Translation Services Involve More Than Just Translation/Other Services That A Translations Company Usually Provides

 

The term ‘translation service’, or ‘translation provider’ immediately suggests that a translation from one language to another by a professional translator is to be provided. Yet, a translation service does not merely involve translation – and thankfully!

Obviously, translation is the main role of the company, and a certified, competent group of translators are the key contributors in the company. They are the ones who make sure the meaning of your document is translated in the best possible way for the required application – be it for personal, official, technical, or legal use.

Yet, a translation company performs a spectrum of tasks for you that may not be immediately apparent; these include understanding your needs, converting your source file (often in non-digital format) into a suitable digital format for translators to work on, translation (of course), a few rounds of proofreading, and finally, liaising with a notary public for notarization services and legalizing documents with the Singapore Academy of Law, if necessary. Hence, by engaging the help of a certified translations services provider, you save time on administrative duties as well as having the assurance of accurately translated documents.

If you are looking to engage a translations company in Singapore, feel free to contact us at Berlo International Pte Ltd. 

Top Questions That Good Translation Companies In Singapore Will Ask You

 1.    Who is the translation intended for?

Any certified translation company out there will, first and foremost, confirm the intended recipient/audience for their certified translation services before anything else. Not only does this reflect the translation company’s initiative in offering the best translation service possible, but it will also notify the translation company of anything special that they would have to be careful of or look out for when preparing to translate the document.

For instance, certified translations for PR application translations in Singapore as compared to overseas embassies might require less paperwork or official stamps.Not only that, the tone and register of the translation might vary greatly depending on what the translation will be used for. The translation style and form for legal translations for one, would be stiffer and require the use of specific industry/legal terms, as opposed to a translation that would be used internally within a company.

Ultimately, having a clear understanding of the translation’s recipient will help to set a clear framework in which the translation company can work its translations around to ensure it fits the needs of the client as much as possible.

 

2.    Could you clarify the spelling of the names in the source document?

Likewise, any certified translation service will require you to clarify the spelling of names during the process of translation. This is a crucial point of note especially in the areas of notarized translation or legal translation, where any slight discrepancies in the names in the finalized translations can be a significant factor that might just very well cost an individual that PR application he or she had been waiting so long to get approval for. This is even more so for non-English native speakers whose pronunciations of names might differ from that of their spellings, or if the spelling of their names in their mother tongue has variations when spelled in English that might lead to such unfortunate incidents occuring.

Of course, this applies to taking the initiative in confirming the accuracy of other personal details in the source document as well. Whatever the case may be, the attention to details, however minute, is clearly a basic requirement for any translation or translator company who respects the client and takes pride in their work.

 

3.    Do you require additional translation services, such as Notarization or legal translation services?

Lastly, any certified translation company in Singapore would also enquire whether you require any additional translation services, such as if you would want your documents to be notarized and so on.

It goes without saying that certified translation services often require translators to possess industry-specific knowledge and understanding of certain specific terms crucial to the type of translation service that is required.Knowing whether the client requires these additional steps in the translation process allows the translation company to deploy the translator best suited for the job. At the same time, it provides sufficient buffer time for the translators and the company to source for and acquire the necessary personnel and paperwork to finalise the translation within the stipulated deadline.

Needless to say, if you do opt for additional services such as requiring a notarized translation, do be prepared to pay a higher amount for the translation since more administrative paperwork is required.  

Although the above list of questions are non-exhaustive, they do form a benchmark of sorts that certified translation services and companies work with. Hopefully, these questions will be of use the next time you want to look for professional and experienced certified translation companies in Singapore.

Future of Translation: Will Technology Fully Replace Translation?

 

An odd question, but try viewing a website that is written in a language you do not normally use. Depending on the internet browser you use, you may receive a prompt or a request from the program to translate as much of the website as possible into your preferred language, and the process to do this can happen instantaneously, or at most in just a few minutes. No translator or translation company in Singapore was involved; only lines of code and vocabulary databases that have been perfected over time to take text in one language and convert them into another while maintaining high standards of accuracy and readability. As has been mentioned before, technology is negating the need for human intervention or assistance in many facets of life, including the realms of human language. Will the need for human-provided document translation services disappear entirely? Will certified translation companies in Singapore become obsolete and eventually be thought of as relics of the past?

