How should a translation company approach a high-volume project? And what is the most ethical response to a client that insists that it needs an extremely high volume of material translated in an unrealistically short time?
In Japan, with its huge Japanese‑to‑English translation market, the caveat that a translator should only translate into his or her own native language goes largely ignored, and a huge volume of Japanese material ends up being translated by native speakers of Japanese—often with dire results.
In Europe it is axiomatic that a translator should only translate into his or her own native language—the rationale being that non-native speakers of the target language lack the ability to write as clearly and fluently as a native speakers can. Thus, only a native German speaker will be assigned English-to-German translation work. In Japan, however, this basic tenet goes largely ignored.
This list was the companion list to the Ideal Subcontractor list and was written about translation consumers, the people who order work to translation agencies like Honyaku Plus. The ideal client – Pays a fair rate (and as high as possible) – Has constant work – Has long deadlines – Gives clear instructions how the …
