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Industry Note: Free Internet Translation is no Substitute to Human, Professional Translation 11/23/2009

Several clients have recently asked us what the difference is between “free” on-line translation and professional translation. Our response is always simple: There is no substitute to human, professional translation. Many come to understand the difference between “free” on-line translation and professional translation when posed with the question of whether they would make important business or personal decisions relying on “free” on-line advice. In a business agreement, you might not want to see “the parties” (to the agreement) translated into Spanish as “las fiestas”...

Among the various aspects that we recommend our clients to consider before using “free” on-line translation are:

1. Intellectual Property: By submitting text for “free” on-line translation, you may inadvertently be assigning intellectual property rights over such text to the owner/operator of the website where the translation is offered;

2. Privacy: You may inadvertently be authorizing the use and disclosure of the information contained in your text;

3. Accuracy: The translation is performed by a computer, not by a professional translator;

4. Quality: There is no guarantee of quality. There is no translator, no proofreader, nor any kind of human involvement in the translation process;

5. Integrity: The translation may not be complete and crucial information might be “lost in translation”; and

6. Risk Management: The owner/operator of the website may not offer language services according to industry standards; it may not have errors and omissions or liability insurance coverage.

Able Translations Ltd. is ISO 9001:2008 registered and certified under the European (EN 15038) and Canadian (CAN/CGSB-131.10-2008) standards for the provision of translation services. We offer professional language services under the highest industry standards. We use computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools to build translation memories that enable us to identify and reuse previously translated and repetitive text, and to build and enforce terminology databases that increase consistency throughout your documents.
These all translate into significant, incremental savings without the many pitfalls of “free” on-line translation.