FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The translators and reviewers who work with Low Cost Translations™ Ltd are women and men of all nationalities, races, religions, ideologies, etc. who are selected solely in consideration of talent and experience. Our translators and reviewers are the same who work for those of our business rivals who enjoy a solid reputation for the quality of their services. The CV we receive bear testimony to this.

The inclusion of each young translator (0 – 3 years of experience) in our database follows a test through which we gauge his talent. Those candidates with 4 years of professional translation experience are selected based on the quality of their CVs. We spare no effort to study every single CV submitted in our database in a bid to fish out impostors and to end up with a pool of reliable and efficient human resources. Our survival is indexed on the quality of our human resources. Our reviewers are seasoned women and men. They are the last rampart of our quality assurance defence line. To qualify as reviewer with Low Cost Translations™ Ltd, one must have at least 8 years of quality experience. We judge this from the CV submitted.

Our translators are remote workers who operate from their homes or offices. Very few of them work in our offices in Yaoundé, Cameroon as in-house employees.

Yes. You can sign up as client and access the database of our human resources. Once you sign in, you can view the profiles and CV of our translators but cannot have access to their names and addresses. Discuss this well in advance with our project managers; tell them which translators you want so that their availability can be assured in due course.

 Low Cost Translations™ Ltd hires full-time IT engineers specialized in text processing. If your text requires specific word processing in relation to layout, format type, etc., these specialists step in to assist. You do not pay a cent for this service. It is 100% free.

Yes. We observe it in the CV that we receive on a daily basis. Thus, if you decide to entrust your project to any reputable translation agency instead of to Low Cost Translations™ Ltd, it is highly probable that that agency will entrust the project to somebody we have in our database.

Yes. You can force on us the country in which the translator working on your project should be based. That is not inconsistent with our desire to localise translations.

The quality assurance strategy of Low Cost Translations™ Ltd rests on three ramparts. These are

>        the careful selection of translators and reviewers. We do it based on such criteria as talent, quality of professional experience, specialisation, and geographic location;

>        the availability of a 22 points checklist that each translator uses to check the quality of his translation before delivery. As he translates, the translator can discuss issues with the reviewer; he can also seek assistance from the Terminology Research Centre as well as explanations from the client through the project manager. The client is bound by contract to provide any requested explanations that the translator and Low Cost Translations™ Ltd may need to deliver excellent quality translations;

>        terminology research. Low Cost Translations™ Ltd has got a Terminology Research Centre where experienced terminologists work full-time. Their daily task is to study projects terminology-wise, to prepare and update terminology record and glossaries per fields. Our terminologists collaborate closely with translators and reviewers.  

>         compulsory review by a reviewer with at least 8 years of quality experience. The reviewer reviews the translation against the source text He uses the same 22 points checklist that translators use to assess the quality of their translations prior to submissions.

It is a review report that each of our reviewers sends to the project manager along with the client deliverable version of the reviewed translation. This report prepared based on the 22 points of the quality control checklist is a company private document that tells our project managers the number and kind of serious errors and mistakes made by a given translator; it also tells project managers how cooperative the translator has been over the review process. Though company private, the Quality Certificate™ can be shared with the client if he so wishes. It necessarily bears the indication Delivrable, which means the translation complies with good practices and with the desiderata of the client. Low Cost Translations™ Ltd uses this certificate to optimise the quality of its human resources.A translator wins or loses our confidence depending on whether the reports on his output are good or bad.

Trust us because at Low Cost Translations™ Ltd our primary selling point is the quality of our services.Be aware that

>        we spare no effort to deserve your confidence;

>        we are keen on the idea that the corporate name Low Cost Translations™ Ltd should stand out in the translation industry; and that

Low Cost Translations™ Ltd hires for your projects, AT LOWER COSTS, the same freelancers that work for our business rivals who are reputable for the excellent quality of their services.

We at Low Cost Translations™ Ltd consider, out of experience, that a specialist professional translator can translate and proofread a maximum of 3000 words in 24 hours. A specialist professional reviewer can review and deliver a maximum of 12 000 words in 24 hours.

