The Future of Translation – Part 2

So it has become clear from my blog text in Part 1 that specialist translations obviously need nurturing. How can we achieve this? What answers do we have to this conundrum? The culmination of years of research and intimate personal experience in the specialities themselves. Doctors translating for medics, legal beagles understanding the niceties of international and foreign law. Bankers putting an angle on the narratives of the Controllers. Copywriters who can sell “Taste the Feeling” in Germany.

So many language service providers (LSP) spuriously claim to have native speaker experts in all fields. In most cases this is a bluff (a lie). A desperate attempt to gain business. Regardless of the consequences. How many British brain surgeons really do speak Bulgarian? How many lawyers are fluent in Portuguese? Bankers in Greek?

No, the world’s megalomaniac language service providers stamp on employed or freelance translators, undercutting quality-driven competitors, demanding ever lower prices for translations. (See https://www.translationdirectory.com/translation_jobs/english_french_translation_jobs.php (“…the budget for this project is very tight, so we will be able offer 0.02 USD per word for this… “)) [and who noticed the mistake in this passage? We did!], this works out at $US 2.88 an hour, or US$ 23,04 a day, and even lower prices for huge translations.

The risk is compounded by (international) Internet translation machines. Texts once uploaded are stored forever and may be shared with business partners (just read the small print). So your highly confidential texts are exposed to the public domain, and may even be incorporated later in somebody else’s translation. Just as yours exploits other translations gone before.

The great German writer, poet, novelist, and playwright Goethe wrote: „Denn was man auch von der Unzulänglichkeit des Übersetzens sagen mag, so ist und bleibt es doch eines der wichtigsten und würdigsten Geschäfte in dem allgemeinen Weltverkehr.“

These niches, backwaters and nooks and crannies are served by specialist LSPs who put quality before price, no matter the deadline. Who value eye-to-eye relationships with experienced translating experts, who combine modern technology and traditional language skills for high-quality consistent translations, who can offer a broad range of specialties in many language combinations, quickly and hassle-free. Who work hand-in-hand with their clients, who treasure accountability. Add to this that these companies have their own dedicated servers on their own premises, here in Germany, and guarantee that your text will never go viral.