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Contents
Why use London Translations as opposed to engaging
freelancers?
Why can't a bilingual staff member translate our documents?
Which languages do you work in?
How much do translations cost?
Do I have to pay Value Added Tax (VAT)?
How long do translations take?
How can I get a quote for my translation project?
What about confidentiality?
How can I maximise the benefits and minimise the
costs of translation and interpreting assignments?
How can I get my translation 'certified'?
How do I pay?
Why use London Translations as opposed to engaging
freelancers?
There are many advantages of placing work with London Translations
as opposed engaging freelance translators. These include;
Time savings: We invest a great deal of time and effort
in locating, selecting and qualifying language specialists covering
many areas - which means that you don't have to.
Risk reduction: Engaging freelancers directly can be risky.
If they become ill or let you down by missing deadlines or providing
poor quality work, who will you turn to? London Translations staff
have been in the language business for over a decade and are well
connected within the language community. We have the contacts and
experience to deal with most eventualities and will go the extra
mile to help you.
Expertise: Rather than just act as a broker between you
and individual translators, London Translators add value by advising
you on how to get the best results. For instance, we can advise
on the form of words or dialect which will be most appropriate for
your target audience. We can also help with technical issues such
as multilingual fonts and printing issues.
Single point of contact: Your named London Translations
Project Manager provides a
single point of contact for your entire languages assignment which
means that you don't need to worry about co-ordinating the activities
of translators.
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When a business translates an important document, they are literally
at the mercy of their translator. You may be fortunate and have a
member of staff who is gifted linguistically in both languages and
has the required writing, editing, and proof-reading skills. If so
then you don't need a to hire a professional from London Translations.
Before making this judgement call however, here's a good test to determine
if your employee is up to the task. First, they must be native speakers
of the language into which they are translating. Second, have them
write a marketing piece or business letter in English. If they can
pass these two tests, they will probably suffice. Remember, a poorly
translated document can mean the difference between an international
success and a complete failure.
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Which languages do you work in?
We cover all of the most commonly used business
languages in addition to some of the more unusual ones. We specialise
translating languages from Far East Asian and emerging East European
markets.
Remember, when requesting a translation, it is important to specify
the country or ethnic group you plan to use the document for. There
are, for example, significant differences in the Spanish spoken in
Mexico, Central America, South America, and Europe. There are also
differences between Canadian and European French, as well Brazilian
and Continental Portuguese. If you are unsure of exactly what you
need, don't worry, we are here to help you.
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How much do translations cost?
Translations are priced according to;
- Number of words/characters in the source document
- Class of translation
- Deadline
- Format of the source document
- Format of the finished document
- Language pairs to be translated
- Complexity and level of specialist knowledge required
Please see our translation price
guide for more details.
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Do I have to pay Value Added Tax (VAT)?
You only have to pay VAT if you are in the UK or outside of the European
Union or Europe itself. If you are in the European Union, you do not
have to pay VAT unless your order is over a certain amount which varies
depending upon which country you are in. Please call us for specific
details.
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How long do translations take?
The time required to complete your translation assignment depends
upon the language pair(s), the length and difficulty of the text and
the availability of particular translators. As a rough guide, it takes
around 2 days to translate documents up to 3,000 words (around 7 to
8 pages) into any of the major commercial languages. Longer documents
take proportionally more time to translate. If your work requires
desktop publishing and camera-ready output, that work will take extra
time. If your need is more urgent, however, we can compress these
timescales using a number of techniques such as out of hours working
and dividing the project up between individual translators.
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How can I get a quote for my translation project?
The quickest and easiest way to get a quote for budgetary purposes
is to use our FREE Quick Quote system.
By answering a few simple questions you will be provided with a quote
in seconds. Before we can give you a firm quote, we'll need to see
at least a representative sample of your document. Please email a
copy of your document to info@london-translations.co.uk or call us
on +44 (0)207 021 0888. If you'd prefer that we call you, we'll happily
oblige, please use our FREE CALLBACK feature.
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Confidentiality
All our employees and contractors must sign a confidential disclosure
agreement before they can do any work for us. They understand that
any document handled by our company is subject to this non-disclosure
agreement and that they must maintain the confidentiality of all work
received through us. For more than a decade we have been entrusted
with confidential material on a daily basis, and there has never been
an incident of misuse.
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How can I maximise the benefits and minimise the
costs of translation and interpreting assessments?
The most important factor when commissioning a translation or interpreting
assignment is to be clear what of exactly what you want. If you have
never been involved in a translation project before, don't worry,
we are here to help. The list below covers some of the things you
may want to consider;
Subject matter: Is the material of a highly specialised
nature? If, for example, your document was written by a doctor and
contains highly specialised medical terms then we will place it
with a translator who is a specialist in that field. By contrast,
if you simply need a personal or business letter translating then
we will be able to place your work with a more general (and probably
cheaper) translator.
Number of words: The number of words (or characters in the
case of some Asian languages) will affect time, and hence the cost,
of your translation.
Unlike some companies, London Translations never quote based
on the number of words/characters in the target (or 'finished')
document and are suspicious of those who do. Why would you want
to give your supplier an incentive to produce 'sloppy', overly long
winded text?
If your document is in Microsoft Word format, you can find out
how many words your document contains very easily. Simply go to
the "File" menu and select the "Properties"
option and check the "Statistics" tab. Word automatically
counts the words as shown in the example below.
If your document is not in Word format, don't worry, we have tools
which can estimate the number of words in almost any document (even
hand-written ones and websites) quickly and easily.
Target audience: Your target audience will affect the style
adopted by the translator and may dramatically affect the price.
Unlike other agencies, London Translations offer three classes of
translation and interpreting services meaning we can produce work
appropriate to your needs and budget.
Translation Services
Interpreting Services
Deadlines: Tomorrow may be possible, next week may be cheaper.
How urgent is your requirement? We pride ourselves on meeting your
deadlines but it may cost more to meet exceptionally tight deadlines
as we have to divide work up between teams of translators which
adds extra complexity and overhead.
Format of the source document: The format in which you supply
the source document greatly affects the time required to produce
your translation and hence the price. For instance, it is often
quicker and easier for us to work with Word for Windows files than
difficult-to-read hand written documents or faxes. If at all possible,
please try to get a copy of the document in electronic form.
Format of the finished documents: We can supply documents
as standard computer files and regular hard-copy quickly, easily
and therefore at no additional cost. However, if you need your document
to be returned on film or bromide (sometimes required for publication),
we have to charge extra to cover the extra time and materials required.
Similarly, converting the finished document into unusual or multiple
file formats requires extra time and use of specialist software
thus increasing the price.
Language pairs to be translated: The laws of supply and
demand dictate that certain language pairs command a premium over
others. For example, it is not surprising that English to French
is likely to be cheaper than, say, Chinese to English.
London Translations source the most competitive quote from its huge
database of translators on an individual assignment by assignment
basis.
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How can I get my translation 'certified'?
Lawyers often ask that translations of court submissions or other
official documents be certified. London Translations have several
notary publics on its books who are authorised to certify that work
has been performed by a translator skilled in both the source and
target languages. As part of this certification, we provide a short
description of the translator's qualifications and background.
PLEASE NOTE: We do not translate birth, marriage
& divorce certificates or academic diplomas.
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How do I pay for a translation?
We accept cheques and Eurocheques and BACS in Pounds Stirling.
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