People will very often gravitate towards quicker and more convenient options. Hypothetically, let us assume legal translation services are required for a contract, and one of two options must be chosen: a professional translator who will cost more and take at least a few days to finish the work; or a program that can be downloaded online (free or for a one-time purchase) and finish the translation in less than a day. If nothing else is considered, then one may believe the program to be the natural choice every time. After all, why would one ever wish to use a service that requires more time and money?

Well, added time and costs can become more reasonable if one has more at risk. It is worry-free when you have an internet browser automatically translate the contents of a store’s webpage, or use a program to translate some fiction for your entertainment. However, what if it is a PR application translation you need where success or failure can hinge on the document itself, or what if you are translating important documents for the judge to consider in a court dispute? A program itself has no particular care if a minor error leads to an expensive disagreement on your end. Conversely, a certified provider of translation services in Singapore will have a vested interest in ensuring that the final translated document delivered to you will be of the highest quality and accuracy, since the document’s success in its intended use will also add to the translator’s own professional reputation.

There is also the question of certifications to consider, and not just that of the translator. Well-established translators in Singapore also typically have the means to proceed with a notarized translation, i.e. having the contact details of a notary public on-hand. Notaries public are recognized for having the authority to determine documents’ authenticity and certifying them as such. Translation programs (at least as they are now) have no means of contacting other parties on their own for the certifying of documents for any official purposes.

Even assuming the world was to reach a point where humans are supplanted by digital programs when it comes to the provision of document translation services, it is hard to imagine such programs operating without some level of human supervision, even if it is just one person at the back of a room full of humming computers. Despite our desire for convenience and economy, we are also unwilling to leave our most vital documents to automated programs, especially if some major purpose or goal depends critically upon them.

Consequently, for such vital documents, people will still seek out human professionals in the translation industry, if not because of explicit confidence in translation professionals’ abilities, then at least just for more pairs of eyes to review and ensure that a document’s translation is completely correct. Thus, in the meantime, certified translation services in Singapore will ever yet require that human element.

What Translators Need To Know: How To Work With Others

 

Translation is intrinsically a collaborative act, as at the very bare minimum there will be two parties involved: the person who wrote the original document, and the certified translation provider in Singapore who has been tasked with converting the language of the document to another. However, in today’s inter-connected professional landscape, it is much more likely for a greater number of people to be involved: the owner of a document who received it from another, a manager who will be reviewing the translator’s work, an intermediary agent who is assisting the document’s owner, and so on. When providing a translation service, one will inevitably require the skills needed to communicate and co-operate with others.

For example, in the process of providing legal translation services to a client, not only will there be the general difficulty in converting a legal document’s language from one to another, but there will also be uncertainties on the translation of legal terms. Legal documents require precise language, and to be certain that the correct terms are used or if different words are needed, a translator in Singapore must have communication skills to effectively communicate with the client or colleagues on what terms are necessary and what must be replaced. Similarly, if one is in a different position within a certified translation company in Singapore and is just working with translators, one still needs clear communication skills to effectively convey the mandatory words and terms for the legal documents they are working with.

There is also the possibility that one may work with clients or alongside translators with a weaker grasp of English (or another language). What if one were providing a PR application translation for an elderly couple and they have trouble communicating what they want or understanding what is unclear in their documents?Fortunately, with sufficient knowledge of computers, Microsoft Word (and possibly other writing programs as well) have the means to draw attention without literally spelling it out. Words can be highlighted, and comments can be added; changes can be tracked so fellow translators or colleagues in other positions can see the thought process behind the work. For clients with difficulties communicating, highlighting the words may be enough to draw their attention towards key details for them to review.

While translation companies indeed exist, there are also numerous individual translators who operate independently. Though they might not need to form co-operative connections with co-workers, the above-described skills for collaboration are still of importance to these independent professionals. After all, they still need to interact with clients, whether they be a translation company or a random stranger.

To provide certified document translation services in Singapore, whether by yourself or as part of a larger company, is to embark on a path that will bring you into contact with a wide variety of people. Hence, if one wishes to excel in the field of translation, one cannot just rely on a crucial knowledge of languages, one must also develop the interpersonal skills needed to interact with others and in turn be better able to understand the requirements of employers and clients.