Translation Cost: How do you charge for translation?

How do you charge for translation? Is it by word count, per page, per document? This is a question we get sometimes from new clients and the short answer typically is: it depends on your needs.

Bring on the pain! When translation matters…is it too late?

You cannot change what has happened in the past. However, you can learn from it by identifying those behaviors that have helped and hindered your company

Language Translation Services

The translation industry, also known as the localization industry, is a 34 billion dollar industry. Think about anything that you buy, whether it’s your hair color, your medicine or a new appliance. The literature that comes with those items is usually written in one other, if not multiple, languages. So this is a very large industry indeed. We provide foreign language translation services in over 40 languages including conversion to Braille.

When you need to have something translated, you can count on us to make YOU the priority.

TAKE OUR ASSESSMENT

Take our online assessment now to find your organization’s place on the Global Communication Maturity Model and find out how we can help.

Language Solutions has been in business for 18 years and we have always had a strong customer focus which we cultivate and grow continuously as customer needs change over time. If you are new to language translation services, we will lead you through it and help you to understand what you need. Many clients aren’t really sure of exactly what they need but we’ll provide you with options and make it transparent for you.

If you are a company that is more mature in localization, we have a culture of mentorship where we work with our clients and guide them with defined objectives and metrics to move to the next stage of global communication maturity.

Number of languages we translate

We consider Language Solutions to be an extension of our brand. We work with them on localizing our technology, rewards and communications. Their expertise goes beyond translation. We find their value lies in the strategy and recommendations of making the most out of budgets to extend globally. Their processes allow them to respond quickly and efficiently….and they are a pleasure to work with.

Toni

Global Communications, Maritz

Translation Team Selection

Translation Team Selection is one of our core competencies and one of the most important elements to influence quality. You want your professional translators hand picked, based on their expertise for your particular project.

While others in this industry may be crowd sourcing your project and bidding it out to the lowest priced translator, we feel that team selection is much more than that. Think about choosing the right employee for the job or the right co-worker to work on your project.

We have specific requirements for selection of our team members such as a required 7 years of full time experience working in translation, native language fluency in the language into which they are translating, advanced degrees and working experience related to their areas of expertise in language translation (usually 3-4 and not a “translator in every subject”). We also have established and long term relationships with our professional linguists and writers and we know whether they are the right fit for your brand. We pair them with editors and proofreaders with whom they have worked with previously or if it is a new team, we bring them together as a team to communicate and make decisions together – not to act independently of each other but as a team.

Stringent Quality Control

Stringent Quality Control steps are included throughout the phases of a language translation project and overseen with Localization Certified Project Managers. We are the only ISO 9001:2015 certified translation firm in St. Louis. Along with our ISO 9001:2015 certification, we also follow the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. In fact, 100% of our staff are Baldrige Examiners for the State of Missouri. As Healthcare and Pharma are main verticals for us, we are also HIPAA compliant. Read more about our Quality Process in language translation here.

Terminology Management

Terminology Management Tools like client-specific Glossaries, Style guides, and Translation Memory (TM) software are used by our teams for consistency across all projects. This is not machine translation but technology that is used by professional translators. The benefits of using language technology is that it will not only store any translated content that can be reused for you but it also helps to standardize the vocabulary that is used in translation, or terminology management. Most importantly, it creates an asset for you. It’s your Translation Memory that can be sent to you at any time. Read more about translation technology solutions.

Project Management

Communication is key for LSI’s Localization Certified Project Management team. All of the details and instructions for your language translation projects are centralized in LSI PROJEX, our secure, online translation management system. Team members can access project information at any time throughout the project. Clients can also log into this portal to monitor the status of their translation requests and download completed translations which are archived there indefinitely. It’s an organizational tool that clients love!

Industries/Verticals of Expertise

We specialize in a number of different verticals. Our most important ones are Healthcare Translations, Human Resources Translation, Marketing Translation, Engineering/Industrial Translation, Legal Translation, and Agriculture/Technical. Contact us to see how we can help you.