Best online translation Quote

In a lot of cases it’s a hassle to fill out a Translation quote request, send it and wait for the response from the client if indeed he does respond. This is especially the case if the client knows the word count, field and language combination they require.

This is why many most Translation services companies have their own online quote facility. In this article we aim to sort out the wheat from the chaff. Which company provides the best online quote?

There are a number of criteria we use when deciding on which translation company offers the best online which we will go through in detail.

Usability

Which online quote has the quickest and is the most usable? The following important questions arise:

· Is the online quote easy to find from the home page?

· Does the quote show in the top search engine rankings? Of course this is of the ultimate importance as the User is very unlikely to go past the first page?

· How many steps does it take to get the online quote? The User often has to go through a number of unnecessary steps to get their quote online.

· Does the User have to provide information to get the quote? In a lot of cases the User has to provide their email address and telephone number to get their online quote. This may lead to many unwanted sales emails and calls which can be annoying

Cost

· Which company offers the cheapest quote? In many cases this can be a difficult query to assess. Many translation prices vary per country, language and service. The simple analysis later in this article takes the four main language combinations (English to German, English to French, English to Spanish and English to Italian) and gets the price per word average for 5 different translation agencies

· Is the cost deceptive? For instance, is the goods tax included? What currency is the total in? While a quote in British pounds of 83 GBP may seem the same as a quote of 83 EUR it is really almost 20% more expensive at 100 EUR, so be aware of the exchange rates. For the sake of the analysis we have chosen EUROS.

Aesthetics

· Is the interface enticing and visually appealing for the user? Does it have the latest graphics and look fresh and modern?

All the above queries are very relevant and we have used a scale for 1-10 across online translation quote facilities from five different translation agencies. Each facility is ranked on:

· Easiness to find, based on a ranking of 5 due to weighting (importance)

· Easiness to find in search engines, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance)

· Amount of steps, based on a ranking of 4 due to weighting (importance)

· User information, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance)

· Cheapest in EUROS per word, based on an average per word of the of the four main European languages, based on a ranking of 10 due to weighting (importance)

· Currency of the quote total, based on a ranking of 7 due to weighting (importance)

· Aesthetics, based on a ranking of 5 due to importance

Please note our findings below with a summary on each online quote facility:

*Four main European Languages are French, German, Italian and Spanish

Summary

Applied language (Total 23 – Position 4) scored 23 out of 45 and has the lowest score of the five agencies surveyed due mainly to the expensive price per word (€0,14 per word), the amount of steps for the quote and the user details being requested

Exigo Translations (Total 35 - Position 3) scored well at 35 out of 45 but was the third most expensive agency at €0,11 per word.

Translated.net (Total 37 - Position 2) scored well at 37 out of 45 and was the second cheapest agency at €0,10 per word.

Click2translate Total (Total 22 – Position 5) scored poorly due to it being by far the most expensive agency at €0,16 per word and having too many steps.

One Stop Shop Translations (Total 41 – Position 1) scored well being the least expensive agency at €0,09 per word

So there you have it. The report weightings and results are subjective but we think give a fair reflection of the available online translation quotes, so shop around when buying translation services.

The differences between Latin American Spanish and European Spanish are in many respects similar to the differences between American and English meaning that Latin American Spanish speakers and European Spanish speakers have no difficulties understanding each other. The major differences between the two spoken dialects are as follows:

Spaniards tend to pronounce the z and the c before i or e like the “th” in “thick,” while many Latin Americans pronounce it as the s. Also, some South Americans and in Argentina in particular, often pronounce the ll and y like the “s” in “measure.” They also tend to drop s sounds, so está sounds like etá. In parts of South America, the j sounds like the “ch” in “loch” while in others it sounds like the English “h.” Finally, the l and the r at the end of a word can sometimes sound alike. All of these pronunciation differences coupled with a slower pace and softer tone when speaking Latin American Spanish enable is to tell very easily where someone is from.

When it comes to South American Spanish translation and Spanish translation the differences are again very subtle and a Spaniard will generally have no problems understanding a South American text but there are some differences on grammar and vocabulary making it more logical to employ a native South American Spanish translator to translate texts specific to a particular South American market.
On grammar, two of the major differences that the Spanish translator will take into consideration are the leísmo of Spain and the use of the pronoun vos in some areas instead of tú. Secondly, vosotros is often used as the plural of tú (the singular familiar “you”) in Spain, while in Latin American ustedes is used.
Vocabulary is where the major differences lie and can differ vastly even within South America emphasising again the importance of hiring a translator native to a particular locale or market. As they say there is no substitute for local knowledge.

Here are some of the misunderstandings that can arise from not hiring a native speaking translator to a specific market.

A Spanish translator may translate “to step on” as “pisar” while this maybe understood as “to have sex” in Latin American Spanish. A Spanish translator may translate “car” as “coche” while this maybe understood as “baby stroller” in Latin American Spanish. A “lápiz” is a pencil or crayon everywhere, but a “lapicero” is a pencil holder in some areas, a mechanical pencil in others, and a ball-point pen in others. There are also a number of blatant differences, such as a computer being an “ordenador” in Spain but a “computadora” in Latin America. Even within Latin Spanish we have the example where a Chinese restaurant is called a “chifa” in Peru and Chile but this word is very uncommon in other dialects of South American Spanish.

All in all, when sub-contracting your translation services for Latin Spanish do your research and ensure that your translator is not only a native South American Spanish translator but also native to the particular area/locale for which your text is being translated.

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In addition to the free website translation widget the site offers a human edited directory. The directory contains all the latest links for the translation industry professional.