With all the latest translation tools popping up online, many people are wondering whether they still need an expert translator for their documents. The answer to that is yes! They absolutely need a professional trained and experienced translator. Here is why.
There is a huge difference between the online automatic translation and translation done by a human translator.
Translations produced by online tools serve a very different purpose than translations done by trained, experienced translators. Human translation and machine translation are two very different phenomena destined to different markets, target audiences and serve different uses.
When Would I Use An Online Translator?
It is perfectly fine to use the automatic online translation when you want to have an idea of an email message in another language, or you find an article about a celebrity in a different language and want to know what it says. Another use for an automatic translation would be in the following situation – you subscribe to a mailing list available only in English and you are a French speaker. Or, info about a product you’re considering to purchase or an article in an online magazine, even a word that sounds foreign and you want to know what it means. You want to learn about a country, but its website is only in one language. For things like that there’s no better tool than an online translator. There’s no need for quality assurance and revision and editing and verification, nor in-depth comparison. When someone needs to know the general meaning of a text written in a different language this is the way to go.
However, these tools provide only basic translation. Their main disadvantage is that they often lack accuracy, and it is not rare that the content is garbled. The outcome is not guaranteed by a person or organization, nor is anyone accountable for the final product.
When Would I Hire A Professional Translator?
It is a very different story when someone has written an instruction manual of a product in English that needs to be available to the consumers in French-speaking countries. Other materials that need to be translated by a professional are training materials, PowerPoint presentations, or a website that must sound and look professional. Governments and crown corporations, large and small businesses, legal firms, labour organizations, NGOs and others write thousands of documents daily that need to be available in both official languages in Canada and, in different languages for other countries and cannot rely on machine translation.
Good quality translation produced by a professional expert translator reads as if it was written in the target language, and it bears no sign that it came from another language. The target audience expects and deserves nothing less than that. The best online translator in the world cannot do that.
What Documents Need Professional Translation?
Administration and management documents:
– Press releases
– Policies, financial management, health and medicine related texts
Legal documents:
– Agreements
– Decisions
– Judgements
– Leases
As well as, military and classified material and last but not least, personal documents like birth and marriage certificates, school certificates and transcripts, and dozens of others can only be translated by professional certified translators not only for the reasons of accuracy but also for their validity and legal effect.
For accuracy, you need a highly qualified and certified translation team who has expertise in your subject matter, who will use the appropriate vocabulary and phraseology and, who will ensure that the idea of the original is conveyed exactly and precisely using means and tone appropriate and natural to the target language. Otherwise, your message could be inaccurate and inconsistent, and you could end up alienating your target demographic. Don’t let that happen. Find out how our in-house certified translators at Fox Translations deliver precise English to French. French to English or any other content every time!
At Fox Translations, we are a leader in Canadian translation. We can convert a wide variety of content from government to legal documents, to technical content and even personal documents. You can expect nothing but the best results in the industry. When you hire our expert team, you’ll receive high-quality translations, fast turn-around, as well as efficiency, accuracy, and consistency every time. Learn more about our services by contacting us today.
