When you need a document translated into another language, you can either turn to a company (a translation agency) or an independent professional (a freelance translator) do to the job for you. Before I analyze their respective advantages and disadvantages, let me first briefly explain how translation agencies and freelance translators work:

A translation agency can be anything from a small local business (including one-man translation agencies operating out of a living-room which usually don’t last very long in business) to a large company with offices on various continents and hundreds of permanent employees. Some have in-house translators and proofreaders while others solely rely on freelance translators. If you hire a translation agency, one of their in-house project managers will be responsible for your translation. He or she will assign the translation either to an in-house translator or to a freelance translator, the latter being much for frequent as much more translation work is outsourced (subcontracted) than done in-house. A serious translation agency will thoroughly check and proofread the translation before sending it to the client, a less serious one will simply send the translation on to the client after receiving it from the freelance translator.

Freelance translators are self-employed, independent professionals who usually work from home or a small office. They work as subcontractors for translation agencies who outsource work to them or directly for companies and individuals who need translation services.

Advantages of a freelance translator:

- You know exactly who will translate your text and what qualifications the translator has. Translation agencies work with many different translators and you have no way of knowing who will translate your texts and how qualified that person is.

- You have direct contact with the translator. Communication is therefore much faster and more personal, since it only involves you and the translator. If you work with a translation agency, the agency will relay the communication between you and the translator, which may cause delays in the transmission of information or even misunderstandings.

- Your texts will always be translated by the same person. The translator becomes familiar with the type of texts to be translated for you and the kind of terminology used. He or she can therefore work faster and ensure consistency of style and terminology in all your translated documents. Since translation agencies usually work with many different translators, your documents may not always be translated by the same person and there may therefore be differences in style and terminology.

- A freelance translator will often be cheaper than a translation agency since freelance translators usually do not have the same expenses as translation agencies do (fancy offices in the city center, secretaries and salaries to pay, etc.). When working directly with a freelance translator, there is no middleman (a translation agency) who takes a commission.

Advantages of a translation agency:

- Many translation agencies work with several languages (some even claim to offer “all languages”, which, considering that there are some 6000 languages in the world, is quite exaggerated). If, for example, you need an English text translated into 20 different languages, it may be easier for you to work with one translation agency that handles the project management for all 20 languages than with 20 individual translators.

- An individual translator will usually not be able to handle very large volumes in a short time, say 100 pages in 3 days. A translation agency which works with many translators might be able to split the work between various translators and proofread the final product to ensure consistency.

- Freelance translators are usually specialized in one or a few subject areas. If you need a variety of documents translated, for example one legal document, one technical document and one medical document, you will probably not be able to find a freelance translator who is specialized in all of these subjects and would need to find a legal translator, a technical translator and a medical translator. Most translation agencies work with translators who are specialized in a variety of fields and can therefore offer a wider array of subject areas.

- An agency can often provide additional services that many freelance translators don’t offer, such as multilingual typesetting and desktop publishing.

As in any business, there are good freelance translators and good translation agencies as well as bad ones. Check their references and qualifications thoroughly and do not settle for the cheapest option. Serious translation companies and highly qualified professional translators won’t sell their skills and expertise for peanuts.

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