It takes more than just the ability to understand two languages.
Professional translators and interpreters have the education, experience, and expertise to understand the nuances in one language and transfer them to another.听The right professional will have solid knowledge of your industry and will know how to culturally adapt your content for the target audience you are trying to reach. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so make sure it counts.
Can I afford to hire a professional?
You can't afford NOT to.听Getting your message wrong can cost money, ruin your image, and even cost lives. Whether you鈥檙e having a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign translated or need an interpreter to communicate treatment options between a doctor and patient, it pays to hire a professional to get the job done right.
Instead of hiring a professional, this restaurant used machine translation and did not realize the result was an error message.
Understanding what鈥檚 at stake
ATA publishes articles to illustrate why it is critical to hire qualified translators and interpreters.
What is the Difference Between Translation and Interpreting?
The 兔子先生 represents both translators and interpreters; in fact, our tagline is 鈥淭he voice of interpreters and translators.鈥 Translators and interpreters work with languages, but in very different ways: the key difference is that translators work with written words and interpreters work with spoken words.听 Let鈥檚 look at some other important differences between translation and interpreting. Translators write…
Read MoreLooking for a Professional to Handle Your Translation or Interpreting Job?
ATA鈥檚 Language Services Directory features the profiles of thousands of translators, interpreters, and companies. You can customize your search by language, specialties, location, credentials, and more. First, a few helpful hints: Translators usually work in one language direction, say English into Italian. They normally translate into their native language only and can be located anywhere around the world since clients…
Read MoreHow to choose a translation vendor: 9 tips to a successful experience
The thought of purchasing a new product or service can seem overwhelming at times. If one doesn鈥檛 know much about languages, there can be a sense of uncertainty at first about what dialect of a language is needed or how much is a good price for a translation project, but if you follow the steps to find a high-quality, professional…
Read MoreCreative translation solutions: Making the most of your translation budget
A US-based precious metals investment company was considering investing in a mine in West Africa. However, they were concerned that the mine鈥檚 environmental standards might not be acceptable to their largely American investors. The mine鈥檚 environmental documentation was easy enough to obtain, but filled hundreds of pages of text鈥攊n French. The investment company did not have any French-speaking staff, and…
Read MoreTranslation as a Tool for Understanding
Legal firm saves on discovery costs by partnering with translation company We鈥檝e all seen the images on the evening news: federal agents hauling computers and file boxes into the back of a big, white van, to be potentially used as evidence in a lawsuit. Anyone who has worked in a legal firm knows that there will be a small army…
Read MoreHealthcare Interpreters: Replacing Myth with Fact
If you had a bad experience with an incompetent doctor, would you give up on the entire medical profession? Of course not鈥攂ut that鈥檚 the attitude many doctors have toward healthcare interpreters. It鈥檚 time to replace myth with fact. Myth: All interpreters are incompetent. Fact: You鈥檒l get good results if you use a professional instead of a bilingual bystander. Qualified healthcare…
Read MoreWhy Hire an ATA Member?
ATA members have a commitment to continuing education and are held to the highest professional standards. Feel secure knowing if you鈥檙e hiring an ATA member, you鈥檙e hiring the best in the business.
The ATA Compass
Our outreach publication provides up-to-date information and resources about the translating and interpreting industry.
What's the difference?
Translators do the writing. Interpreters do the talking. ATA helps you find the right language professional.
Can't a computer do all this?
There are times when machine translation is useful, and times when it's not. Learn when to use Google Translate, and when to hire a professional.