How much do professional English translation services cost?
What budget will you need if you’re buying professional translation services?
Are you looking to commission a translation of your valuable, high-profile documents? Not sure where to start? I know it can be stressful to navigate the maze of information online to decide which service is right for you. It’s hard to know if a translation service provider is going to be reliable or knowledgeable enough to deliver the high standards you need.
You might have done your research and found a selection of translators you would be interested in working with. Yay! But now that big deadline is looming and it’s time to talk costs and get that translation done.
2. How to understand the varying costs of document translation
One of your obvious first questions might be ‘How much is it going to cost to get this translated?’. Because of the huge variation in prices you may be quoted, it’s wise to also spend a bit of time considering a) what exactly you want to achieve with the translated text, and b) how much budget you are willing to invest.
You could save money by commissioning a different service
Few things are genuinely free in this world. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys…. I’m sure you’ve heard all that before. In this post I’m going to provide as much information as I can to explain the levels of investment you can expect to make, depending on your needs and requirements. I’ll even explain how you could save money by commissioning a different service with me.
So let’s get down to it.
3. How are translation services priced?
Translation services are usually priced by the word, or sometimes per standard page, or per hour. On some occasions, you may find that the translator quotes you a project price. This could be because it makes sense for the particular requirements of the translation service you need.
The price of the translation reflects the time and expertise you are benefiting from.
The price of the translation reflects the time and expertise you are benefiting from. Most translators will tend to translate around 2,000 words per day. But, similar to copywriting, sometimes a particularly thorny text comes along and a lot of back-and-forth is needed before the best term or phrase is pinpointed and the most compelling copy is achieved.
4. What different translation services are available and what benefits do they offer?
Option 1:
Machine translation
*A disclaimer: I’m not talking about free services like Google Translate that you might use to understand a street sign, but instead more context-aware, AI-driven, paid-for services such as DeepL, ModernMT.
What you need to decide is whether the initial cost savings of using machine translation will actually pay off, and whether any benefits outweigh the risks.
Pros:
o Low-cost and quick when you just want to get a ‘gist’ of what something says.
o You don’t even need to bother interacting with a human to explain your needs.
Cons:
o First up are accountability issues – you’re sending your valuable data into a machine, so who is accountable for any mistakes it makes?
o Next is voice. Because a lot of machine translation content draws on past translations, conveying the right tone of voice and unique personality is beyond its capabilities in creative, persuasive, complex or high-stakes copy.
o Even with post-editing by a human translator, the resulting copy will almost certainly read like robotic writing. For the obvious reason that it was translated by a machine.
o Oh, and watch out for random inaccuracies, inexplicable mistranslations that were somehow ‘missed’, language bias, and be sure to check whether it knows the difference between language varieties such as Mexican and European Spanish.
Cost: Low, but DeepL and ModernMT are subscription-based services. Based on my research, translation agencies offer machine translation services from as low as £0.03 per word.
What you need to decide is whether the initial cost savings of using machine translation will actually pay off, and whether any benefits outweigh the risks.
Option 2:
(Large) agency translation services
Pros:
o They can probably handle multilingual projects, so if you need one document translated into more than one language at once, they are often a great choice.
o Agencies often offer more of a full-service solution that could include transcription, voice-over or DTP (although many freelancers also offer these services alongside translation).
Cons:
o Large agencies don’t often specialise in a particular area – if you’re looking for someone who knows your industry and/or organisation inside out, a full-time specialist in that area is probably a better fit.
o Lack of consistency – you may find that your translations are outsourced to different freelance translators each time.
Cost: I’m not totally sure what a translation agency would charge these days, but agencies do have overheads and staff to pay, so you should expect to pay quite a bit. And certainly much more than a machine translation service. I do know that prices vary hugely between countries, and the price is also quite likely to reflect the translation quality you’re getting.
Option 4:
A specialist freelance translator
Pros:
o A specialist freelance translator will work with you as an expert partner to understand what you need.
o They will possess the human experience and judgement needed to carefully adapt cultural references and nuances.
o As a one-to-one partner, they can be flexible enough to accommodate specific requirements and offer a highly customised service.
o If you’ve found a good translation partner, that freelancer will already have invested considerable time specialising in your particular field. So they’ll know the sector’s terminology inside out.
o Consistency: this is a big one. You get to work with the same person every time, which means your tone of voice and brand values remain consistent. Hooray!
