Services

I do written translations from Dutch and English into German. I have extensive knowledge and experience in the following areas:

Science and technology (tender documents, technical documentation, operating and servicing manuals, research reports, etc.)

  • Civil engineering
  • Electronics
  • Engineering, plant construction
  • Health, Safety and Environment (HSE)
  • Software
  • ...

Law

  • Contracts
  • Business terms and conditions
  • Patents
  • ...

Business

  • Business correspondence
  • Company reports and financial statements
  • Press releases
  • ...

General texts

  • Letters
  • Speeches
  • Newspaper articles
  • ...

I am of course also happy to do translations in other areas – just get in touch!

 

 

Document formats

Documents for translation can be submitted in formats such as:

 

 

  • MS Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)
  • OpenOffice
  • Adobe FrameMaker
  • InDesign
  • HTML, XHTML
  • LaTeX
  • non-editable formats such as PDF, JPG, GIF etc. – but please note the comment on such formats on my Prices page
  • ...

I work by editing your source document, so you receive your translation in exactly the same format as the original. The formatting and layout remain unchanged and require at most only minimal adjustments or realignment. These adjustments are generally not included in the translation service, but can be added for an additional charge.

 

 

The translation process

First, you email me the text to be translated, together with any reference material and other relevant details (such as the purpose of the translation, the target readership, etc.). I then draw up a quotation based on several factors including the subject area, the length of the document, the  complexity and quality of the text and the required delivery date.

Once you have accepted the quotation, I will start the translation. In some cases it is helpful if you are available to answer questions from time to time during this process.

The completed translation is proofread several times (both manually and using computerized tools) to eradicate any possible errors.

You will receive the translation by email on or before the promised delivery date.

No machine translations

I work with a CAT tool (CAT = Computer Assisted Translation) that facilitates access to my previous translations. This can significantly lower the cost to you – for example, if you have changed or added to a text that you have asked me to translate previously and you now need a translation of the amended version. With the CAT tool I can also create and maintain client- or subject-specific  glossaries, thereby ensuring that the terminology used in your translations is always consistent. And last but not least, the software enables me to edit most popular file formats directly, which ensures that the formatting and layout of your document are retained.

A CAT tool has nothing to do with machine translation (MT)! MT services (such as Google Translate) can be useful, for example if you simply need to find out roughly what a text in a foreign language is about. However, these systems are still a very long way off being able to produce usable or even comprehensible translations. I do not use any type of machine translation in my work!