The countdown begins immediately after the text lands on the translator’s desk. Our project managers should be able to tell you, based on the information you provided, when your text can land on the translator’s desk. Thus, the countdown begins at this point.

Generally, the first is translated at least 15 minutes after receipt of the evidence that you have paid your invoice. However, this deadline varies depending how urgently the translation is needed, the number of langue pairs involved, the number of translators to be involved in each language pair, the file format, etc. As you discuss with our project managers, you should learn when precisely the first word will be translated.

Low Cost Translations™ Ltd spares no effort to deliver projects in time. However, your text may require a special text processing due to its format, layout, or any latent defects. This may delay translation and review process and lead to late delivery. If you are aware your text has got such specificities, remember to let our project managers know it as soon as possible so that our IT engineers can take appropriate measures to remedy the situation before sending the text out to translators.

 In any case, we work in perfect harmony with you so that delays should always be exceptions. If we suspect there may be a delay, we do not hesitate to discuss the matter with you.

Yes. For large and urgent projects, we put together a dedicated team that handles it in compliance with good practices. Team members close collaborate among themselves and with the reviewer and the Terminology Research Centre. This helps assure the necessary terminology and style accuracy and consistency.

The more time the translator spends on a text, the better the translation. Yet, a maximum of 24 hours is enough for translation and proofreading of 3000 words. After translation and proofreading, we need 3 hours for review. Thus, the best deadline is 27 hours for 3000 words from the time the text is sent to the translator.

Yes. Low Cost Translations™ Ltd has adequate resources to translate from and into all languages of the world. However, translations into some languages must first be done through English, French, or Spanish. Our project manager should be able to tell more about such languages and what to do.

For greater efficiency and when the client so demands, Low Cost Translations™ Ltd entrusts projects to translators residing in the city, region or country of origin of the target language. It is the most efficient approach to ensure localisation.

The Achilles’ heel of Low Cost Translations™ Ltd is the restricted number of file formats it supports. The files format supported are XLM, HTML, SGML, DOC, DOCX, DOT, DOTX, RTF, XLS, XLT, XLSX, XLTX, XLSM, PPT, PPS, POT, PPTX, PPSX, POTX, PPSM, MIF 5 (FrameMaker), InDesign, QuarkXPress, PageMaker, TTX, JAVA, TXT. Those are file formats that our translators can handle with Trados, our preferred translation tool.

Yes. We would be very grateful if you could send in your documents in any of the Microsoft formats. Please send your texts in .DOC, .PPT, or any other Microsoft Office file format.

Send it to us at the following address: Low Cost Translations™ Ltd, PO Box: 8462, Yaoundé, Cameroon. We will type out the document before translation. Please be prepared to pay USD 0.5 per source file page. You can also scan the document and send the scanned version to us.

Send the text to us. We will analyse it and tell you with convincing evidence its exact number of words.

If the target language is a character language, count 1.5 as 1 word. For example, if your text has 30000 characters, divide 30000 by 1.5. The result is the total number of words of your text.

Low Cost Translations™ Ltd has got a per word pricing system. Generally, we all together agree on the total number of your source text before you prepare your invoice and pay.

Yes. Our online quote calculation application is designed in such a way as to grant you instant free quote request autonomy. At this stage, we only step in if you have a problem.

Contact us and let us analyse your text. We will analyse it and tell you with convincing evidence its exact number of words.

YES and NO. YES because that is technically possible. However, if you miscalculate the number of words, we will all be embarrassed when we discover the error.

NO, because we always recommend that you discuss with any of our project managers before you start preparing your invoice and before you make payment. Through this discussion, we will all together review such important details as deadlines, discounts, etc.

If the target language is a character language, count 1.5 as 1 word. For example, if your text has 30000 characters, divide 30000 by 1.5. The result is the total number of words of your text.

Our rates are low because we can keep them low while delivering translations that are as good as those of our business rivals who are reputable for the excellent quality of their services.

