17AttributesthatMakeaGoodTranslator

By:CarolynKnees
Publishedon:September23,2014
Revisedon:February8,2016

17AttributesthatMakeaGoodTranslator
Introduction
Yourcompanyisabouttoexpanditsoperationsintoothercountriesandyouhavealocalizationproject
inthepipelinetogoalongwiththeexpansion.
Youarenowreadytobuildyourlocalizationprojectteam.Projectmanagers,translators,proofreaders,
editorsanddesktoppublishingspecialistsarejustsomeofthekeypeoplethatmaybeincludedonthe
team.
Workingwithalanguageservicecompanywouldeasetheburdenofputtingsuchateamtogether,since
thecompanywillhandlemostofthesourcing.
However,theremaybeatimewhereyouneedtoworkdirectlywithaprofessionalfreelancetranslator.
Findingagoodfreelancetranslatorcanbejustashardasfindingaqualityemployee.Maybeeven
harder,becausetheinterviewingandvettingportionismodifiedatbest,andeliminatedatworst.
Herearethe17attributesyoushouldlookforwhenrecruitinganewfreelancetranslatorforyour
localizationproject.

1.NativeSpeaker
Thisisperhapsthemostimportantthingtolookforinatranslator.Thetranslatormustbeanative
speakerofthetargetlanguage.Thisensuresathoroughknowledgeofthelanguagesculture.
Theartoftranslationisnotlimitedtolinguistics.Italsorequiresculturaladaptationthatonlyanative
speakercanprovide.
Atranslationshouldneversoundlikeatranslationitshouldsoundlikeitwasoriginallywritteninthe
languageinwhichtheaudienceisreadingit.Afluent,nonnativespeakermaybeabletoproducea
goodtranslation,butanativespeakerwillbecapableofproducinganaturaltranslationeverytime.

2.EnglishSkills
AssumingEnglishisthesourcelanguage,itisequallyimportantthatthetranslatorhaveanearnative
commandoftheEnglishlanguage.
WithoutnearflawlessEnglish,atranslatormaymisssomeofthenuancesinthesourcetext,andthus
willleavethemoutofthetranslation.

3.Pricing&Rates
Youmustalwaysbemindfuloftheprojectbudget.Atranslatorshouldbemindfulofthegoingratefor
theirlanguagecombinationandexpertise,otherwisetheymaypricethemselvesoutofworkthatis
suitedforthem.

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17AttributesthatMakeaGoodTranslator
Itisalsoimportantforthetranslatornottoundervaluethemselves,asatoolowpriceshouldmakeyou
questionthequalityofworkthatthetranslatormightdeliver.

4.Experience
Atranslatorsexperienceisafactorindecidingifthetranslatorisqualified,anddetermininga
reasonablerateforservices.Bothyearsofexperienceandtypeofexperienceareimportantforyouto
consider.
Educationandworkexperiencerelatedtolinguistics,languageteaching,andtranslationareall
desirable.Yearsofexperiencedoingtranslationworkarealsodesirable,buttoomanyyearscan
sometimesbesomethingtotakeanextralookat.
Hereswhy
IfthetranslatorhasbeenlivingintheUnitedStatesandworkingasatranslatorfor30years,for
example,theyclearlyhaveadesirableamountofexperience.Butitisimportanttoconsiderwhether
theyhavebeenabletokeepuptheirlanguageskillsafterbeingawayfromtheirhomecountryforso
long.
Ifatranslatorhasmanyyearsofexperience,buthavelivedawayfromtheirhomecountry,theymay
consideraddingasectiontotheirresumeorprofileoutlininghowtheykeepcurrentintheirnative
language.

5.Certifications
Yourprojectmayrequireacertifiedtranslator.Collectingcertificationsfromorganizationswithnational
orstaterecognitionisagoodideainordertoexpandthenumberofprojectsatranslatoriseligibleto
workon.
Iftherearenospecificrequirementsforcertificationsforacertainproject,atranslatorwithgood
experiencecanbeconsidered.
Oftentimes,amorequalifiedtranslatorcanbeoverlookedinfavorofacertifiedtranslatorsimply
becauseofthecredentials.
Youshouldbecarefultobalancetheweightofacertificationagainsttheactualqualitythetranslator
canprovide.

6.Flexibility
Oncethetermsarenegotiated,itisimportantforatranslatortobeopenmindedtoaflexiblepayscale
forspecialscenarios.Specialscenarioscanincludehighvolumeprojectsandotheruniquesituations.
Dontbeafraidtonegotiatewiththetranslatorsinceyoureinacontractorrelationship.

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17AttributesthatMakeaGoodTranslator
7.Location
Althoughatranslatorslocationismostlikelyafactorthatcantbechanged,itissomethingthatyou
mayconsiderwhenlookingforanewfreelancer.Thiscanbealogisticsissue.
Forexample,youmayhavespecificrequirementsforwherethetranslatorislocated,oryouprefera
translatorinthesametimezonebecauseoftightdeadlinesandaneedforeasycommunication.
Locationcanalsobeimportantforthequalityofthetranslationsthetranslatorshouldbeanative
speakerofthetargetlanguageandanexpertinthetargetculture,andfamiliarwithcolloquialismsand
linguisticstandardsforthetargetaudience.
Forthisreason,aSpanishspeakerwhohasneverlivedintheUnitedStatesmaynotbeagoodfitfor
SpanishtranslationsforaU.S.basedaudience.

