive and simultaneous interpretation services in mind. Consecutive interpretation does not use any equipment--an interpreter listens to the conversations and translates verbally. This type of service is often less expensive and more personal. In simultaneous interpretation, the interpreter uses a fixed or mobile booth, headphones, microphones and often a dictaphone to interpret a conversation. This form of interpretation is often used in cases where there are multilingual audiences.

1. Take a good look at the market to see how your translation company can stand out.
2. Analyze your skills to determine if self-employment in professional translation is right for you.
3. Have a basic understanding of the major languages.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Determine your target market for document transation services

Many industries commonly need document translation. Some of these are books, product labels, websites, legal documents, government documents and medical documents. Determine your specialty according to the area you are most knowledgeable, such as medicine or governmental linguistics.

I recommend: Find businesses looking for document translation services at ProZ or Translation Directory.

Find work by advertising your document translation services in trade publications

Place ads in magazines that target the areas likely needing translation services. These may include book publishers, insurance companies, import and export companies and medical publications.

I recommend: Advertise in Editor and Publisher, Health Industry News or Business Law Today.

Use direct mail brochures to tempt potential clients that may need document translation

This can get costly, so be very particular where you send brochures. Consider local hospitals, book publishers or immigration services. Have a brief sample of your work on the brochure, in addition to relevant information and even a price quote if low prices are one of your strongest qualities.

I recommend: Design and print professional brochures from Overnight Prints, Vista Print or Print Pelican.

Freelance some professional translation work

If you are not fluent in different languages, or if you want to branch out farther than one or two languages, freelance the work out. You can find many translators online for reasonable prices. You may translate Chinese and English for example, but need help with legal terms once in awhile; freelance that out.

I recommend: Find translation freelancers at Guru.com.

Have a strong online presence

Advertise online so you can get business from a distance as well. Create a professional website that tells about your language translation services and prices. Since so much commerce is done completely online these days, consider having a website that has the capacity for online translation services.

I recommend: Get help building a good quality website from Logoworks or Heritage Web Design, or design your own through Homestead.com. Have a look at free online translators like AltaVista Babel Fish to get a rough idea of the process.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Translation software may be a little helpful, but it is not at all reliable.
• •  Work from home to save operation costs while you can.
• •  Start out part time until the business gets on its feet.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find business-oriented language translation services that offer cultural and language assistance

Businesses in need of translation services often need not only professional translation and language help, but also cultural advising in order to effectively communicate with overseas clients. Translation companies catering to business clients are often quite flexible and can offer explanations of customs, idioms and cultural practices, allowing you to fully understand your overseas business partners and clients.

I recommend: Executive Linguist Agency offers a variety of translating, interpreting and localizing services. The company prides itself on hiring professional translators who understand not only different cultures, but also different industries, so they can accurately translate jargon and technical terms. Executive Language Training provides culturally sensitive translation services to small businesses and Fortune 500 companies.

Hire document translation services for your text translation needs

You may need to hire a professional to look over and translate business texts, such as manuals, legal documents and contracts. It's important to hire a translator who not only understands language, but also has knowledge of the industry in which you work. When hiring a translation service, have a clean copy of the document to offer so the firm can determine whether it's up to the job.

I recommend: Global Language Solutions (GLS) offers document translation services in more than 100 languages. The firm works with many industries and can translate even the most technical of texts. G3, Gazelle Globalization Group, provides translation services for business documents. The company translates documents in the advertising, financial, government, legal, science, manufacturing, technology and tourism industries.

Seek out a language translation service offering interpreters for face to face meetings

Your business may occasionally need to interpret spoken words - in a conversation or at a meeting, conference or trade show. Interpreters are professionals who can accompany you to your event and translate for you on the spot. You can also provide these interpreters with a video or audio copy of a speech that requires translation.

I recommend: Global Link Translations offers on-site language translation service for the legal, government, educational and medical industries. Metropolitan Interpreters and Translators provides consecutive and simultaneous interpreters for meetings, conferences, doctor and attorney visits, trade shows and more.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When working with professional translation companies, always ask whether all of their translators are certified and request evidence of certification. To be certified, translators must pass rigorous testing.

Guide to Translation Services Key Terms

Learn how to talk about the components of translation

By Lesley Graybeal

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Technical writing

Document translation includes a range of technical document types, such as medical and engineering texts, and most often deals with the translation of technical writing from an original language to a target language. Translators must transfer all of the original meaning from the technical writing, including clearly-defined technical jargon and complicated processes.

I recommend: Read a more extensive definition of technical writing from Wise Geek.

Interpretation

Another service commonly offered from translation services is interpretation, or the translation of spoken language. The two main types of interpretation are consecutive, in which the original language and the translation alternate, and simultaneous interpretation, in which audio equipment is used to allow audience members to listen to a speaker's words in another language.

I recommend: Learn more about the differences between consecutive and simultaneous interpretation from Andalex Telelanguage Services.

ATA certification

ATA certification is available to individuals who wish to obtain an outside credential for their qualifications. To receive certification from the American Translators Association, one may be eligible through education and employment experience or by passing a certification exam.

I recommend: Read the ATA certification overview and eligibility requirements online.

Editing and proofreading

In translation services, editing is the process in which a speaker of both languages reads through the resulting text for content accuracy, making sure that the actual ideas being conveyed match up with the original ideas. Proofreading is different from editing in that it involves a close reading of the actual words used, and is designed to find and correct any mechanical errors on the surface of a text. Proofreading involves the grammar, spelling and punctuation of a translated piece.

I recommend: ProZ.com, a professional site for translators, offers an additional definition of the distinctions between editing and proofreading.

Localization

Localization is a translation service that takes the local dialect and culture of a target audience into account when translating. Localization can be done for a text or other forms of media, such as websites and advertisements, to ensure that they make sense to people elsewhere in the world.

I recommend: Language Line Services features a definition of what localization services entail and why they are beneficial.

Voice-over

Voice-over, or dubbing, is one type of localized interpretation that provides a spoken translation over top of the original language in television broadcasts and other types of media. Voice-over is regarded as a form of localization because it typically involves the use of local voice actors and subtle changes to colloquialisms. Dubbing specifically refers to voice-over that synchronizes with the lip movements of the original speakers.

I recommend: Get an extensive definition voice-over from the Museum of Broadcast Communications.