Cons:
o Capacity – a freelance translator usually works alone and will translate only into one target language, so they would probably struggle to accommodate a huge multilingual project. However, if they are well connected to their professional network, I bet they’ll be able to refer you to someone who can help you if their own capacity is maxed out.
Cost: You probably know what I’m going to say – ‘it depends’. But if you are looking for a reliable freelancer who can provide premium translations of your important publications, the fees will reflect their expertise, so beware of any quote that comes in at less than something in the region of £100 per thousand words.
Fees will reflect expertise
5. What about hidden costs in translation?
There are sometimes extra costs involved in a translation service, but the translator should always explain these to you in advance. For example, the document you need to get translated might be in PDF format and need to be converted using OCR software. Or, if you’re in a big hurry, an urgency charge may apply. This sort of cost might not add a lot to the total bill, but it’s still worth taking into account in your planning. If you plan your publications with enough time set aside for translation, then you’ll save money on urgency charges.
6. Why is translation so expensive?
As you can see, the cost of translation can vary a lot.
There’s no denying that it will cost more to choose me as your translation service provider over running your document through machine translation. But as a human, I’m accountable for my work. If I mess up, that’s on me (spoiler alert: I won’t mess up).
By working in partnership with you, you also get a more personalised service from me. I will dedicate time to researching your values, your tone of voice, target audience, and the nuts and bolts of what you actually want to achieve by translating your documents.
I’m always happy to discuss your individual requirements when it comes to cost, too. Perhaps it’s not necessarily a ‘full’ translation that you need: could a summary translation/précis fit the bill? I also support multilingual authors with my copy-editing services. This could be another option that might save you money.
What are the next steps?
After reading this blog post, I hope you have a much better idea of how much translation costs.
To find out more about how to work with me for your French, Spanish and Portuguese into English translations, click the link below and let’s schedule a chat.
How did I get here? How and why I became a specialist French, Spanish and Portuguese into English translator
As a boutique translation business owner who thrives on solving problems, it’s usually my clients I want to know more about. I’m usually asking what do you need; what are your values and your goals? After all, when it comes to getting the job done, it’s really not all about me.
But maybe you want to discover more about my background, to work out whether I’d be a trustworthy partner. And so, you may ask yourself (as that Talking Heads song goes), ‘Well, how did I get here?’. Or you may be someone interested in finding out how on earth someone might end up becoming a translator. Reader, you’re in the right place.
An intentional path
Almost every day, I’m immensely grateful to have discovered translation as a career. My journey to becoming a translator was very much deliberate and planned.
It all started with GCSEs in French and Spanish back in the 1990s. When it was time to choose my A-levels, those two languages seemed a natural choice because I was getting good grades in them. But by then it wasn’t only about the grades – I was starting to think more about my future study and subsequent career. For me, I loved the fact that taking A-levels in languages opened up doors for me. I learned so much about other cultures and histories, and this gave me a fresh perspective on the world. I cherished that.
I spent a long time researching the right university, and I definitely made the right choice. I had a fantastic four years at Cardiff University/Prifysgol Caerdydd, studying for my BA in French and Spanish. Translation was an integral part of my degree course, and it was at Cardiff that I received some of my most valuable tuition as a fledgling translator. Fun fact: my other favourite modules focused on Spanish history and French literature.
Full immersion
In 2001, my third year, I went to live in Nantes, France, and then Barcelona, Spain. I studied at the universities there and experienced the countries’ language and culture in real life. This was when things really took off and I truly felt confident in my second languages. Ever curious, while in Barcelona I couldn’t resist taking a part-time course in Catalan. This year was also when I fell hook, line and sinker for France and Spain as countries, and I’ve tried to return as often as I can ever since.
Linguist on a mission
It was at Cardiff that I first learned about translation as a profession, and I knew right away it was the one for me. There was something about it that appealed to all my skillsets and interests. But four years at university were not enough, I decided! I was incredibly eager to learn more about translation theory and practice, and about linguistics in general. So I applied to study an MA in Translation and Linguistics at the University of Westminster.
At Westminster I began learning Portuguese as a cognate language of Spanish. I loved Portuguese immediately, and found that, with my knowledge of Spanish, Catalan and French, I could soon read it with relative ease, and took additional evening classes to top up my speaking and listening skills.