8.KnowledgeofCATTools
Ifyouareworkingwithalanguageservicecompany,thatcompanywillalmostsurelybeworkingwith
oneormoreCATtoolsonaregularbasis,funnelingalltheirprojectsthroughthem.
Dependingonthesizeofyourorganization,youmayalsohaveinhouseCATtools,suchasmemoQ
TranslationMemory,andhavetranslatorsloggingintoitforprojectwork.
Forthisreason,youshouldconsideratranslatorsexperienceusingCATtoolswhendecidingwhether
theyareagoodfit.
Asatranslator,itcanbehelpfultohaveexperiencewithallofthemajorCATtoolssoasnottobe
eliminatedfromconsiderationrightoffthebat.

9.Specialization
Itsimportanttohaveapooloftranslatorsforeverydayprojects.Butmanyprojectsrequirespecialized
knowledgethatageneraltranslatorcannotprovide.
Youshouldfocusonrecruitingtranslatorsthatspecializeinyourparticularfield.Havingqualified
translatorsistheonlywaytoguaranteehighqualitytranslations.

10.Honesty
Atranslatorshowsthattheyarecredibleandprofessionalwhentheyonlyacceptassignmentsthatthey
aretrulyagoodfitfor.Itisalwaysbetterforatranslatortodeclineaprojectiftheyareuncomfortable
withitordonothavetimeforitthantoacceptwhenthecircumstancesarentright.
Aprojectthatisrushedduetoatranslatorsoverloadedschedule,oraprojectthatisdonebya
translatorwhoisnotfamiliarwiththetopic,willinevitablybeoflowquality.

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17AttributesthatMakeaGoodTranslator
11.Responsiveness
Afterreviewingthecontenttobetranslated,itisalsoimportantforatranslatortopromptlyrespondto
you.Yourjobisfastpaced,andtranslatorswhocankeepupmaybefavoredoverthosewhomustbe
contactedmultipletimes.
Youmayhavedifferentexpectationsforareasonableresponsetimedependingontheprojectbut
fasterisalwaysbetter.Atranslatorshouldchecktheiremailseveraltimesadayandshouldrespond
immediatelytodeclineoracceptaprojectoncetheyhavemadetheirdecision.

12.Availability
Atranslatorwhoisalwaysavailablemovestothetopofthelistveryquickly.Turningdownprojectsdue
toheavyworkloadornotbeingfamiliarwithatopicisagoodthing,butrejectingtoomanyprojectsmay
leadyoutobelievethatthetranslatorisuninterestedinworkingwithyou.
Ifyouarealwayssendingprojectsfortopicsthetranslatorisuncomfortablewith,thetranslatorshould
remindyouoftheirareasofexpertise.

13.Communication
Translatorswhocommunicatewellaresignificantlyeasiertoworkwith.Communicationabout
availability,suchastravelplans,isjustasimportantasprojectrelatedcommunication.Projectrelated
communicationshouldbetimelyandclear.
Ifatranslatorhasdoubtsaboutyourexpectations,theyshouldneverguess,butinsteadshouldask
questionsabouttheproject.Thistypeofcommunicationwillreassureyouthattheprojectisgoing
smoothly.

14.Manners
Itmaysoundlikecommonsense,butitisimportanttohavegoodmanners.Ifatranslatorisunpleasant
toworkwith,youmaystopsendingthemprojectsalltogether,eveniftheyproduceveryhighquality
translations.
Itisparticularlyimportanttobepolitewhencommunicatingaboutcontractterms.Thistopiccanbe
sensitiveanduncomfortableforbothparties.
Itisimportantforatranslatortostandupforthemselvesandnotsettleforlessthantheyareworth,but
thereisawaytodothatwhichwillnotendarelationshipwithyou.

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17AttributesthatMakeaGoodTranslator
15.AttentiontoDetail
Attentiontodetailisoneofthemaincomponentsofasolidqualityassuranceprocess.Thingslike
numbers,formattingandpunctuationarepaidcloseattention.
Translatorswhomakemistakesintheseareasstandoutinabadwayandmaybeexcludedfrom
futureprojectsifthemistakesaretoofrequent.
Ontheotherhand,translatorswhocatchinconsistenciesinthesourcefiles(suchasmisspellings&
mismatcheddates)standoutinaverypositiveway.Thesetypesofdetailsshouldbebroughttoyour
attention.

16.MeetingDeadlines
Perhapsthemostimportantthingatranslatorcandowelltostandoutistomeetdeadlines.Youshould
alwaysprovideadeadlinewhenaprojectisassigned.
Ifatranslatoracceptsthedeadline,theyareexpectedtomeetit.
Noexcuses.
Thatbeingsaid,ifatranslatorneedsextratime,itisalwaysbettertoasksoonerratherthanlater.
Bestcasescenario,adeadlinecanbenegotiatedbeforethetranslatorevenacceptstheproject.

17.ResponsetoFeedback
Youmayhaveaninternalreviewercheckthroughthecompletedtranslationsandprovidefeedback.
Whenthishappens,atranslatorisexpectedtoreviewthefeedbackandprovidetheirprofessional
recommendationsastohowtoproceed.
Atranslatorshouldbeprofessionalandopenminded,butalsodotheirbesttopersuadeyoutochoose
thebestoptionbyprovidingaclearexplanationfortheirrecommendationssoyoucanmakean
informeddecisionaboutthefinalversion.
Towrapup,youcannowfeelmoreconfidentinrecruitingnewtranslatorsforyourproject.

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