A translation agency or a freelance translator?

If I was looking for professional translation services I would prefer a translation agency over a freelance translator. I would also look if they have the necessary credentials. They should be qualified translators. Otherwise I cannot be sure about the accuracy of the translation.
 
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Newchodge

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    Funny, most translation agencies are a collection of freelance translators ;)

    True, but the agency takes responsibility for their work. That is the main and most important difference. A professional agency will require that its translators are also professional.
     
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    serendipitybusiness

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    Jun 27, 2008
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    I prefer to go with a freelancer directly, you have to be more flexible but I like to get a feel for who I am hiring and test them to see how good they are. Once tested you know you have consistency. I am wary of agencies as you never know who is at the end actually doing the translation and localisation. I may be wrong but I worry that you could have a good translator for one piece and then a bad translator for the next.
     
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    Ashley_Price

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    If you want to use a freelancer, make sure their native language is the one you want the document translated into.

    No matter how experienced people are with a second language there are likely to still be nuances that they don't understand. I have a German friend who lived for many years in America, her command of English is "excellent" (in fact, when she speaks English in Germany, her accent is such that fellow Germans believes she is American)... but there are still terms or words she doesn't understand. I told her I used to do juggling in Covent Garden when I was in my teens - she didn't know what juggling was.
     
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    johndaniels1824

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    Oct 9, 2018
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    When seeking for translation services, would you rather hire a translation agency or a freelance translator?

    Hi exciteseo! I think you should seek translation services from a translation agency rather than a freelance translator because agencies have their strict quality guidelines to follow. One agency that I think can help you is Lexcode.
     
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    If you want to use a freelancer, make sure their native language is the one you want the document translated into.
    This!

    I am possibly the only truly bilingual person here and in the distant past, I translated technical stuff in the fields of electrical and IT engineering and I can go in both directions (or dyslexic in both languages!) If you go to an good agency, they will farm your stuff out to a suitable freelancer who may or may not have a formal qualification as a translator, but the copy will be checked over by someone who does and is a native speaker of that language.

    As for not knowing the word 'juggling' - the German word comes from the circus and is the same (almost) as the French word and gives us the German word Jonglieren.
     
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