NOT at all. Our rates are higher than those that 80% of translation companies pay to translators. They are equal to those that 10% of our most reputable business rivals pay, and are just lower than those of the remaining 10% of other equally reputable companies.

In fact, Low Cost Translations™ Ltd pays

>        50 to 60 % of the budget of each project to translators and

>        20 to 30 % of same to reviewers

These percentages correspond to the rates that our business rivals with a solid reputation for the quality of their services pay to translators for the same services. Low Cost Translations™ Ltd has decided to keep its margins low instead of discouraging and impoverishing its freelancers.

Herewith three good reasons why Low Cost Translations™ Ltd prefers to be paid before entrusting a translator with your text:

>        So we don’t have to send reminders if you happen to forget to pay your invoice when it is due. Having been in the industries for many a year, we are just too aware that quite often, some clients – in good or bad faith – forget invoices due dates while others declare bankruptcy or simply ignore reminders when invoices are due. In such difficult situations, the translation agency may a) prosecute and bear all the corresponding expenses and stress b) keep explaining the situation to the insistent translator until the time when, out of argument, it reconciles to paying out of its pocket, c) or ignore the translator’s reminders and put on a guilty conscience coupled with a well-deserved entry in the black list of deadbeats and in forums dedicated to this specie of outsourcers.

Experience teaches us that some translators have no patience and that other can run out of patience. After all, they all have bills coming without delays. For Low Cost Translations™ Ltd, that means because of one day delay in payment to a translator, we can feature prominently in black list or be discussed in forums dedicated to bad and late payers.

>        Low Cost Translations™ Ltd wishes to focus on what it does best: translate and manage translations. Sending reminders or prosecuting clients is beyond the scope of our expertise. We value our corporate identity. We SHALL NEVER feature on a black list; we SHALL NEVER be discussed in forums as a bad or late payer. If we do feature on such lists and forums, quality human resources and clients will avoid us and we will lose honour, sleep and money.

>        A translator who is confident that he will be paid without hassle is hyper motivated; hyper motivation greatly impacts output. Immediately after reviewers send in the Quality Certificate™, our freelancers can be paid if they so wish; otherwise, they get paid 10-15 days later, without reminder.

Yes. In this case, we entrust translators with the volume that matches the amount you paid. When the next payment comes, we will equally assign the corresponding work volume to translators.

Yes. Low Cost Translations™ Ltd offers you the most advantageous discount scheme of the market. Here it is:

In addition to volume discount, can also save money by choosing to pay via bank transfer as follows:

Yes. Bank transfer. Bank transfer is cheaper than PayPal, for example, though the latter is faster. For any payment worth at least USD 1001 USD, Low Cost Translations™ Ltd pays all transfer fees.

Apart from bank transfer, we accept payment online payment methods such as Skrill (MoneyBookers), PayPal, Visa, and money transfers through Western Union and MoneyGram. We prefer Skrill (MoneyBookers) over PayPal because the former is very cheap. We strongly recommend Skrill (MoneyBookers). If you are paying via PayPal, Skrill, Visa, Western Union or MoneyGram, all the charges are on you. If there is a MoneyGram office nearby, we strongly recommend that you use MoneyGram instead of Western Union because the former is cheaper.

1)      Most competitive per word rate for excellent quality translation;

2)      Significant discounts (USD 200 to USD 5000) depending on the project volume;

3)      Zero fees for wire transfers worth at least USD 1001.

Apart from translation, Low Cost Translations™ Ltd offers you a number of free value added services. Our most respectable business rivals do not offer these services for free. We do offer them free of charge.

NO. We are indeed careful in the selection of our freelancer translators and are confident of the quality of their output. Yet, nobody being omniscient, we believe it is absolutely important to review every single word that has been translated and proofread. As a result, no word leaves our office unreviewed. We take no chances with our reputation.

