Translation can be loosely defined as the act of rewriting a text or document in another language. In business and academics, it however goes beyond this and includes transferring all the ideas and messages as they are from the source text to the target text. It is today used as a tool of breaking the language barrier which is also an obstacle to global communication and interaction. The modern translation can be broadly categorized in to two: the Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) and the Human Translation Service (HTS). The CAT can be further subdivided into two; namely, the free CAT and the paid CAT which are all available online.

For simple translations online you can use the free computer assisted translation services. This may be researches whereby you just need to know about something online. If you get information written in language which is not written in your native language, you can translate it freely to the language you are familiar and conversant with. This may however not be the case when you want to translate a document from your native language to another language in which you need accuracy and quality. In other words, you want to translate the document without changing any meaning.

Academic and business translations are usually sensitive because their translation does not involve ‘rewriting’ the source text but ensuring that the translated target text conforms to the culture of the people who are targeted in the translation. Computer assisted translations have varying degrees of accuracy but almost all translate by rewriting the source text in the target tests synonymous words. There is a danger here, all languages have words with more than one meaning and their meaning can only be inferred depending on the context of their usage in a sentence.

Secondly, some documents which need translation may contain charts, graphs and other various diagrammatic illustrations which need expert interpretation. Other academic documents may contain technical words which can only be understood by persons trained in that field. This may include economics, law, engineering, medicine, geology and psychology among others. In these cases, the translator must be a person trained in that field. You can only get experts in these fields at universities and other specialized research institutions and they dearly charge for their services because they guarantee quality work because of their expertise. In these cases and the ones stated earlier, human translation is necessary if the ideas and messages contained in the charts and in those technical expressions have to be passed as such in the translated document.

Many people end up choosing the wrong or poor quality services because of being overwhelmed or preoccupied with the idea of choosing the cheapest. This does not mean you should not put the cost of translation in to account; it just means you should consider price simultaneously with other factors. Translation is necessitated by the fact that there are major differences and means of communication between the various people across the world. Most native languages are regional and even the most common international languages are not understood or frequently spoken in other areas. The internet connects all these people and the language barrier is the only set back. Businesses and international scholars must however pass their messages to all the people and that is why translation services are a must for effective international communication.

As well known, translation is not easy because the translator must be proficient in both languages in reading, writing and speaking. It takes a lot of time and dedication to learn a foreign language because every language is a collection of many words which may be over a million. To grasp and keep in mind all these words is not easy and you should be prepared to pay for the services of those who have such capabilities because they spend a lot of their time coupled with hard work to be so.

You will find very many free translation services online but in most cases you will have to overlook them and pay a professional to do it for you if you want quality. These free online translation services use programmed software which just take the synonymous words and organizes them in to paragraphs. For simple plain language documents, it can do some good translation but this may not be the case when it comes to business and academic documents which use technical language sometimes. Any translation service must ensure that the meaning of the original document or script does not change during translation.

International translation some times goes beyond changing words from one language to another. It must take into account the cultural practices and preferences of the culture of the natives who use the language the document is being translated to. Translations can even be done by more than one person to ensure perfectness. You should preview the profiles of all your local and foreign translators and be satisfied of their experience and capacity to do high quality work. After this satisfaction and assurance, you can then consider their prices or cost of services.

Many people wonder why translation services are so expensive when there are free computer assisted translation services over the internet. This is logical but what causes people to overlook these free services is first the nature of the document being translated which requires high quality and accurate translation. This does not mean that computer assisted translations are not accurate, and neither does it mean they are low standards. What it means is that some translations especially the academic and business ones are of a special kind and need super translations free of any errors because of the purposes they are intended to serve.

The computer assisted translation tools and sites like Transit Wordfast Translation Manager, Trados, Binq and Google translators have become very common as people seek to overcome the language barrier which is a drawback to the global communication. Some of these CAT sites especially the paid ones are very effective and even professional translators rely on them in their daily work. The free ones though effective and good do not give 100% quality assurance as required by the business and academic translations and are not recommended if you want high quality work. As will be discussed hereunder, these CATs are expensive in the first place and require other expensive supporting programs to function properly and even in these cases they are not totally effective in giving accurate translations to and from all common languages.

As the quality assurance and standards of translation increase, their cost also increases. Some free computer assisted translation services are high and unaffordable for the common translation services seekers which may be new business ventures and students among other persons who may not have sufficient resources and money to pay for the job. These CATs are however faced by drawbacks and have not completely satisfied the role of supplementing or complementing the human translation services effectively.

Some disadvantages with computer assisted translation services include rigidity when being used simultaneously with DTP computer programs like the PageMaker, QuarkXpress and Indesign among others where the text format must be preserved by introducing TAGs and the operations of importing and exporting tests. Most computer assisted translation services also are designed to exclusively work with Windows programs like XP, Vista, Linux and Macintosh but not any other types of computer programs. These CATs are also not available or in the alternative do not effectively translate some languages like Japanese, Chinese and other regional native African Languages. In short, computer assisted translation services use a lot of computer resources most of which are expensive and not readily available.

When choosing a translation service, there is a criterion that you should follow. You can not rely on your instincts or listen to you friends. This is not a good way to ensure that you get quality work. Poor translation work can spell disaster for your business and end up being a total waste of money and time. It is not easy to tell which service will give you the best translations. There are a number of essential factors that you should consider. This is the only way you will get services that are worth what you pay. Take your time to some research and you will find a number of options from which you can choose one. Below are five tips that you have to put in mind when choosing a reliable translation service:

• Price charged by the translator is the first thing that you have to consider. This is important before you decide the service to hire and it must fit your budget. Do not consider a service that charges more than what you have set aside for the project. Most translators will charge you depending on the language. Popular languages are cheaper than others that are known by many people.
• Another essential tip to consider is quality because poorly done translation will not help you in anyway. Check the qualifications of the staff working for the translation service. They should be in a position to handle your project confidently.
• Customer service is also important and it helps you know how the kind of relationship between clients and the translators. The translation service should respond to your questions fast. This is the only way to ensure that you get satisfied with their services. You can easily let them know your suggestions and get the changes done on time.
• Check the speed of the service because you should get your work on time. A good and competent service should provide quality work daily. You may have to pay more when you to have your work done very fast. Do some research and decide which service can deliver the work without failure.
• Go through the records showing how the translation service has been treating other clients. Go for a service with a good record of good performance. Most of these services will not want to fail their clients because they want to maintain a good reputation. They may be more expensive but remember that cheap can be expensive too.