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To put it simply, translation is saying the same but in a different language and localization is adapting that message whenever necessary to appeal or to be more understandable to the local audience – so that the message does not sound foreign, but feels local. The simplest example will probably be units of measurement. Let’s say you are a boutique hotel and you want the information about the location of your hotel translated for your website. The English description will say “Our hotel is located 500 yards from one of London’s main tourist attractions, the British Museum” A translation into Polish will read “Nasz hotel znajduje się 500 jardów od jednej z głównych londyńskich atrakcji turystycznych, Muzeum Brytyjskiego” (which back-translates to: “Our hotel is located 500 yards from one of the main London tourist attractions, the British Museum”). Sounds obvious, doesn’t it? The trouble is, though, that we don’t really use the imperial units in Poland, so your Polish guests will have a problem there – the information you provide will not be clear: how far is the hotel from the British Museum? Can we walk it, or is it better to take a cab or a bus? 500 yards is totally abstract for a Polish speaker; he or she will not have any idea how far it is. So instead of a straightforward translation, this piece of information should be localised instead, what in this case means converting yards into metres. So now, when your Polish guests read that your hotel is located just about 450 metres from the British Museum, they will think: Oh, that’s convenient! Great, let’s book; we won’t have to walk far!
This will depend on the difficulty of the text (the amount of research needed or whether the text requires a very creative approach) and on whether the translation needs a thorough revision and proofreading (because it is to be published) or just a light editing (because it is an internal document for information purposes only). On average, I can translate around 2000-2500 words per day, which is roughly 3 to 3.5 A4 pages of solid text.
If you need an exact timescale for your project, please contact me (sending me your text) and I will get back to you with a more precise answer as to when you could expect to receive the translation.
Of course. I can use any existing texts you have to build a glossary to make sure that consistency with your existing terminology is kept (I also use the latest technology to aid the process).
What I can also do is to create what we call a translation memory (TM) - a kind of a data base of your existing manuals or other texts and their translations. This will help keep consistency of terminology and style, but also allow you to leverage your existing assets, so that any text already translated and proofread does not have to be translated again, but can be reused in the future.
Yes. I can work with you to learn what your needs and aims are, identify the needs and expectations of the audience or the target market you want to reach and then establish the best pitch for that particular aim. Once that?s done, I can analyse your existing translations to see what needs to be fixed.
Or, if you have a text which is going to be published and want to double check if your existing translation is fit for purpose, I can proof-read it to ensure top quality ? flawless style and all the commas in the right places! Just contact me with your text, so that I can see what I can do to help.
I can work with most common software file formats. If your file is not in an editable format (for example you only have a pdf or scanned copy of the document), there may be a small surcharge to cover the time spent on converting the file into an editable format and then formatting the layout of the document.
My main areas of specialisation are travel, tourism and the hotel industry - these areas reflect my personal interests and academic qualifications (I have an honours degree in History of Art and Architecture) and work experience (throughout my postgraduate studies I worked in a busy hotel, where I gained valuable inside knowledge of the hospitality industry).
I have also acquired expertise via regular translation work in specific areas: I have translation experience in company correspondence and communication documents, merchandising and marketing materials, exhibition reviews, museum leaflets and guides, websites, company intranet and extranet sites, employee training materials, sales personnel training materials, health and safety, HR documentation, employment contracts, baby products marketing and packaging information, home electrical appliances user manuals, consumer surveys and other types of documents.
I strongly believe that a professional translator cannot (and should not be!) a jack-of-all trades, so I only work in areas in which I have either professional experience or academic/first-hand industry knowledge. My areas of specialization reflect my personal interests, academic background and work experience.
However, sometimes some extra research is necessary and for that I am very well prepared: I gained excellent research skills during my undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
I also keep expanding my subject knowledge and perfecting my translation and business skills by regularly undertaking continuous professional development (CPD) activities.