Stumbling upon a niche
For my MA dissertation, I did a 15,000-word translation about women’s rights in Nicaragua, with an extended linguistic commentary, in coordination with the charity Womankind Worldwide. This was how I discovered and explored my first subject area niche. Westminster University had great links with the translation industry, so I felt ready to go out into the ‘real’ world once I’d completed my fifth year of study.
Picking up the pace
I was lucky that, living in London, there were some in-house opportunities around. Someone pointed out an advert for translators at INTERPOL’s bureau in London, so in 2004 I applied, got an interview, passed the entrance test and got the job.
I’ll always be so grateful for these first few years in-house as a newbie translator finding my feet. I was able to access training, development, and real-world experience that I wouldn’t otherwise have gained. My work at Interpol was – naturally – focused on legal translation, so that also gave me a solid specialism to focus on. But it also introduced me to how international organisations function and interact. It is hard to find translators with a genuine background in international organisations, and that job gave me the grounding I needed.
Hitting my stride
It wasn’t long before I realised that I wanted to set up my own boutique translation business. The security of my translation day job allowed me the space to spend my free time honing some crucial business skills and building my network. I even brushed up my English grammar proficiency through a TESOL certificate at intensive evening classes, just in case things didn’t work out. But I didn’t need to worry. After six months of combining English teaching with my part-time translation business, I went full time.
Where I want to be
Setting up my own business in 2008 was one of the scariest, most exhilarating things I’ve ever done. I’ll never forget how that first week felt. Nearly 15 years later, my work days are varied and almost always fascinating and fulfilling. All thanks to translation. Who could ask for more?
Translation demands quite a niche set of skills. Beyond the obvious requirement to speak another language, you need an eye for detail and an aptitude for the rhythm and flow of writing, not to mention clarity, excellent grammar and punctuation, as well as deep subject-matter knowledge. Every step I’ve taken has led me to becoming the translator I am today, and oh, what a journey it has been.
About Philippa
I take Spanish, French and Portuguese (and English!) content and transform it into snappy, fresh and 100% engaging English copy.
Want pithy English that gets straight to the point, while maintaining the ethos and impact of its original language? My clients rely on me for a genuine 1:1 working relationship, as a translation specialist who truly cares about your reputation. I think we could work well together, don’t you?
5 confidence-boosting tips for attending in-person industry events when you’re rusty
Read these five tips if you’re planning to attend an in-person event in your sector and you’re feeling rusty and lacking confidence
In 2022, the return of in-person events is gathering pace. Last week I attended the Cardiff Translation Unconference and, in a few weeks, I’ll be at the ITI Conference in Brighton.
For many of us this change of tempo is welcome, exciting, and terrifying all at the same time. It means moving out of our comfort zones and into the big wide world beyond the reassuring comfort and splendid isolation of our home offices.
Let’s face it, despite regularly attending industry events in the pre-pandemic years, it has been a while since most of us did this and we’re out of practice. Read these five tips if you’re planning to attend an in-person event in your sector and you’re feeling rusty:
1. Keep your adrenalin levels in check. 😰
Adrenalin (or ‘good anxiety’) can be your friend: it focuses your mind and you can channel the energy it creates. But when it tips you into overdrive, it can also be your enemy. To help quiet any negative anxiety before leaving for the event, spend one minute breathing in and out slowly – counting to six as you go and holding the inhale at the top before letting it go again. This should help to calm your nerves. For me, yoga offers another way of steadying myself and staying focused.
Before you leave, doing a bit of pre-conference research about who will attend and connecting with them in advance will also help you feel more prepared and at ease.
2. Don’t self-criticise. 🤟
Remember that most freelance linguists are probably just like you and me: keen to network and share ideas, but also pretty introverted. Just like you and me, they probably spend more time behind a computer screen than speaking to people face-to-face, and they probably don’t have any secret conversational superpowers that you mysteriously lack.
When you walk into a room at an event, remember that the other attendees are all there for the same reason. Keeping this in mind takes the pressure off.
3. Manage your expectations. 🚵
Networking is a journey, not a destination. You don’t know where that journey will take you and it will probably make you less nervous if you don’t have a fixed destination in mind. Especially if the networking is between peers and colleagues.
Think about building connections along that journey ̶ connections you may revisit in the future. Don’t bounce around the room for fleeting chats with as many people as possible. It’s not about promoting your business at every moment. Attend the smaller fringe events if you can, too. The fringe events are an ideal opportunity to engage with people in a more meaningful way.
