Best Translators

What a good translation order includes

Translation gigs are usually priced by word count and language pair. Beyond the price per word, check that the order states:

• Language pair, including the variant, such as Brazilian or European Portuguese.
• Method: human translation, or machine translation with human editing.
• Proofreading: whether a second check is included.
• Subject area: general, marketing, technical, legal or medical.
• Formatting: whether the layout of your files is kept, including tables and images with text.
• Certification, if you need it for official use.
• Revisions, delivery time and confidentiality.

How to prepare a translation order

1. The final text. Translating a draft that will change later costs twice.
2. Editable files, such as Word documents or spreadsheets, rather than scans or images.
3. Who will read it: customers, officials, engineers, children.
4. Tone: formal or informal, and how to address the reader.
5. A glossary of product names and terms, including words that must not be translated.
6. Earlier translations you want to stay consistent with.
7. Where it will be used: a website, packaging, an app, subtitles or an official submission.

For a website or app, send screenshots along with the text so the translator can see where each phrase appears. Short button labels are easy to mistranslate without context.

Once the translation is delivered, have it checked in place, not only in the document. Text in another language is often longer or shorter, and it can break buttons, menus and layouts. Ask the translator or a native-speaking colleague to review the live page or the printed proof before you publish.

What drives the price

• word count and language pair, with less common pairs often costing more
• subject area and how technical the text is
• human translation versus edited machine translation
• proofreading by a second linguist
• complex formatting, scanned documents or text inside images
• certification and rush delivery

Red flags

• Very large volumes delivered very fast at a very low price with no mention of the method.
• The translator offers many language pairs with equal fluency in all of them.
• Samples that read awkwardly or look like unedited machine output.
• No questions about readers, terms or context.
• Promises of certification without saying who certifies it or for which country.

If you are translating website content that should also rank in search, pair it with our SEO guide. For new content in another language rather than a translation, see our blog and article writing guide.

Quick pre-order checklist

• My text is final and in an editable format.
• The translator is a native speaker of the target language.
• We have agreed on the method: human or edited machine translation.
• I have shared the readers, tone and a glossary of key terms.
• If I need certification, I have checked what the receiving office requires.