Because of a translation mistake/error, you can lose a contract and no compensation whatsoever can offset this loss. Mindful of that, we are bent on always delivering nothing short of satisfaction. To that end, we seek your availability to answer the questions our translators may have for you in the course of the translation process. The objective is to ensure that nothing is misunderstood and hence poorly translated due to a turn of phrase or to your use of equivocal or obscure terminology in the source text.

If ever you are unhappy with the translation, let us know and we will solve the problem with great alacrity, in keeping with the provisions of the General Terms and Conditions. However, we are confident that your open collaboration and the skills of our freelancer translators, reviewers and terminologists are enough to keep problems at bay. We are confident; trust us. You will always be satisfied.

All our freelancers sign a Non-disclosure agreement before admission into our database. We can also send to freelancers only a version of your document that has been converted into a file format that is supported by our translation software. Thus, no third party will be able to read your text unless he owns that software.

We can also request the translator to sign a Non-disclosure agreement that is specific to your document.

NO. The translator may have questions on problematic terms, phrases, sentences, etc. to ask you through our project managers. We prefer to be sure we have understood what you meant, instead of guessing it. Please help us help you.

We operate from our international base in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Because we charge low rates, we are not able to maintain offices in each continent and each time zone.

If for any reason the project is cancelled, we will refund the amount that corresponds to the volume not translated by the time of receipt of the cancellation notice in our offices. The refund fees are on you.

Low Cost Translations™ Ltd is very interested in your stories on your experience with us. We are a honest company and are always anxious to be credible in the eyes of the world. Your testimony cannot be credible if it is not authentic. Make it authentic and credible by adding your passport size picture, your name, your company, your position in your company, and your email address. Your testimony should be 227 characters long as a maximum. Send this information and your passport size picture to support@lc-translations.com with the word TESTIMONY in capital letters in the subject line.

Send your question to support@lc-translations.com. You will get an answer within 48 business hours.

Low Cost Translations™ Ltd is courteous, friendly, and demanding towards its freelancers and employees. We believe that warmth, conviviality and mutual trust free the mind and promote self-transcendence. We expect them to be efficient and honest.

We insist on honesty because we owe our clients’ confidence to honesty and we must live up to this confidence. If you do not claim an experience you do not have, if you can turn down a well-paid assignment for lack of time and relevant competence, if you can give and honour your word, if you are aware of your strengths and weaknesses, then you can give satisfaction to Low Cost Translations™ Ltd.

As a translator, you will earn from USD 0.05 to USD 0.10 per word. As a reviewer, you will earn from USD 0.020 to USD 0.04 per word. Irrespective of your language pair, the minimum you can earn is USD 0.05 per word for translation and USD 0.02 for review.

LOOK OUT! Translators in Africa – except South Africa -, Asia – except Hong-Kong, Taiwan -, and South America can be offered rates that are slightly lower than those of their colleagues who reside in countries and regions of the world where the cost of living is expensive (Europe, Middle East, North America).

Yes. We take into consideration the cost of living in the countries and regions of origin of translators. Translators in Africa – except South Africa -, Asia – except Hong-Kong, Taiwan -, and South America can be offered rates that are slightly lower than those of their colleagues who reside in countries and regions of the world where the cost of living is expensive (Europe, Middle East, North America).

Low Cost Translations™ Ltd gets paid before entrusting a project to you for translation. Our payment deadlines vary between 10 and 15 days from receipt of your reviewed work and the corresponding Quality Certificate™ from the reviewer.

Generally, we are able to pay you immediately after the reviewer has sent in the reviewed translation along with the Quality Certificate™. For example, if you deliver a 3000-word translation on the 1st of February 2020, we will be able to pay you on the 2nd of February 2020 if you so request. If you have other projects following closely on the just completed assignment, you can ask Low Cost Translations™ Ltd to wait until you have completed the new assignments.

Herewith our payment methods. They are listed in order of preference. The charges are on you irrespective of the method.

1. Bank transfer for all payments higher than or equal to USD 500.

2. Skrill (MoneyBookers) for all countries where this payment method is accepted. Check if Skrill works in your country and set up an account. It is quite a simple process; more so, you do not have any charges for receiving money.

