When hiring certified translation services, the word ‘certified’ can mean two things; whether the translator is certified or the translation is certified. Most often, professionals and businesses look for certified translators because they want certified translations. However, there is a big difference between a certified translator and a certified translation. Thus, when searching for “certified” service, you must be clear about the following two things.
What It Means to Hire a Certified Translator
Certified translators are professional linguists who have studied a particular language and passed a recognized exam that evaluates their ability to translate from one language to another. In other words, a certified translator is a linguist who is certified to perform the translation in a specific language combination.
Many professionals have a degree in translation from an accredited university but that doesn’t tag them as certified. Thus, having a degree in translation is not the same thing as having a certification in translation.
Besides, you should also know that translation exams work in one direction. Meaning, if a translator is certified to translate content from English to Chinese, he/she is not certified to translate from Chinese to English, unless that person has also passed a separate certification exam for Chinese-to-English translation.
There is one more thing you should know about when looking for a certified translator. Thousands of languages are spoken around the world; however, certifications are not available for all languages. This means it is not always possible to find a certified translator for each language.
What It Means to Get Certified Translations
A certified translation means that the translation is certified by the language translation agency or the translator who is providing the service. They usually offer a signed and dated certificate which states that the translation is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge.
One should request certified translations especially when translations will be used for legal document projects and in situations that may have legal consequences. Certified translations are also ideal when there is no recognized translator certification available for the particular language you need.
Important Note:
Hiring a certified translator doesn’t automatically mean that their translations are certified. Plus, certified translations are not always performed by certified translators.
So, whether you are searching for “certified document translation services near me” online or looking for certified translation services from a global language translation agency (which might be located in a different country), first, make yourself clear about whether you actually need a certified translator or a certified translation. It makes all the difference between having done your translation from a certified translator and having a certified translation that might or might not be completed by a certified translator.
Semantics is a reputable ISO certified language translation agency that has been serving a wide range of clients from small businesses and multinational companies, such as Thomson Reuter, Amazon, Wipro, and more. It offers a diverse array of high-quality translation services, including certified document translation services that you can rely on. So, feel free to contact us for any assistance with your translation projects.
