This is an op/ed piece that ran a week ago. My response to it at first was kind of a "duh!" reaction, but then, it is sometimes hard to remember how many English speakers outside of the translation industry think. I guess it can never be stated enough: a poor translation can cost millions of dollars more than a good translation. When translation vendors say they have years of experience, it means that they are thoroughly entrenched in a network of the best translators in the biz. Because the qualification process of translators can be quite spotty, only years of experience in establishing relationships with the most qualified translators can get you the best selection of translators for your project.

It takes less time to train an airman to become a fighter pilot than it takes to train an Arabic interpreter, but the accuracy of the latter may be more important to national security, said the president of the American Translators Association.

Faulty translations have the potential to lead to international incidents, ranging from health risks on items such as cans of exported infant formula, to political misunderstandings, such as the one in January that led to Iran briefly banning CNN for misquoting the country's president.

Bush has requested $114 million in the next budget year to help teach U.S. students Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Farsi and other languages that are rarely studied.

Tags: translators | | qualified