3. PayPal 

1. for all the countries where Skrill (MoneyBookers) does not operate.
2. if our client has paid us via PayPal
3. if your amount is lower than USD 1001.

4. Western Union and MoneyGram for any amount higher than or equal to USD 1001.

Nota bene: Whatever the payment method you choose, no payment fee shall be on Low Cost Translations™ Ltd. Payment fees are deducted from the amount of your invoice. HOWEVER, for amounts higher than USD 5000, Low Cost Translations™ Ltd MAY support part of the charges, provided that you be a resident of a country or region where the cost of living is expensive (North America, countries of the European Union, Russia, Taiwan, Hong-Kong).

Yes. Low Cost Translations™ Ltd keeps in touch with you through the project manager, the reviewer and the Terminology Research Centre. Each project sent to you is equally sent to the reviewer who studies it while he awaits your translation. You can – you must not – discuss an issue with the reviewer while you translate. Share with him your doubts on a given term or sentence. Both of you can decide to refer the matter to the client or to the Terminology Research Centre through the project manager.

Your work as a translator is to

1. translate and proofread the text assigned to you within the agreed deadlines. Proofreading shall be done using a 22-point quality control checklist;
2. discuss, if need be, with the reviewer while you translate and while he reviews your translation, and
3. prepare a terminology record to be sent in alongside with the translation.

We hire reviewers with at least 8 years of quality professional experience who review your work in conjunction with you.

The reviewer uses the same 22-point quality control checklist given to you at the bottom of your invoice. Thus, that 22-point checklist is the yardstick for measuring the quality of your work.

Your relationships should be professional and friendly. You are not omniscient, neither is the reviewer. Low Cost Translations™ Ltd expects open, healthy and friendly collaboration from both of you, for the benefit of its customers.

Terminology failures, mistranslations, meaningless phrases, sentences, omissions that seriously affect meaning, changes in statistical data, word for word translation, are examples of serious errors. The acceptable threshold for Low Cost Translations™ Ltd is 1/1000 words, mindful of the fact that a translator has 24 hours to translate and proofread 3000 words.

The reviewer. However, the reviewer discusses your serious errors with you before reporting them in the Quality Certificate™ or review report. If you disagree with the reviewer, politely let the project manager know so he can seek the opinion of an independent third party on the matter. Please be courteous. We believe in the virtues of courteousness in airing disagreements.

NO, in principle. We believe that working offline means denying oneself the benefits of the countless and invaluable resources that are at one’s disposal on the internet.

YES and NO. YES because Low Cost Translations™ Ltd CAN pay the entire amount of your invoice even though it is UNSATISFIED with your translation. Since your imperfect translation has been revised, validated and delivered, we must pay you.

NO because Low Cost Translations™ Ltd reserves the right to pay only 25%, 50% or 75% of the agreed amount if there is indisputable evidence that

–          you have made more than 4 serious mistakes in 1000 words: -50% ;

–          you have not proofread your translation as is evidenced by obvious grammar mistakes (5 in 1000 words) : – 25% ;

–          you have made more than 4 serious mistakes in 1000 words and have not proofread your translation: (-75 %) ;

–          your deliverables appear to be machine translation (Google Translation, Bing Translator, SYSTRANS, for example): -50%

–          you have subcontracted the assignment entrusted to you thereby violating the confidentiality agreement signed with us : – 50% ;

The acceptable threshold for Low Cost Translations™ Ltd is 1/1000 words. Beyond this threshold, only your willingness to discuss with the reviewer and your respect of deadlines can help you save the day.

However, beyond 3 errors in 1000 words, neither your availability to discuss with the reviewer nor your respect of deadlines can help you avoid UNSATISFIED.

NO. It is soft, instead. Let’s consider a situation whereby a translator to who a 50000 words document is entrusted makes 3 serious errors in other 1000 words. This means that at the end of the day, he will deliver a translation with 150 serious errors. This means that he has delivered a substandard translation.

