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1. Working in a translation agency involves work that goes beyond the translation task itself. It consists of receiving and forwarding orders and texts, checking for accuracy and completeness, proofreading, exchanging information, telephone calls, printouts, managing the electronic archive, etc. This additional effort is less important for longer texts and larger orders than for smaller texts / Tasks and is therefore not calculated at all.
However, if the text is shorter than a certain amount, the costs associated with the additional work will be disproportionately high. For this reason, translation agencies usually charge so-called minimum rates below a certain amount of work.
2. There is a fixed agreement between the translation agency and the translator that provides for a fixed fee for minimum quantities. Such agreements are widely practiced in the translation industry and it is not really common to deviate from them.
But please don't worry: as a result of our customer-friendly company policy, we have not changed our fee rates over the years.
- Our translationsTranslation issuesLiterary and scientific translationAcademic translations – medical translationsTechnical translationsTranslations in the fields of commerce, finance and banking
Our translations:
In order to do justice to the original intention of the original text and the author, it is always necessary to search for the best possible expression. Specialist translators are trained and also have the necessary routine to find a good compromise, even in difficult cases – if necessary. Since important documents are also very often written by non-native speakers, e.g. B. written in English, French or Spanish, small mistakes or linguistic weaknesses are the order of the day. Finding these is the translator's responsibility, and it is often a matter of judgment as to what corrections are appropriate.
Technical translators are specialists, be it for professional reasons, because they are doctors, lawyers, teachers or trading partners, be it because of the routine that has developed over many years of translation practice. It should be noted that the proportion of translations in the field of electrical engineering, IT, law and economics is greatest. However, the quantity and scope of this type of translation should not hide the fact that there is also a very high proportion of official, official documents such as birth, marriage and death certificates, references, work and study certificates, affidavits or documents relating to processes relating to naturalization that are necessary for the life of individuals. In these cases, too, specialist translations are in great demand and indispensable.
Sworn translators are therefore also classified as specialist translators. Your business is translation without being a doctor, lawyer or accountant. They prepare translations of court judgements, contracts, deeds or other judicial or notarial documents. They also certify their correct translation into the target language. The keyword here is "certified translation", which, as I said, is required for many official processes at home and abroad.
Translation problem:
Translatability: Merely transferring the text content from the source language to the target language is not possible. The translator has to decide whether he wants to adapt the necessarily foreign text to his own language and try to cover up its foreignness in this way, or whether he wants to reproduce this foreignness with the means of his own language. Both methods are legitimate. A decision as to which procedure is ultimately "closer" to the original cannot be found solely by referring to the text basis. The decisive factor is that in principle everything can be expressed in natural human languages.
Loyalty does not equal beauty: Often a translation is very faithful, but it doesn't sound or read particularly well, although in principle everything is presented correctly. Conversely, there are translations that sound nice, but do not reflect the statements of the text precisely enough and even contain gaps or errors. The aim of a translation agency will always be correctness and fidelity. - Conclusion: in the end, more complex, especially literary or scientific translations are mostly about a compromise. A good translation falls somewhere in the middle between “beauty” and “loyalty”. This is also a task for the specialist in the translation agency.
Literary and scientific translation
Literary translation is probably the most well-known and publicly discussed type of translation, but it accounts for only a small proportion of the translation market. Literary translators often earn less than translators of technical texts. In most cases, the decision to pursue this profession arises from personal enthusiasm for literature or for a specific language and national culture. Literary translations have played and play an important role in intercultural exchange, the image of other cultures in a given language community and the development of one's own national culture and identity. A well-known example of the great importance of foreign literature is the epoch of German Romanticism, in which, among others, August Wilhelm and Dorothea von Schlegel as well as Ludwig Tieck created translations of works by European authors such as those by Shakespeare or Cervantes, which are still widely used today. - The list of milestones in the field of translation is long, and there are complete books, ie lexicons and bibliographies, which specifically document the work of the nations in this field. The German translation of Pierre Bayle's famous Dictionnaire historique et critique (Rotterdam 1694-97) into German by Johann Christoph Gottsched and his wife (Leipzig 1741-44) should be mentioned here as a monumental historical example.
But it is not only the size, but also the character or – as one would have to write according to the above – technical specificity that enriches the language into which certain works have been translated. Many a great European language would have looked different if, for example, the numerous texts of Aristotle and other philosophical classics had not been saved from Arabic to Greek and Latin in the decisive epochs.
Scientific translations - medical translations
Academic translations require at least as high a level of expertise as translations from areas of practical accomplishment of tasks and shaping of relationships. Scientific knowledge, ie experience with the terminology and insight into the methods and goals of scientific texts, are almost more important than complete mastery of the respective subject areas. Experts in the field of translation are therefore by no means always university teachers or chair holders, but often experienced freelancers and work in publishing houses or in good translation agencies. In order to clarify the situation, the example of the doctor should be used here to show everything that has to be considered in one of the most complex and venerable sciences, namely medicine:
Medical translations are one of the most glaring examples of the translator's great responsibility, as mistakes in this area can have very serious consequences. Anyone working in the field of medical translation must have extensive knowledge of technical terms from Latin and Greek (as well as their mixed forms in certain expressions) and also know some of the abbreviations that are frequently used. Anglicisms, expressions from areas of medical technology and new terms such as proper names used as technical terms represent another problem, for which there are often no suitable translations or which have to be carefully checked for a one-to-one adoption.
A feeling for the use and function of certain expressions is therefore just as important as the above-mentioned specialist knowledge. When it comes to documents required by law for the pharmaceutical industry, such as expert opinions, dossiers, specialist information, package inserts, etc., medically trained translators should have solid scientific knowledge and, above all, a lot of experience in specialist translation.
Technical translations
Translations in the field of technology are of enormous importance today due to the speed of product cycles and the amount of information overload. It is therefore obvious when the decisive innovations are reflected directly in the areas of electrical engineering, IT and software industry and new products and product versions are created.
The resulting literature consists of tender documents, specifications, handbooks, operating instructions, PR brochures or marketing and advertising texts. They are used either in B-to-B contexts or directly by the end user. In any case, the translator is required to have technical knowledge, a love of detail and an intensive customer orientation that has the technical understanding of the client, consumer or reader in mind.
Translations in the fields of commerce, finance and banking
Due to the increasing internationalization of the economy, even a small company is now required to provide documents from the commercial and financial sector, texts for management and marketing, etc. in foreign languages, sometimes in several languages. Of course, the same applies the other way round: if you have to have documents or usage texts translated from “foreign” languages into your own. Whether annual reports for shareholders, news about financial markets, marketing material for sale or the announcement of products and services, the texts must comply with the standards prevailing in the foreign country.
As such standards may differ from country to country, confusion is possible. Just think of different bookkeeping and accounting standards. For translations in the financial world, it is therefore very important to use the right terms in the right context. To ensure that this is the case, we are happy to coordinate our formulations with your ideas. In addition, we work with you to develop glossaries specifically for your company or your industry, which can be of use to you beyond the pure translation.
We select our translators very carefully and make sure that they meet our standards. In the case of extensive projects or when time is short, we form teams of translators who coordinate their terminology with each other and advise on the best variant.