Chinese English Translation Options: How to Choose a Chinese to English Translator or AgencyWhat’s right for your Chinese English translation? A Chinese to English translator? An agency? A free translation tool? Here, you'll find advice advice on choosing the right translation option for your needs and budget. Chinese language translation options1) Machine translator. An automatic Chinese to English translator is a great tool, for instance, if you want to look at a Chinese website, or if you receive an e-mail in Chinese and want a general idea of what it's about. The advantages of this translation method are obvious: it's ultra-fast, easy, and normally free. We do not recommend using machine translation, though, for any Chinese English translation that you will be publishing or sending to other people. It is easy to end up with translation that sounds funny, doesn't make sense, or says something completely different from what you mean. Here is an example from a Chinese Wikipedia entry about the musician Bruce Springsteen that has been machine translated to English using a free online translator: "Bruce · Springsteen (English: Bruce the Springsteen,1949 year) is the American village and the rock and roll singer, the creator and the guitar player. Springsteen creates together frequently with the E street orchestra with tours, in addition also performs hand in hand by individual status perhaps with other musicians." You can probably see why it might be risky to entrust this tool with an important Chinese English translation job. 2) Amateur English to Chinese or Chinese to English translator, student, etc. There are many people who speak Chinese who are not professional translators. Maybe even you. If the quality of your English Chinese translation is not important, asking a student, friend, or colleague may be an economical option. For example, if you want to translate an e-mail to send to a friend or an article that you want to share with your students, then it may not be worth paying for a professional to do a high-quality job. On the other hand, if you are translating marketing copy for your website, a letter for clients, or any kind of sensitive material such as a contract, then we recommend using a professional English to Chinese or Chinese to English translator. Knowing a language is not the same thing as being able to translate it effectively, and you are taking a risk if you entrust your translation to an amateur. 3) Freelance English to Chinese or Chinese to English translator. Hiring a professional freelance translator can be a way to get an excellent Chinese English translation for a lower price than what you would pay to an agency. Apart from price, another advantage of working with a freelancer instead of an agency is that you can communicate directly with the person who is actually translating your text. You can give instructions, answer questions, and control the process of your translation more closely. If you have some time to spend on selecting and coordinating a freelance Chinese to English translator, then this may be the solution for you. If you are pushed for time or have complex translation needs -- for example, a translation into multiple languages -- then you might be better off going to an agency. Advice on choosing a freelance Chinese language translator "If you just need something that doesn't have to be professional-looking and you don't really care much about the quality of the translation, you can go to a friend. That will probably be more economical. But if you want a higher quality translation -- for example, for a website or a proposal -- then you should go to a professional translator. If you know someone already who you know does a good and professional job, then you can hire a freelancer. If you don't know anyone, it's best to use a highly established and reputable agency. They'll have quality control procedures. Sometimes they even have a process of sending the translation to a second person for proofreading, so then you know the quality is good." - Siaoning Jhang, English to Chinese Translator 4) Translation agency. A good translation agency will do all of the project management work for you. This is by far the easiest option. And if you choose a good, experienced agency, it removes an element of risk from your Chinese translation project. It also tends to be the most expensive way to get a translation. Agencies may charge you as much as double what they pay to their translators, and they also typically charge high minimum rates for translation jobs. If you decide to hire an agency for your Chinese English translation, be sure that you're actually getting what you pay for. Find out in detail about the agency's policies for translator recruitment, selection, and quality control. Look for an agency that will guarantee you that each one of your translations will be revised by a second native translator. (You can check that the agency's following through on this promise by requesting a copy of the reviser's corrections along with the finished translation). Click here for advice on choosing a Chinese English translation agency. Click here for advice on choosing a freelance Chinese to English translator. Return to the main Chinese language translation page.
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