It allows the human resources manager to sort between efficient and less efficient translators in a bid to improve accuracy in the allocation of projects to freelancers. The more the number of UNSATISFIED on your profile, the lower your chances to be awarded contracts. The reverse is true. The more the number of SATISFIED on your profile, the higher your chances to be awarded projects. You have priority over others.

Yes. If we are unsatisfied with your output 3 times out of 5, we will ban you from our database of freelancers.

Use all the resources available online. Request assistance from colleagues on Proz.com or translatorscafe.com. Then, submit proposals obtained to the attention of the reviewer of your project and seek his advice. If both of you are still unsure, get the client involved through the project manager s™.

Keep the project manager informed as soon as possible. ™. We abhor late deliveries. If you keep us informed as soon as possible, we can take appropriate emergency measures to make sure the translation is delivered in time to the client.

Immediately get in touch with the project manager at Low Cost Translations™ Ltd. We will discuss the force majeure with the client.

NO. NEVER accept an assignment if you cannot handle it yourself. If you cannot deliver in time for any reason whatsoever, keep the project manager informed and await his feedback.

Discuss it with the project manager.

We communicate with translators by email, Skype, and fax only.

NO. You MUST have a Skype ID to be able to discuss with project managers, reviewers, and the Terminology Research Centre.

If the project manager gets no feedback from you after two reminders or attempts to get updates from you, he cancels your contract and reassigns the project to a different freelancer.

Yes. Always sent reply emails to your project manager with answers to questions in the automatic reminder emails that you receive.

YES. HOWEVER, you will have 90% less work than your colleagues who use Trados.

NO. You have a CV on our portal (lc-translations.com) that recaps with all the details all the projects you completed with Low Cost Translations™ Ltd. In your own CV, you are authorized to name Low Cost Translations™ Ltd and then add the link to your profile on its website. Add your ID and password so your potential clients are able to access and view your CV that has only your projects with Low Cost Translations™ Ltd.

YES. The CV we prepare for you on our portal stands for a letter of recommendation. If you quote us as reference and one of your potential clients contacts us asking for more on you, we will ask him to view your profile and CV on our website using the ID and password you must have given him.

Let us know the issue as soon as you discover it. We will give due attention, without any bias.

Low Cost Translations™ Ltd values its corporate identity and so does not wish to be quoted lightly.Moreover, the non-disclosure agreement you signed with us does not allow you to quote our clients and their projects in your CV. To capitalise on your experience with Low Cost Translations™ Ltd, quote us and provide the link to your profile and CV on our website lc-translations.com. Remember to provide your user ID and password so that your potential client can access your profile and view your credentials. You should be proud to direct one of your potential clients to your CV on our website because we are a reputable company.

Finally, this CV allows the human resources manager to sort between efficient and less efficient translators in a bid to improve accuracy in the allocation of projects to freelancers. The more the number of SATISFIED on your profile, the greater your chances to be assigned new projects.

Project cancellation happens in two cases:

1)      Your contract has been cancelled and the project reassigned to a different freelancer. This happens unfailingly when you do not respond to 2 reminders, that is, when you are supposed to have completed 50% of the assignment. When this happens, you lose all your rights on this project, including the right to payment.

Our client has cancelled the project. In this case, Low Cost Translations™ Ltd pays you the amount corresponding to the volume translated by the time of the cancellation. In addition to our apologies for the inconvenience, we give you priority over other translators for the next project that matches your profile.

We do authorize you to share your wonderful experience with us on those sites and portals. HOWEVER, remember to say that you are not acting on coercion or at our request. WE DO NOT BARTER projects for positive comments.

ALWAYS remember that the kings at Low Cost Translations™ Ltd are translators and clients. Whenever there is a matter for dispute,cordially get in touch with us. If your dialogue attempts fail to produce solutions that you deem fair, report the matter to our CEO in an email to ceo@lc-translations.com. Please be courteous and be honest in your statements.

Kindly ask your question live on Skype (lowcosttranslationsltd) or send an email at support@lc-translations.com. If you choose to send an email, you will get an answer within 2 business days.