News & Columns
How to Choose a Translation Agency: An Indispensable Partner in the Global Era
Translation services are called many different things: human translation, professional translation, human translation, etc. However, as the globalization of the Internet and business accelerates, "translation" is becoming more and more important as it crosses language barriers.
As a translation company, we will explain the overall picture of the services we provide and the points to check when choosing a client.
1. Main services provided by translation companies
A translation company does more than simply "replace a sentence with another language. They provide translations that meet your objectives by leveraging their knowledge and expressive ability in their field of expertise.
- General document translation: e-mails, contracts, pamphlets, manuals, etc.
- Specialized translation: Pharmaceutical, legal, financial, IT, and other specialized fields
- Localization: Adapting websites and applications to local culture
- Video translation: Translation for subtitling and dubbing
- Native checking: Grammar and expressions are checked by native speakers
2. Key points for choosing a translation company
There are many translation companies in existence, but there is a way to choose the best one depending on the nature of your request. Check the following points and choose the company that best suits your purpose.
- Specialization
For highly specialized translations such as pharmaceutical and legal translations, it is safe to choose a company with experienced translators. - Quality assurance system
Check if there is a system to guarantee translation accuracy, such as a double-checking system or proofreading by native speakers. - Fee structure
Check for a clear fee structure such as "¥0.00 per character" or "¥0.00 per word. Choosing a translation service based on price alone may result in a difference in quality. - Ability to meet deadlines
It is important to know if the company has the resources to handle urgent projects and large volume translations. - Security
If you are dealing with confidential documents, check whether the company has an information management system (ISMS, etc.).Click here for Kodensha's translation services!
3. Differences between translation companies and AI translation
Recently, the accuracy of AI translation, including DeepL translation, has been improving, but it is wise to choose the right one for your application.
- Situations where human translation is best suited: Legal documents, medical information, official press releases, final versions of marketing materials, and other important materials where mistranslations are not allowed.
- Situations where AI translation + proofreading is appropriate: internal memos, reference materials, large volumes of primary translation (when cost reduction is a priority).
Hybrid operation combining the advantages of both (draft by AI → proofread by human) is also practical.
In our MySite AI Translation, we use the DeepL translation API for Japanese-English translation.
While the accuracy by itself is of course high, we also offer
service, which is a translation quality check (post-editing) of the results of DeepL translations.
4. Kohden's recommended AI translation and new services using generated AI
- AI proofreading post-editing: AI translation results are proofread by a generated AI and finally checked by human hands.
The fact-checking process ensures a certain level of quality, even for high-volume AI translations.
5. Summary
A translation company is a partner that provides "translations that communicate" rather than simply replacing words.
If you ask them to carefully assess quality, expertise, and security, they can be a powerful ally in supporting your global expansion.
Click here to inquire about our human translation, professional translation, and human translation services.