How the perfect translation is achieved can be baffling to those individuals who don’t work in the translation business. So here is some insight into how it’s done.

The document sent to the translation agency should be as explicit and accurate as possible, so all involved in the project know what the expected outcome should be. It all begins with good communication. Without that time is lost trying to get important answers regarding the source document and the intended audience of the translated version.

To start off with you should:

• indicate what the main objective is for the translation;
• tell the translation company your budget;
• state how urgently you need the translation.

Often, addressing the points above will have some influence on how much the translation is likely to cost. If it’s important that the whole translation project is completed by a specified date this will affect where the translation will be put in the queue. Most translation companies may not necessarily have large numbers of translators available in your language pair so it has to be given sufficient notice to ensure that the appropriate translator can be found to do the translation by the time you have requested.

Organize all of the documents you need translation as well as possible. If you realise afterwards you have missed a page out and email it sometime after the translation has begun this will disturb the translator’s thought processes and may incur extra fees while the translator fits it into the project. The more complete and organized the source content, the more likely the project will end up with a perfect translation.

Don’t leave it too late when ordering a translation. Whenever it’s possible you should allow as much time as you can for the translation to be completed. This ensures it’s not only a perfect translation but it’s gone through all the necessary controls to get to this point. This will give you a window of time to ensure the translation meets your expectations and is correct for the receiver at the translation’s final destination.