Google translate, Translation Company or a freelancer, how to choose the right translator for your needs or why translation is like toilet paper by Mladen Stojak, Managing Director of Ciklopea d.o.o

At one of the annual translation conferences in 2011 a long standing, respected member of the industry publicly claimed that “translation is like toilet paper, you become aware of it when it's missing!“.This sentiment is generally agreed upon in the translation industry. However, we all know there are different kinds of toilet paper. For instance, there is the premium, three-layer, super-absorbent brand and then there is the scratchy kind.

Automated tools like Google Translate and different phone apps are the scratchy kind in that sense. Google has automated translation of content for fifty-seven different languages. They collaborate with a huge community of translators using volunteers to translate content they want available in their native tongue. Google Translate is in that respect efficient and will get the job done. If you need quick information or you need to communicate something informal in another language they are the right choice.

Nonetheless, if one needs a professional translation of an important business document it will be necessary to look for a qualified translator. As the translation industry has low barrier to entry there are many freelance translators on the market and at times they will be an adequate choice. The need for professional translation companies arises in the case documents you need translated are very important or the quantity of your translation needs is over the capacities of any freelance translator. Most corporations have long standing contracts with professional translation companies as this is the most efficient business practice. A professional translation company will have the infrastructure and human resources to cover many diverse needs in terms of languages available and type of text needed, in a short amount of time at the highest quality. Many large corporations have these diverse needs. Their marketing department needs an advertisement translated for the South East Europe region while their accounting and finance might need contracts with different language combinations. Can you imagine the opportunity cost that is generated if each department wastes time looking for freelancers that can fill these varied demands? Quantity discounts are also available for most long standing and high volume clients at most translation companies which generate long term savings.

The amount of human information and its increase is staggering. There are more types of content and a growing field of intermediation such as voice recognition software. The world is generating more content and what follows is the need for more translation.

As Croatia is getting ready to join the European Union, the Croatian language will become the 24th official language of the EU with more than 552 language combinations in the field of translation. As the companies in Croatia get ready to operate in this new market, needs for different language combinations will arise. Contracts will be translated from Estonian to Croatian and vice versa. Is there human capital available to cover these upcoming needs or will we all notice that the toilet paper is missing, it remains to be seen. Just don’t say we didn’t warn you!