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The translation industry is always discussing best practices, quality metrics, quality assurance, and quality control. Most translation agencies put these criteria in place in order to ensure that they have a minimum level of quality for their clients. It is super important to choose English to Korean translators that offer an excellent balance of quality, service, and cost. Here are some criteria or factors that we recommend consider before hiring English to Korean translators:
- Works in a team of three. Translation projects for English to Korean typically involve one translator and one editor, which works well for the linguistic aspects of ordinary work, if both the translator and editor are knowledgeable about the subject matter and approaches the tasks professionally. But this process usually doesn’t account for the need for project management, formatting, file prep, and file quality assurance checks. In a lot of cases, the translator and editor are expected to perform these admin tasks on their own, which is fine if they take the time to diligently perform these tasks. That being said, many translators prefer to move on after completing linguistic tasks, especially if the client’s rates don’t account for additional admin work. We recommend either hiring translators that work in teams of three for this reason or handling the project management and admin steps on your own.
- Uses and improves on industry technology. Many English to Korean translators use advanced computer-aided translation (CAT) tools to perform the majority of English to Korean translation today. These software programs offer a work environment that helps make the work of the translator and editor easier. Translators use CAT tools to improve their efficiency and quality, and they typically don’t use machine translation with these tools.
- Includes native English and Korean linguists. We highly recommend choosing translators who are translating in their native language, since translators translating in a non-native language will typically not be able to write as clearly as a native speaker. We recommend that both the translator and editor be native Korean speakers when hiring translators for English to Korean translation services. We also suggest hiring a native English speaker who is fluent in Korean to catch any grammatical and phrasing constructions that native Korean speakers might miss. This translator can check for mistranslations and any common errors committed by English to Korean translators.
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- Includes subject matter experts in the material being translated. Any translator you hire should also be an expert in the subject matter for the material that they are translating. So if you are hiring someone to translate a legal document, for example, then they should be an expert on legal matters. If you are hiring someone to translate a scientific report, they should be an expert on scientific matters. Even an excellent English to Korean translator might produce a bad translation on subject matter that they are not familiar with.
- Follows documented, standardized and auditable approaches. We also recommend hiring translators that show that they have well designed and documented workflows. These processes and checklists can take a huge mental burden off of professional translators performing basic tasks and help them remember each part of the complex process. Dynamic and flexible processes also enable the translator and editor to concentrate on performing excellence in areas that require more technical knowledge.
- Meets client requirements locally. Translation quality is another crucial part of delivering great translation work. We recommend working with a local translator if possible so that you are better able to reach your translation team during business hours. This ensures better legal accountability and that you are able to reach your translation team during your working hours, rather than trying to reach someone on the other side of the world.
- Provides transparent, flexible, and value-based pricing. Translation pricing is based on a number of different factors. An English to Korean translation project can be quoted based on a per page, per word, or per character basis, but there are a number of different factors that can cause the cost of the project to fluctuate, including the translation direction, the type of content, the project size, internal repetition, an ongoing vendor relationship, the deadline or timetable, the format and condition of the source files, the location of work performance and the target use of the document. That’s why it is so important to find a translation team that offers transparent and flexible pricing.
- Communicates and sets expectations proactively. No matter what type of translation work you need, it is super important that you are able to communicate with your translation team in advance so that they can proactively set expectations. Your translator should take initiative and clarify everything about the project with you before getting started, so make sure that you hire a translator with strong communication skills.
