Due to the ever changing and growing industry of translation services, there are now certain terms used to define specialist translation that do not fall under a general category. The following offers an explanation of the more common translating types offered.

General translation - A general translation is the simplest of translations. A general text means that the language used is not high level and to a certain extent could be in layman's terms. There is no specific or technical terminology used. Most translations carried out fall under this category.

Administrative translation service - The translation of administrative texts - What this refers to is common text used within businesses and organizations that are used in daily activity and management. It can also be stretched to cover texts with similar functions in government.

Commercial translation service - Commercial translation or business translation covers any sort of document used in the business world such as correspondence, company accounts, tender documents, reports, etc. Commercial translations require specialist translators with knowledge of terminology used in the business world.

Economic translation service - Similar to commercial or business translation, economic translation is simply a more specific term used for the translation of documents relating to the field of economics. Such texts are usually a lot more academic in nature.

Financial translation service - Financial translation is the translation of texts of a financial nature. Anything from banking to asset management to stocks and bonds could be covered.

Computer translation service - This refers to translations carried out of software materials. Computer translation is the translation of anything to do with computers such as software, manuals, help files, etc.

Legal translation service - Legal translations are one of the hardest translations known. At its simplest level it means the translation of legal documents such as statutes, contracts and legal language.

A legal translation will always need specialist attention. This is because law is culture-dependent and requires a translator with an excellent understanding of both the source and target cultures. Most translation agencies would only use legal professionals to undertake such work. This is because there is no real margin for error; the mis-translation of a passage in a contract could, for example, have adverse legal consequences.

Literary translation service - A literary translation is the translation of literature such as novels, poems, plays and poems.

The translation of literary works is considered by many one of the highest forms of translation as it involves so much more than simply translating text. A literary translator must be capable of also translating feelings, cultural nuances, humor and other subtle elements of a piece of work.

Medical translation service - A medical translation will cover anything from the medical field from the packaging of medicine, to manuals for medical equipment, to medical books. Like legal translation, medical translation is specialization where a mistake could have detrimental consequences.

Technical translation service - A technical translation has a broad meaning. It usually refers to certain fields such as IT or manufacturing and deals with texts such as manuals and instructions. Technical translations are usually more expensive than general translations as they contain a high amount of terminology that only a specialist translator could deal with.