As for translating official documents into French, it is also priced and shipping costs will normally have to be added. As translation agencies and technical and sworn translators to translate english to french usually offer free quotes and without obligation, it is always advisable to compare the different rates before making any assignment.
Choose a sworn translator or a technical translator, depending on the nature of the translation. A sworn translation requires a translator authorized by the competent authority to attest to the translation made with his signature and his seal. In this country, persons authorized to perform sworn translations are appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of this country, while in French, such powers correspond to the federated states.
Consult quality certificates (ISO 9001 and ISO 17100)
Both quality certificates are prepared by the International Organization for Standardization, known as ISO (International Standardization Organization). The ISO 9001 Standard is applicable regardless of whether the product or service is provided by a public organization or private company, whatever its branch, while the ISO 17100 Standard establishes the requirements for translation services. According to this last rule, every translation service must include, at least, translation and revision, with which the bilingual comparison is guaranteed.
If you have ever used services such as the Google translator, you have surely noticed that when the text is long, it usually contains several errors when translating from another language to French or English. And surely you have thought that the same thing happens when moving from French to another language.
This fear is not unfounded:
Indeed, machine translation services are not very reliable for translating important things. In those cases, it is best to turn to a professional translator. Someone who analyzes the text understands it and does quality work without errors.
Pope sandwich and permanent stroke
A bad translation or interpretation can totally change the meaning of a sentence. A small example:
Within the restaurant menu, a potato sandwich was offered. As the restaurant received foreign diners, the menu was translated to be French or English, but an automatic translator was used for papa and the final translation was not potato sandwich, but Pope Sandwich, that is to say: “Papa sandwich”.
Another example is the permanent stroke marker, which was translated from English into French as permanent stroke because stroke is a homonymous word used to refer to the condition.
Although these cases seem fun, if you have an important document that you present to your bosses or clients, it may not be so.
Therefore, a professional translator is always the best option. When looking for professional translation services, you find yourself from translator agencies to freelance translators, but you are not sure how to choose the best option.
Prefer a professional native-level translator
It is preferable that the translator you hire not only master the language to which it will be translated at the native level. In addition, you must master the source language of your document and be a professional interpreter. For example, if you want to translate from French to English or from English to French, look for a translator who speaks both languages natively. Not just one or the other.