The method, point by point
| I know who will read it before I write the first word | A court, an insurer’s medical adviser, an audit firm, a public authority, customers or the general public, and in which country: I know before I translate. The tone, the language variant and the vocabulary all depend on it. I ask you when you place the order. |
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| Quotations are taken from the official version | An article of law, a standard, the name of a disease, a passage from a judgment: where an official version exists in the target language, I reproduce it word for word. Retranslating it would create a text that exists nowhere. |
| Terminology stays consistent from one document to the next | For each project, I keep a list of terms and their translations, from one document to the next and from one month to the next. Where the meaning is the same, a term keeps the same translation throughout the project: two translations for one concept create an inconsistency that readers notice. |
| Figures are checked separately | Amounts, dates, doses, measurements, references: checked separately from the text, one by one, once the translation is finished. |
| A note with every translation | Every translation comes with a note explaining the difficult choices of wording and flagging ambiguous passages in the original, and any points you need to decide on. You know what was decided, and why. |
| The statement of accuracy | On request, the translation comes with a dated and signed statement for which I take professional responsibility as to the accuracy of the text. Check with your reader that it meets their requirements: some authorities accept only translations by someone on their own register, and I will tell you so before you order. |
| The price is based on your document | I count the words in your document. The quote shows that count and separates new words from repetitions and passages already translated, which are charged at 25% of the price. |
What you receive with every translation
- A full human translation, checked, delivered in the format of your document.
- The laws, standards and medical terms cited in their official version, where one exists in the target language.
- A note explaining the difficult word choices and the points on which you need to decide.
- On request, a dated and signed statement of accuracy.
The ISO 17100 standard
ISO 17100 is the international quality standard for translation services.
I apply the requirements that concern the translator and the conduct of the work: qualifications and continuing professional development, review of each request before accepting it, tracking from quote to archive, translation and checking, a record of every step, and action on your feedback.
I have worked under ISO 17100 procedures for agencies that apply the standard, and completed their declarations of conformity.
For a translation to be declared compliant with the standard, a second qualified linguist must revise all of it against the original: I arrange this on request, for any job that requires it, at a separate price stated in the quote.
Tools
Trados Studio, professional translation software, stores previous translations and the glossary for each project.
For everything else, you decide: if you rule out a tool in writing, I do not use it.
What happens to your documents: privacy.
Get a quote
Send the whole document for a firm price and delivery date, or a single page for an initial assessment.
You will have my reply within 2 working hours.
Before you commission any work, I will translate one page free of charge, so that you can judge the quality on your own text.