

How do you translate your site? - wayne

How do you get your website translated on the cheap?  In other words, after you create your string table in English, how do you get the actual translations in other languages?  My hope is there's something more cost-effective than using an expensive translation firm yet less work than using Mechanical Turk or crowdsourcing to your users.  Is there a happy medium I'm not seeing?
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RiderOfGiraffes
I have some experience in this area. At work we often have to translate (or
have translated) bid documents, contracts, documentation, training materials
and software menus. Further, my wife does contract work proof-reading
translations.

Summary: Translating well is very, very hard. Most translations are poor. Good
translations are usually very expensive.

You will get what you pay for, with some margin of error. If someone is cheap,
I most strongly recommend you do some additional work getting the results
checked. Make sure you have a method of evaluating the translations.

We assess the quality required, then use professional translators in the
appropriate prices range. Poor translations will noticeably affect your users'
perceptions of your product.

And no, I don't think there is a happy meduim you've missed. I would also
advise you to be careful using the Mechanical Turk without an independent
method of assessing the result.

Sorry to be so negative, but we've had some bad experiences through over-
optimism. Learn caution from our mistakes.

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russell
You are right, particularly about legal documents, but there are ways to go
about it. Translating the text of a web site is not a huge amount of work. One
important thing is to use a native speaker conversant with current usage in
your target country and s/he should have some knowledge of the problem domain,
law, medicine, as appropriate. A good place to look for translators is at a
local university with a lqrge population of foreigners.

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RiderOfGiraffes
We have had very bad experiences with such _ad hoc_ arrangements. One customer
- fortunately a good one who effectively counts as a friend - was reduced to
tears of laughter by one translation, and it was one that we'd had checked by
two independent methods.

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jgalvez
Give <http://translationcreation.com> a try. I worked for this startup a
couple years ago, I saw recently that it was finally launched, looking good.