4. Pace yourself. 🦥
Arrive early if you can. Arriving early means you can take stock of everything before it gets busier (and noisier). It might also enable you to locate a smaller group of peers and begin a conversation. Plus, others may notice you there early and approach you first.
For you, arriving early could even mean arriving one or two days early to settle comfortably into your groove, or adding an extra evening to your stay after the conference to bask in unbroken solitude.
5. Guard against overstimulation. 💫
Squirrel brain is real. I’m always keen to take absolutely everything in, even though it leaves me feeling shattered. I tend to be extremely comfortable with one-to-one connections, but burned out when there’s lots of noise and action coming from different directions. Especially when the networking continues into the evening at post-conference dinners – I know that’s my potential pain point.
To counteract this, try building in some buffer time to refresh ̶ time to retreat to your accommodation if you need to, so you’re not always in conference mode. Remind yourself that you do not have to be ‘on’ at all times. If you could potentially skip any sessions that aren’t as relevant to you, it’s OK to take a short walk in the fresh air to decompress.
Because you’re worth it
Even though in-person events and conferences can be daunting, they beat all other forms of professional networking hands down. So much of my work comes through referrals, and meeting someone in person helps to build trust.
I am actively engaged in my professional network the rest of the year, so these events offer a rare opportunity to meet all those names I usually only connect with online. And I always come away with fresh ideas and perspectives. In short, I couldn’t run my business without in-person events, even if my inner introvert tries to persuade me otherwise 😉
Want more?
Here are two book recommendations about this:
Hiding in the Bathroom: An Introvert’s Roadmap to Getting Out There (When You’d Rather Stay Home)
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
International organisations: 5 things to look for in an English translation specialist
For effective cross-cultural communication in the international development sector, you need a specialist linguist.
For effective cross-cultural communication in the international development sector, you need a specialist linguist.
Do you work for an international organisation? Have you ever bought translation services from one-size-fits-all translation companies and come away feeling like you’ve missed out? That your organisation deserves so much more?
If you’re looking to boost the impact of your work, you need a strategic translation partner: an experienced specialist who listens to and understands your needs and requirements. These five questions will help you find out if a translator is the perfect match:
1. Do they know your audience?
You already know that cultural differences usually mean that something acceptable for one target audience may not have the same impact in another cultural/linguistic community. But does the translator actually understand who they’re translating for?
You need a freelance specialist who knows the development and humanitarian field inside out. A translator with expertise gained from years of experience in your sector; a reliable partner who can confidently communicate its complex concepts and terminology.
2. Can they write?
No, really. True professional translators are also skilled writers whose cultural and linguistic knowledge adds tangible value. Yes, being bilingual is amazing, but don’t risk spending vital income on robotic, word-for-word copy with no impact.
If your original language content was engaging and eloquent, you’ll want the English version to be equally so. Here’s where a translator with a writer’s skill set comes in.
With a truly professional translator, you have peace of mind that the translation will provide a showcase for your expertise.
3. Are they a problem solver?
Expert translators are problem solvers who thrive on meticulous attention to detail. They understand the international development sector’s pressures and are ready to offer solutions. They’ll listen to your concerns and give honest answers.
They’ll also be adept at unpacking tricky turns of phrase and ensuring technical terminology is accurate. With their strong research skills, the heavy lifting behind the scenes is done for you.
An experienced translator will make your job easier and guarantee the high standards you require.
4. Do they ask the right questions?
Invest in an excellent translator and you’ll benefit from an intelligent approach; a professional partner who cares about your values and reputation. Did you know that a trustworthy translator will read and research your texts more carefully than anyone? It’s true. And this in-depth reading should prompt inquisitive, relevant questions.
Does your organisation have a tone of voice and style that is unique? Your translator should be 100% on board with that.
A translator of this calibre will stay on message and provide reassuring, responsive support.
5. Do they care enough?
You care about achieving your goals, about protecting your reputation, and about making an impact. You don’t want to feel like your carefully produced content was translated on autopilot and delivered with a shrug, wasting your time and money.
With an organised approach, a professional translator will maintain a laser focus on demanding projects and will ensure any last-minute hiccups and weak spots are avoided.
They will dedicate time to reading about your organisation or your specific project or product, and their in-depth knowledge of the humanitarian and international development sector comes as standard.
What’s your biggest challenge when finding the right translator for your organisation? If you’re ready to work with a reliable, specialist English translation partner, let’s talk.
