Translator English to French Guide: Meet Perrine, English to French Translator

In Part 2 of our conversation with Perrine, Translator English to French, discusses how to choose the right translation partner. Click here to return to Part 1 of the conversation. At the bottom, you will find links to more translation resources, including a guide to translation prices. (Click here if you were looking for a free online translator).

Conversation with Perrine Souffez, Spanish and English to French Translator and Project Manager - Part 2

Q: What advice would you give to a translation buyer on choosing the right translation agency?

A: First, to look carefully at the agency's areas of specialization. Because sometimes, there are people who will say "Yes" to everything. So if you need a legal translation, for example, you have to look carefully to see if this field is within the agency's areas of specialization.

Compare the prices of different agencies. When an agency has low prices, that doesn't mean it's any good. It's better to choose an agency that charges a little more or charges market rates than to end up with a bad translation. And see if the agency has been around for a long time.

Q: And advice on choosing a freelance translator?

A: It's similar. Above all, the prices shouldn't be too low. And the translator should have one, two, maybe three areas of specialization maximum. A translator has to specialize.

A: If they have a website, sending the website link is important. For example, let's say they're a construction company, and the text is about cement blocks. The translator can go to the website and see what technology they use, see what the work consists of and get a global vision. It can be hard to translate a text without knowing the context, so the website becomes important.

Sometimes clients will also have an internal company glossary. This is often difficult for them to send because it's confidential, if they have an enormous terminology database, but it can help the translator a lot.

So the website and the glossary are important, and I'd also include any translations that they've done previously even if these aren't on exactly the same subject -- translations in the same combination of languages so that the translator can get a bit of an idea about their preferences.

A: My advice is: you shouldn't use them. They're very bad. There's one that's maybe a tiny bit better than the others, but it's not really a translator. They're translators of words, not of ideas.

Q: What does quality mean to you when it comes to translation?

A: Quality means respecting the text, respecting and transmitting the ideas that the author wanted to communicate as well as the tone, and, of course, avoiding writing mistakes.

Another thing to look for is whether the translator asks questions. It's important for the translator to ask questions when he has them, to say, "Hey, I don't understand this here," to check a word with a client when he's not sure. That's a translator who is looking out for quality, who's not writing just anything in order to put something there. If a translator returns every translation without any questions and never asks anything, that's a bit strange.

More Free English to French Translator Resources

Go to Part 1 of our conversation with Perrine Souffez, Professional Translator English to French

Go to Part 3 of our conversation with Perrine Souffez, Professional Translator English to French

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