Translation projects
Specialist translation in law, media and PR, commerce and marketing, engineering and IT, Other references
Specialist translation in law, media and PR, commerce and marketing, engineering and IT, Other references
Interpreting at courts and notarial offices, Business interpreting, Interpreting at Register Office,
Legal interpreting, Translation in Marketing & PR, CAT tools, CPD seminars and stays in the UK, Other events
With every purchase, the buyer gives a supplier a credit of trust. However, more often than not the customer does not know on what basis he or she should actually make the decision. When dealing with an industry that one is not well acquainted with, it may become even more difficult to decide on where to buy.
In Germany it is customary to calculate prices for translation work with the help of standardised lines of text, so-called ‘Normzeilen’ consisting of 55 characters each including blanks. The number of characters in a source text (original text) or in a target text (translation) can be used as the basis for price calculation. In case of non-electronic texts usually the target text is used for convenience.
Although translations are often indispensable, they are also expensive. As a customer, it is natural that you want to make sure your translation is accurate and meeting the highest standards. It is a great pity when the price is the only criterion for choosing a translator and you eventually have to pay more when problems with the alleged cheaper solution arise.
The notion that translators are an endangered species has already been circulating for some time. Machine translation (MT) offered by companies such as Google or Bing is, after all, free of charge and available any time. Granted: MT is improving year on year. It is fairly adequate for private purposes, for example when you are abroad and need quick help with directions or a hotel booking. Even if you cannot rely fully on the offered translations, communication is simplified.