There are hundreds of reasons a translation can get off track: ridiculous deadlines, ambiguities from source documents in the translation, misapplied machine translation, an over-confident translator blissfully unaware of the document complexity etc. Your best chance of getting an accurate translation that does not sound foreign is to hire a professional translator.

Translation prices vary significantly on the market, and while a high price does not necessarily guarantee high quality, it is very unlikely that you will receive the quality of translation you expect below a certain price. Translators not earning much more than a babysitter are unlikely to dedicate an effort to your project that you would expect.

The speed of a translator depends on a whole range of factors – from the source document technicality and its formatting to style and cultural details. Be realistic in your expectations – calculate the time it took to prepare the original and how much time is necessary for your message to be accurately and precisely translated into the target language.

No one reads your text more attentively than the translator. If the translator runs into ambiguities demanding clarification, it will allow you to improve your original.

The advantages of machine translation are speed and price, but not quality. Machine translations tend to be incomprehensible and usually require revision by a human translator. Mostly translators will not accept such assignments as it is faster to start translating from scratch than to painstakingly correct all the mistakes. Machine translation is not the best solution for translations of literary texts or those requiring precision.

Incorrect. Unprofessional translations contain mistakes on several levels, ranging from errors in grammar and style to influence of the source language structure in the translation, resulting in a text sounding unnatural to target native speakers. A professional translator is moreover fully aware of the cultural differences, which is particularly important in business, where a small mistake can have serious consequences.

Language students are in the process of learning a language and translation skills, lacking the necessary experience. It is highly unlikely you would let a medical student operate on you or have a student with a business major prepare your company’s financial statements to save money.

Resist the temptation to translate yourself. Even if you are fluent in a foreign language, written translations require a specific technique. Statistics show that in 99% of the cases native speakers will recognize a “foreign” sounding text. In many cultures, awkward or sloppy use of the local language is insulting to native speakers, and the damage to your reputation is likely to cost you more than the price of a professional translation.

Incorrect. Professional translators are first and foremost skilled and capable of producing texts that read well in the target language. Bilingual persons are fluent in two languages, but are not necessarily good at moving information between the two, particularly in written translations. Bilingualism on its own is not a guarantee of the translation skills or technique. Experience shows that many people considered bilingual overestimate their communication skills altogether.