The translation process
We work with a pool of 800 professional linguists who translate into their native languages. Most of them live in their home countries and their work reflects the living language of the given country. The linguists are required to have proven knowledge of the subject field; they have studied the subject, worked within the field, or gained several years’ experience producing translations in the field.
Multilingual projects
We are equipped to carry out multilingual projects. In our translations we respect the requirements and characteristics of the target language, the relevant culture or country, and besides simply translating the text, we localise it according to the target country and make it relevant to the target audience. This is only possible with a professional linguist and project manager team, who follow international, European and local political, economic and cultural developments and are able to apply their knowledge to the translations. Depending on the source text, sometimes we also use translators with a professional journalistic, editorial or legal background. We place great emphasis on working with translators who live in their home countries, since we believe that in this way the translators are more connected to the local culture and development of the language, as well as to the political, economic and legal environment.
The work process
During our work process, as part of our quality management strategy, we follow a strict sequence of tasks in order to ensure that the output – the final translated document – is of the required standard and the highest quality. The translation process:
- We always prepare a quote for each project and start the work only upon the client’s confirmation of the offer.
- The translation project is managed by the manager, who prepares a schedule before launching the project.
- The source text is analysed by our quality assurance team (topic, policy and technical fields, level of difficulty, etc.) and the broadest possible range of information on the text concerned is compiled. The project manager selects the background materials and the glossaries and sends these together with the instructions to the translator and the proofreader.
- The translation is always done by a translator who is a native speaker of the target language and who has expertise in the topic of the document to be translated.
- Each translation is proofread by a second translator who is also a native speaker of the target language. The second translator (the proofreader) checks the translation against the source document, corrects all errors if any, and ensures that the translation is fluent and easy to read.
- Following the translation process, we carry out a two-step in-house quality check through our QA team, which consists of:
- terminology review, double-checking of names and organisations
- formatting the translation(s) to reflect the original source document(s)
- content, consistency and coherence check.
If everything is fine, we deliver the final product to our client.
Interpreting
Our interpreters, many of whom are accredited by the EU institutions, are specialists in their professional area. We select our interpreters very carefully, based on predefined criteria such as professional background, experience, and proactive attitude. Since most of our assignments take place at the European Parliament, it is critical that the interpreters we work with have experience in working in the EP. We advise our partners to brief the interpreters or our project manager before each assignment so that we can learn more about the context and the event. We also ask our partners to provide as much background material as possible, as well as glossaries (especially regarding abbreviations or technical terms). In this way we can ensure that the interpreters are really well prepared.