If you need to hire an Arabic translator and are concerned about the cost, the good news is that most independent translation professionals offer extremely competitive rates. The average cost of a Guru translation freelancer is around $15 per hour, although you can negotiate project costs for larger tasks or agree to a specific fee for ongoing smaller pieces of work.
How quickly can Arabic be translated into English? If your selected freelancer is available, you can expect a turnaround in as little as twenty-four hours–we’d recommend specifying if you have a tight deadline, which will ensure any quotes you receive factor in the shorter timeframe!
Average Costs to Hire a Freelance Arabic Translator
Guru freelancers charge as little as $5 per hour for Arabic translations–it’s important to note that these rates tend to be offered by overseas freelancers. However, you can filter professional translators by location if you’d like to collaborate with a local freelancer! Minimum project costs start from roughly $25, so there is plenty of space to book a capable translator for a smaller project.
Several other variables will impact the price of hiring a freelance Arabic translator, such as:
- The size and duration of the transaction project; normally based on the number of pages or word count
- The nature of the translation–e.g., technical, legal, medical, or general content for mass publication
- The expertise you require and whether you stipulate any professional language qualifications or accreditations
- The deadline–expedited work often costs slightly more if you are under pressure to hit a specific date or time
- The quality of the original text–an accurate piece of content with perfect grammar and spelling is easier to translate than a rough draft
Highly technical translations, those of several thousand words, or translation projects related to a specific field, such as a tenancy agreement or contract of employment, usually cost towards the upper end of the spectrum. For these translation tasks, we suggest you work with an experienced freelancer with knowledge and understanding of the relevant terminology.
What to Include in Your Arabic Translation Job Post
We’re often asked for advice about creating a comprehensive job post, ensuring that every freelancer who contacts you has the right skills, experience, and abilities to match your requirements. You can review the Guru job post process online and complete each field as you go to build a full specification, but as a few tips:
- Be specific if you’d like to hire a freelance translator from a particular region. Arabic is spoken in over twenty-five countries, each with a unique dialect, so if you need a professional with expertise in, say, the Egyptian or Saudi Arabian language, this is an important criterion for your job spec.
- Detail the nature of the job, whether from Arabic to English or English to Arabic–most translators are bilingual but may be stronger in one translation direction or another.
- Set a budget from the outset, and indicate whether you’d prefer to pay per hour or have a fixed cost for the total project–this ensures your quotes comply with the payment structure you are most comfortable with.
- Provide some background context. Translators often specialize in specific types of content, so it’s best to include a brief overview, whether you need to translate a speech, product description, company bio, or legal document.
- Detail the scope of the work–if you have a small initial translation project but are looking to collaborate with a freelancer longer term, you may attract more competitive pricing. Likewise, if the translation is likely to span several weeks, you should note this in your job post.
The rule of thumb is that the more detail you provide within your job post, the more relevant your quotes will be. You can also include any conditions or prerequisites and use these to filter your responses and ensure you hire the best possible freelancer for the task!
Qualifications to Look for When Hiring a Freelance Arabic Translator
The skills, experience, and linguistics you require for your translation work are entirely up to you. Some freelancers have exceptional abilities but do not have formal qualifications; others have a degree-level designation, specialize in text translations or religious documentation, or have lived in an Arabic-speaking country for many years.
If you prefer to hire translators with formal language certifications, you can include this in your job specifications or filter freelancers by your requirements to compare pricing and previous client review scores.
