What should I think about as I commission a translation?
The American Translators Association has several resources to try to help you answer this question:
- Translation: Getting It Right – A general guide for buying translations. 日本語版はこちらです。
- Translation: Buying a non-commodity – How translation standards can help buyers & sellers – The title of this document essentially describes the article. Even if you’re not particularly interested in standards, though, the Top 10 list here can give you an outline of what you may want to communicate to the translator in charge of your project.
Got any blogs you can point me to as a potential translation buyer?
Sure! Try the ATA Compass, which updates infrequently enough not to be too distracting but provides useful tidbits: what a “certified translation” is, how translators can save clients money by helping determine exactly which things need to be translated, etc.