English to Dutch Translation Guide: Choosing a Dutch to English TranslatorDeciding on a Dutch to English translator? The English to Dutch Translation Guide has tips to help you make the right choice. You’ll also find typical translator rates and other useful information at the bottom of this page. (Looking for a free English to Dutch translation online?) What to look for in a Dutch translatorWhen choosing a freelance translator, here are some of the questions you should consider: - What is the translator's native language? Normally, you should look for a native speaker of the translation's target language -- that is, the language into which your document will be translated. For an English to Dutch translation, your translator should be a native Dutch speaker, and for a Dutch to English translation, your translator should be a native English speaker. - Where is the translator from? There are differences between British English versus U.S. English, between the Dutch spoken in the Netherlands and Belgian Flemish. Depending on the type of text you are translating, these differences become more or less important. - Does the translator have the necessary subject area background? Good translators are experts at research, and if your English to Dutch translation contains just a few technical terms, you may not need a translator who is specialized in the field. However, there are certain kinds of documents such as legal contracts and engineering reports that require some background knowledge just to understand. If you are translating a document of this kind, it is important to look for a translator capable of understanding the subject matter and of using the appropriate terminology in the target language. "You have to ask yourself how critical this translation is to your business. If it's critical, you should always try to find someone who is a specialist. It depends on the situation, and if it matters if some of the terminology doesn't come out exactly right. If the translation is just an internal e-mail, then it probably doesn't matter. If it's for your annual report or your website, it does matter." - Lindsay Gasser, Dutch to English Translator - How reliable is the translator? Can you count on the person to complete the translation carefully and within the deadline? You may be able to find clues about a translator's professionalism by observing his or her behavior during the application process; for example, how fast e-mails are answered and how carefully instructions are followed. However, we recommend asking the translator for client references and talking to them about the translator's past performance. - How well does this person actually translate? Just because a translator has a great CV and references, unfortunately, this doesn't mean that he or she is great at translation. In addition to professionalism and experience, translation requires talent and skill. A translator has to be good at analyzing information and understanding it on multiple levels. And he or she has to be a good writer in his or her own language. Translation is not just replacing words in a document -- it is writing a new document in the target language. Before hiring a translator for an important translation, we therefore recommend evaluating how well this person actually translates. The best way to accomplish this is by asking the translator to complete a short test translation -- 300 words is an appropriate length. If the translator is not willing to do the test translation for free, you can offer to pay a small amount of money for it. If the translator completes a test, you will have to find someone to evaluate it. This should be a native speaker of the translator's language. You may have a colleague or friend who can help you with this, or you may be a native speaker of the language yourself. If not, it might be necessary to hire another native translator to do the test evaluation for you. We recommend sending the evaluator tests from six to eight translators at the same time to provide a basis for comparison. Dutch to English Translator - More ResourcesCompare English to Dutch and Dutch to English translator prices Compare English to Dutch translation options Browse all topics in the Dutch to English translator category
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