This page attempts to answer some frequent queries about the French Linguistics Translation Service. However, if you have any other queries, please contact translation@french-linguistics.co.uk.
Usually, all documents are sent by e-mail. When you ask for an initial quote, if possible it is recommended that you e-mail the document(s) in question so that an accurate quote can be given straight away. If you're not yet ready to send the document(s), please give a rough indication of the nature of the material and number of pages/words involved.
If you don't have your document in electronic format, the most convenient way of sending the document is usually to scan and e-mail the document in a common format such as JPEG, TIFF etc. If you don't personally have a scanner, many large stationery and office supply stores can provide a document scanning service. In exceptional circumstances, documents may be accepted by fax, but due to the extremely poor quality of fax, this is not usually recommended.
When the translation is ready, it will be sent to you by e-mail. Unless you specify another requirement, the translation will usually be provided in Microsoft Word format. However, other formats can be provided (e.g. OpenOffice, a plain text document, PDF, Excel/CSV etc) as required.
Yes. Please indicate when you make your initial inquiry if you wish to pay by credit card.
The price for a translation will vary depending on the nature of the document and your requirements (such as timescale, languages and format). But as a rough guide based on the pricing for some recent and common types of projects for translation to and from French and Spanish:
Other languages are a little more expensive. For example, translating a letter into Italian will typically cost 80-100 Euros, and into German or Finnish around 150 Euros.
This is an international, web-based service. You can submit a translation from any country. The only restriction is that you must be able to pay by one of the accepted international payment methods (Paypal, credit card or Moneybookers, or wire transfer to a UK bank account).
The French Linguistics translation service works with native speakers of a number of languages, so that many language pairs are possible. The most common demand has been for translations from and into French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, Russian and Finnish, but other languages are available.
Note that discounts are also available if you contract more than one language.
A key advantage of the French Linguistics translation service is that it's being run by a genuine language expert. This is not a call centre sitting on top of a "translation sweatshop". Although I work in collaboration with other translators, I personally have an input on every job, carefully selecting the right collaborators for your particular project and continually reviewing their work. Many agencies simply won't provide this level of attention to your text and essentially treat translation like a package delivery service.
In principle, texts on practically any theme can be translated. Again, the easiest thing to do is to send your document and ask. Just very occasionally, a job may be declined because the right translators or consultants are not available within your desired timescale, but in practice this is rare.
There's no minimum as such, but the truth is that very short translations may not be cost-effective. On the other hand, within reason, a job consisting of various short files can usually be quoted for as though it were one large file. Send an e-mail to the above address for more details.
Occasionally, depending on the project. For more details, send an e-mail to the above address.
When you make your initial enquiry, a proposed timescale will be given along with the quote. Typically, you should allow at least one day per 2,000 words. Sometimes, a longer timescale will be proposed (e.g. for texts for publication, an extra review process will normally be proposed).
If you need your translation to be ready within a shorter timescale, please state this in your initial enquiry. If necessary, the work can be split between several translators to get it completed by your deadline. (Note that an additional proofreading stage would then generally be proposed to ensure consistency.)
Yes, the service is fully available over weekends, although the rate will sometimes be slightly higher.
Yes. If you have a large translation job and would like to see example translations or a list of reference publishers before going ahead with translation, please send an enquiry to the address above. Please indicate the type of material that you need translated: if possible, a sample translation in a similar field will then be provided.
Potentially, depending on your country and exact requirements. However, it should be noted that there's no single definition of "certified", and different organisations in different countries understand this term to mean something different. So you should find out from the organisation in question what their exact requirements are.