If the purpose is to find out the general context of a text for internal use and therefore for purely informative purposes, calling on the services of a teacher, an acquaintance, one's secretary or a student translator may be an acceptable and economic solution as long as the text does not have any commercial or legal implications for the company; in practice, in 90% of cases, the nuances and subtleties of the language will disappear during transposition into the target language. On the other hand, if the text is intended for publication, this solution will be cruelly lacking in professionalism and will very probably harm your attempts at communication. Would you let your hairdresser cook your wedding breakfast for 100 guests just because she's a good cook? Would you visit a chiropodist to treat tooth decay? Consequently, for good communication at an international level you should entrust your documents to a professional translator; this is your guarantee of quality and success for your presence in a foreign market.

First of all a distinction needs to be made between automatic translation and translation memory software. Obtaining a text that can be published without revision using translation software is currently impossible. A full revision of the text by a real translator is still necessary. Texts obtained using this type of software are devoid of meaning and lack flow and it is often simpler to retranslate them from start to finish because of the amount of revision required. If your document is to be published, and if style, clarity and flow are major criteria for you, then calling on the services of a professional translator remains your only option to date.