Why use the services of a professional translator?

Speaking and writing are two very distinct means of communication. Oral fluency does not guarantee smooth, styling writing. 99 times out of 100, your written command of a foreign language will be immediately recognized as foreign. If your wish is to project a professional image, sloppy use of the French language is not amusing ¾it is insulting.

The added value that a professional translator can offer you (mastery of the language, quality control, file conversion, etc.) also has a price tag but can save you hours of work. The French language is abundant with discrepancies, inconsistencies and exceptions that can easily lead to numerous errors. Typographic and grammatical conventions vary from language to the next. Many printers and office staff are unaware of this or just don’t take it seriously. For example, in French, you need to add a space between a word and the colon following it; the dollar sign ($) must follow, and not precede the dollar value, with a nonbreaking space; and, in Canadian French, capital letters must be printed with the proper accents. Even if each glitch is minor, the cumulative effect is to put foreign readers off.

Finally, no one reads your texts more carefully than your translator. Good translators strip down your sentences entirely before creating new ones in the target language. Along the way, he or she is likely to find sections where clarification is needed.  This allows you to improve your original.

Resist the temptation to do it yourself. At the very least, have your documents reviewed by a competent translator. You won’t regret it!