What do Australian Translation Companies Actually Do?

Last Updated On: July 10, 2017 by The Migration Translators

In this increasingly globalised world, most people understand why translation is an important aspect of communication, but might not be aware of just how critically important the work of a professional translator is.

For a start, many people confuse translators with interpreters. Some large companies may provide an interpretation service as well as a translation service, but usually they are separate concerns. Typical Professional Translation Services in Australia deal with translating a wide variety of text based material, ranging from documents for immigration purposes, legal, financial and business documents and business communication as well as medical and technical documents and manuals and website translations. The accent is always on text and not on real live verbal communication, which is the realm of the interpreter.

All good Translation Services in Australia are recognized by the federal and state governments because they use accredited professional translators. These translators are all registered with the National Association of Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). The accreditation process gives peace of mind to anyone, whether it is an individual seeking to translate a marriage or birth certificate to a large business that needs multiple documents translated.

Some large businesses are likely to have their own in-house translators which handle the bulk of the translation required for the company, but many businesses contract out their translation needs to reputable translation services. These companies use translators who are thoroughly familiar not just with the specialist language they translate but specific branches of translation. This is especially important for such things as legal, immigration and medical translation as mistakes in translating terminology could have important repercussions.

Many translators may actually work on a freelance basis themselves and may be associated with a particular translation company. For these translators, their location is immaterial because work can be sent online to them and the translated documents or other material can be emailed back. This means that Translation Services in Brisbane, for example, could actually have a translation team made up from anywhere in Australia.

Many translation services these days use a variety of computer aided software to speed up the translation process. This should not be confused with the sort of free online translation sites that can be accessed on the internet. It s more of a use of an online glossary or dictionary which is gradually built up when a translation company deals with similar material for a customer The glossary helps to make translations more systematic and regular and avoids the translation of the same term into different alternatives. Translation memory and terminology management software may also be part of the equipment of the modern Australian translation company.