Language service market, like other markets, presents is challenges while balancing cost, time, and quality. How does one decide what a fair price is?
In simplistic terms, poor quality and quick translations are cheaper, whereas translations by professionals are better in quality, take more time and naturally cost more. Translation services rendered by agencies will have a higher cost for quality control, coordination, and localization.
Another important factor is the number of trained translators available and the demand for the work in a certain language pair. The general rules of demand and supply apply here.
The parameters that determine cost and among which we must balance are
Demand and Supply
Technology, Population, Economy
The more populous languages and the ones with the maximum technological development have the most demand for translations. Naturally Spanish, Chinese and German have a higher demand given the number of speakers and the extent to which their economies and technologies have developed. Clearly the demand for such translations will be higher than say Japanese, Korean and Hebrew, which are economically and technologically developed, but comparatively lesser in population. And certainly, the demand for African, Indian languages is lesser due to the lower economic and technological development.
The demand can be counteracted by supply. The language pairs for which more and more linguists train and qualify have a lowering effect in the prices for translations. In India, or example, one finds more German to English translators than for Italian and Hebrew to English. This clearly makes professional Italian and Hebrew translation services more expensive than German.
Word Count, Repetition, Complexity
The higher the word count, the lower the translation rate can be. Higher word counts provide economies of scale. Further, repetitions within the text can also be considered as lower effort translations and hence factored into the price as a reduction. Translator tools assist in auto translating similar segments, hence reducing effort, time and cost. More complex technical texts require a greater amount of expertise and therefore cost more than simpler subjects.
Computer Aided Translation (CAT) and other Tools
Technology assists all fields and professions. LSPs (language service providers) use a host of tools to help reduce cost without impacting accuracy and quality. The first of the list is CAT tools. These comprise segmentation and translation memories. They assist the translator in breaking down the translatable texts into coherent segments, remember the translation provided and then auto-translating or suggesting similar segments. Further, the tools serve a lexicographical function creating glossaries and also connecting with resources online to build a vast repository online.
The use of TMS or translation management system and CMS or multilingual content management system aim to reduce cost but succeed to do so only at optimum volumes where economies of scale set in. The deployment of such expensive tools is not suitable for small projects and advised for ongoing and large projects that churn content on a long-term basis in various languages. Again, there is a balancing force between cost of technology and volume of work overtime. The parameters that are key are scalability, versatility, and the facility for collaboration.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation_management_system
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=multilingual+CMS&title=Special%3ASearch&go=Go&ns0=1
Turnaround Time and Rushed Jobs
Rushed jobs have a premium to the cost. Both translators and the project team, the manager, reviewer, DTP etc. must work overtime and deliver the given job. The coordination and tight workflow ask for everyone’s presence and attention at a given time. Thus there is a higher fee for rushed jobs.
For jobs that are not rushed and may extend over the regular process time are not charged this premium.
Project Management & Coordination
Cost is optimized by efficiency and efficiency comes with good management and coordination. An LSP (language translation service provider) will act as a project manager who will manage the entire project from start to finish – identifying translators, assigning the tasks, setting expectations and processes, setting the coordination with localization experts and terminological consultants. Managing several linguists and talents across different time zones to ensure seamless production is the job of the project coordinator. Your work is delivered on time and without cost escalation.
Services of an LSP are not limited to translation. There are several ancillary activities such as verification and review, editing, software engineering and localization testing. These are tasks undertaken and coordinated by the LSP. Additional services are often charged over and above the marked price for translation, which generally covers the core task of TEP – translation, editing and proofreading.
Complexity of Subject Matter
Domain-specific subject matter requires expertise in the said field to ensure terminological accuracy and appropriateness. The role of subject matter experts (SMEs) is understood in highly technical and specialized subject matters. Professional translation services are the need of the hour.
Medical documents require the professional intervention of medicos and medical professionals. Legal translations are never correct without legal education. Similarly, IT and banking subjects require domain specific knowledge. Although most technical, mechanical and IT domains are established terminologies and can be acquired with sufficient research and training as a professional translator, the nuances of medical and legal translation are not always easy to research. Legal and medical translation are therefore more expensive than mechanical, oil and gas, IT, finance and banking in general.
Cost of Translation Continuum
Machine translation is the cheapest (practically zero-cost) and has the fastest output.
Editing post machine translation is relatively more expensive. Properly done, it will require slow and careful read of every word and line. This is anywhere between half to a third of the price of a regular human translation.
TEP, or human translation, editing and proofreading is the best translation quality with the least output per day.
MT is best suited for internal consumption and for quick understanding of texts. It is not suitable for official or public consumption. Speed is the main concern, and quality is least important.
MTPE is a balance and relatively high quality translation is achievable, albeit with changes of oversight. Certainly not suitable for publishing, unless two or more rounds of human intervention are in place.
TEP with human translation is best suited for creative, original and publishing quality. Output per day is low, quality is high, and correspondingly the cost is high too.
Flexibility at WordPar – Evaluating your Requirements
Cost Advantage – Adaptability to New Technology
At WordPar International, we will adapt to the requirements of our clients. Whereas our traditional approach in inclined towards conventional human translation, editing and proofreading, we are flexible and consider MTPE upon a client’s behest. When clients are considering translations for internal consumption or have a high quality machine translation, WordPar takes up post editing services at half the price of translation. Our editors and proof-readers will turnaround edited translations that are close to original and free of the flaws of machine translation. We understand that clients have varying needs and budget constraints and we are adapting to the changing language service environment.
Translation services balance quality, speed, and cost, with options from quick machine translation to detailed human-reviewed work.
Need professional translation, localization, or language solutions tailored to your industry? We’re here to help you communicate seamlessly across borders. Connect with us today to discuss your project requirements.
Vikram Malhotra is the Founder and CEO of Wordpar International.
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