There are some issues you may experience when working with individual clients.

Some of the issues you may experience when working with individual clients may include –

When you’re dealing with people who know little or nothing about translation you’ll be required to show a lot of patience. Remember, these people know almost nothing about translation and what you do, so you’ll be asked to explain what can and can’t be translated.

You will be asked if you can certify a translation that someone else has already completed. They feel that now that they’ve translated a document, all they need to do is get your certified translator stamp placed on the document – for a small fee, of course! They don’t understand that a certification statement means that you are certifying that you have translated the document and that you’re not able to certify any document that you haven’t translated yourself, for liability reasons.

Because you’ll be taking payments online you need to set up this type of payment system, and we know this costs money; money that some translators are not prepared to pay. PayPal is an ideal online payment method, and yes, there are fees involved, but generally you won’t have any problems with issues like chargebacks and so on. Chargeback is where the client makes a complaint to PayPal and then receives a refund. The other bonus is that many people already have a PayPal account for their online shopping so it’s a very simple task for them to send money. Other payment systems are Stripe, Square, and there are others: from what we understand, the fees for most of these online payment services are roughly the same.

Translating Legal Documents

Translating legal documents can be one of the most difficult aspects of translation work because it must be correct and it must be accurate. There are various situations where clients are looking for a legal translation and these could be translating birth certificates, technical patent information, application letters, financial statements, deposition records, litigation materials, evidence documents, business contracts, and so much more. Translators working in this area will be required to have general knowledge of legal terminology and have a good knowledge of statutory requirements; plus, they should be aware of and understand the legal intricacies of foreign legal systems.

Legal Translations Demand Accuracy

The process of translation is already a complex process, requiring many specific skills, but translating legal documents is much more exacting. The ramifications of even the smallest mistake could well involve a lengthy and complex legal process, in addition to financial costs, to have it reversed. When you’re doing a legal translation there are some things you need to keep in mind: the source text is automatically structured to fall in line with the legal system that complies with its own legal language, whereas the target text will be read by someone else – and that ‘someone else’ will be familiar with another legal system and another language.