|
English to Polish Translation Guide - Find a Polish English Translator
Get objective advice on:
"I read somewhere on the Internet that a good translation is expensive, and a bad translation is even more expensive." - Karolina Taflaj, Polish Translator English to Polish Translation Guide - ContentsManaging your translation project. A step-by-step guide to managing your English to Polish translation, from hiring a translator and negotiating a price, to checking the quality of the results you get back. Professional translation options. Should you use an agency, or can you save money by hiring a freelance Polish English translator directly? Compare the pros and cons of both options. How to choose an agency. Just because an agency has an impressive website or offers a low price, doesn't mean it will give you the best translation for your budget. Find out what questions to ask. How to choose a freelance translator. Simply looking at a translator's CV won't necessarily give you all the information you need. Here's advice on what to look for in a Polish English translator. Translation pricing. How much does a typical Polish English translator charge? Why are agencies more expensive? What factors can influence the price you end up paying? Get answers here. Translation timing. Here are some tips to help you negotiate a realistic timeline for your English to Polish translation and avoid unexpected delays. How to reduce your translation costs. Find out how to avoid "hidden costs," when to ask for a discount, and other cost-cutting strategies for your English to Polish translation. Meet a Polish translator. Karolina Taflaj, a freelance English to Polish translator, offers an insider's perspective on the translation profession. English to Polish Translation Guide - Frequently Asked QuestionsQ: What is the cost of a professional translation? A: Normally, translation prices are based on a per word rate, which is multiplied by the number of words in the document. In our study of twenty U.S.-based freelance Polish translators, we found an average Polish to English translator rate of $0.11, and an average English to Polish translator rate of $0.13. In general, agencies charge higher prices than freelance translators. Some other factors that can affect translation prices are: minimum rates for small jobs, discounts for very large volume, surcharges for rush turnaround or specialist technical translation, and the costs of additional services such as layout, formatting, or editing... Read more about Polish English translator rates "There is a very reputable, renowned American company that makes very good toys. My baby has a rocking chair from them, and it has a big warning sign on it. In English, this sign says 'Always use restraint system until the child is able to climb in and out of the product unattended.' And in Polish, it says what translates to 'Always use the restraint system if the child is able to climb in and out of the product unattended.' This is on a big warning sign! I find it appalling and will write to them about it. The company is liable for the warning they put on their product. If I didn't put the restraint belt on my nine month old baby, he probably would have fallen off long ago because he keeps leaning over, wanting to pick something up off the floor." - Karolina Taflaj, Polish Translator Q: What should I look for in a freelance translator? A: Look for an experienced professional translator who is a native speaker of the translation's target language. For example, for an English to Polish translation, the translator should be a native Polish speaker, not a native English speaker. For a Polish to English translation, the translator should be a native English speaker... Read more about choosing a Polish English translator Q: What should I look for in a translation agency? A: Try to find an agency that is experienced at managing translation projects similar to your own, especially if your project has unusual requirements. Also look for an agency with positive client references and stringent quality control measures in place. We recommend asking for price quotations from several agencies before making a decision. Be wary of hiring an agency with below-average prices: the quality of their work is likely to be correspondingly low... Read more about choosing a translation agency "Translating any kind of advert is a real challenge, as an English slogan might make no sense to the Polish public if translated literally. That might be because of cultural, historical or other kinds of issues. The translator then has to think of a completely different slogan that has the same meaning, but translates as something different than the original. For example, the supermarket Tesco uses the slogan “Every little helps” in the UK, but in Poland, they use “Kupuj taniej,” which means,“Buy cheaper”." - Karolina Taflaj, Polish Translator Q: How long does a translation normally take? A: This depends on the specific Polish English translator and the difficulty of the translation. In general, most translators need at least one day for every 2500 or 3000 words to be translated. Translators who have a lot of experience with the particular type of translation can sometimes work faster. However, if a translator offers to turn around a huge number of words in a short time, beware: this could indicate that the translator is not applying proper care to the work... Read more about English to Polish translation timing Q: What about free online translators? A: An online Polish English translator is a useful tool if you need help understanding something written in Polish. However, we do not recommend using machine translations for anything important. An automatic Polish English translator is like an advanced dictionary -- it matches words in one language with words in another language, but it does not have a human brain to judge how a sentence sounds or what it means. The results of an automatic translation are therefore often inaccurate, odd, or incoherent. "In any language, there are words you can't translate easily, so you need to describe them instead of translating them. For example, in legal translations, there will be acts and laws without equivalents in the other country, so you need to describe them. Clients don't always understand this -- they think that 500 words in one language will translate to 500 words in the other. But sometimes you need to shorten, and sometimes you need to elaborate. You have to be faithful to the source text so that someone reading it in Poland will understand exactly what it's talking about." - Karolina Taflaj, Polish Translator << BACK from English to Polish Translation to Free Language Translator and Professional Translation Services Home |