Questions & tips
Translation agency or a freelance translator? Which one is better to choose?
It depends on the type of the work. A book is usually translated by one or few translator, maybe literary translator. Thus consistent style can be assured. Of course there are not so many translators of this type, they are well-known and they usually work for a certain publishing house. So for an average customer they are very rarely available.
On the other hand there are easy translations just like simple business or private letters – especially when the translator has to translate it into his/her mother language.
But there are also challenging translations as well, for example very serious contracts (concerning several million EUR), whole tender documentations etc. Only translation offices are able to perform these kinds of work correctly, but not even each of them.
You may find it unbelievable, but in Hungary anyone can establish and run a translation office without any qualification. That’s why most of the offices are not able to perform a serious translation work correctly.
Of course we are striving for providing reasonable prices and creating long term work relations with our customers.
We work with a lot of vernacular translators, because they surely provide the best quality. It is not accidental that the offices of the European Union only employ experts translating into their native languages. Of course it is not enough to be a native speaker, we also expect the translator to have proper linguistic qualification
What is a certified/official translation?
In Hungary – with a bit of cynicism – it is a translation provided by OFFI (Országos Fordító és Fordításhitelesítő Iroda – National Translation and Certification Office).
Since in Hungary this is the only office entitled to provide certified/official translation, although the modification of the law will be soon discussed in the Parliament – according to our information.
Afterwards translators will be entitled to provide certified translations in case they meet the conditions and pass the required exams. Of course a translation office cannot pass an exam, so offices will probably striving for gathering the certified translators. Fortunately MEDIABO is prepared for the “new age”. .
Irrespective of the above-mentioned facts, some notaries (knowing a language in an average level) provide “certification of translations”, which means he/she writes a clause onto the translation. Of course it is illegal, and the violation of law is committed by a notary. There seem to be no limits of the “liberalism” of Hungarian Law.
In practice there is another type of “official, certified translation”. It is neither accepted by the Law, but still wide-spread in Hungary. An average translation office (not OFFI) provides a translation on an own form officially stamped and provided with a clause. Of course it is not a real certification, but it is usually accepted abroad as certified document. (moreover they are much cheaper than those certified by OFFI).
Ordering of translation
In case you have to keep a deadline, try to send the materials to the translation office as soon as possible, or just let them know about the work to be expected so that it can prepare for it. Not only the translation work but also the supervision takes time. It is especially important if the material is published.
Let the translation office know about all the changes concerning the material or the connecting contract. Make sure you have forwarded the final version of the document and you are satisfied with the content.
Please provide as much background information (for example brochure about the product, former translations) as you can.
Please give the contacts of the project to the office/translator, for example the original writer of the material etc. Make it easier for the translator to work in order to get back a high quality translation in a short time.
It is always better to forward the digital version of the material instead of a printed version. If the file is too large, compress it or we can help you uploading to our FTP server.
Please hold yourself to the abovementioned and the forwarding of files will be safer, it will take less time to translate and the quality of the translation will be better, for your satisfaction!
How can I pay the accounts?
The prices mainly it depend on the characters (spaces are included) of the final translation. It has a big disadvantage: it is not possible to give accurate offer at the time of the order. There is another solution which is wide-spread in the international market. The price depends on the number of words of the source language. So in this case the customer can get a final quotation before the translator starts the work. MEDIABO also uses this solution, but only at the customer’s request.
What about extra charges?
It can be embarrassing when a customer gets an invoice on which the total sum is twice as much as he/she expected. Many translation offices usually make a low offer for the translation and after getting the work, the total sum is increased with extra charges (urgency, unique language, handwritten materials – not easily legible, tables, difficult text etc).
Useful tips concerning interpreting
Give as many materials, background information and as much time for the translation office / translator as you can so that he/she can prepare for the work well.
Give information about your company, business deals and activities; give brochures and web links about the activities, products, services of your company.
Terminology, list of abbreviation, collection of specialized text is also useful.
Of course you have to describe how to get to the place where the interpreting will take place. You have to give as much information about the traffic circumstances as you can (parking conditions, one-way streets, road constructions.
HHow many will participate on the event? You have to decide whether you will need headsets, microphone, interpreter’s cabin etc.
When you arrange the event you always have to take into consideration that a conference with interpreting (consecutive interpreting) will take more time than a simple conference.
Try to say not too complicated sentences and stop at stated intervals so that the interpreter can translate the heard sentences. In case you are speaking for long minutes, you make the work of interpreter more difficult (she/he has to memorize and take notes), and moreover the audience has to wait for the translation too long.
Keep it in mind that for the interpreter it is not too easy to interrupt the lecturer in case he/she is not able to memorize the long speech any more. It is especially important in case of protocol events.
