Questions and Answers (FAQ)
Feel free to contact me for any other questions
What formats do you translate?
I accept the most common formats...
Starting with Office and including editing/layout software for text & image files and website templates. In any case, I will let you know at the very beginning of our discussion what my position is regarding the material to be translated. If it is necessary to adjust/correct/substantially modify the final version to match the formatting of the original file, additional fees may apply.
What guarantees of results do you offer?
More than twenty-five years in an international linguistic environment covering marketing, sales, technical, project management, internal and external communication, advertising material, etc.
Should the outcome of the translation, for one reason or another, not be to your complete satisfaction, I ensure a review of the translation on the point(s) raised, until the "deliverable" meets your expectations.
Fortunately, these cases are very, very unusual.
Are your translations systematically proofread by another translator?
No, for a "Standard" translation project, I am the sole pilot and, in addition to the initial translation and then the comparative proofreading between the source and target languages, I obviously perform a final, purely French-style, proofreading to ensure that the French version is correct (language level, grammar, syntax, tense, etc.), consistent and fluent.
Proofreading by another translator is subject to a specific request at a different rate compared to the standard rate. Proofreading can be partial or comprehensive, based on a pre-defined percentage, targeted or not (revision in relation to the source text or proofreading without reference to the source text).
Find out more about Proofreading?
Do you charge by hour, by project package, by the number of words or by the number of characters?
Do you use a translation tool?
In "normal" operation (i.e. standard translation), I charge according to the number of words in the source file (versus the target language).
Transcreation and copywriting projects, by contrast, are usually invoiced on the time spent on the project.
At the start of each transcreation, SEO or copywriting project, I - or the client - usually give/propose an estimate of the number of hours that will be required, with a possible margin for variation, or an overall budget for the whole job.
Once we have agreed the terms, the work begins.
For any specific request, please contact me
What happens if an order is cancelled?
In the event of cancellation of an order already in progress, regardless of the reason, and notified to the Translator in writing, the Client will be invoiced for 100% (one hundred percent) of the work already carried out and 50% (fifty percent) of the work still to be carried out.
Are you mainly a translator of technical documents?
Yes, I use SDL Trados Studio 2021, a leading translation tool that guarantees a very high quality output. Any discrepancies in numbers, proper names, text format, etc. are identified and highlighted. This tool includes a program that continuously compares the source document and the translation in progress, in both its substance and form. This quality assurance tool makes it possible to increase efficiency and spend more time on the more complex points to be translated - and on the formal proofreading phase.
=>This is precisely where the translator's added value is most palpable.
It also happens quite often that a client asks me to work on another software for which they have a licence (usually a cloud version), or even an internal alternative solution. I have no problem with this.
What is localization?
Localisation refers to the adaptation of a message in the target language to fit the audience of a country, culture or region of the world in which the language is spoken. Localisation is more complex than translation because it involves cultural adaptation and requires a thorough knowledge of the local culture.
Did you say: transcreation, copywriting?
Go to the page: From translation to copywriting
With a technical background in industrial logistics and over twenty years' experience in industry and business, I am very comfortable in a variety of technical and international environments.
On the other hand, my initial training in foreign languages, my experience as a language teacher and my language stays abroad make me feel equally at home in more literary and creative fields.
Finally, given my strong penchant for marketing, communications, advertising and writing fields, I am in my element when it comes to transcreation and copywriting projects.
Want something more tangible? Check out my various posts on the Blog page,
or some Examples of copywriting or, why not,
some Samples of translation.
And then Contact me :-)
What company profiles do you work with?
I work indifferently with private and public companies of all sizes of course. French and European as well as from the rest of the world.
How do you calculate the number of words contained in the document to be translated?
The number of words in the source language, i.e. the number of words contained in the original text to be translated, is determined using the statistical count provided by the Microsoft Word software (Tools > Statistics) or, failing that, the statistical report of my translation tool (CAT).
See the section A project?
We are a New Zealand company, are you organized
to work with us?
Yes, of course I adore whitebait!
No, joking aside - although I would give my life for this small New Zealand fry -
I work (and can work) with companies based in France (rather few, actually), in the European Union (many more) and with companies based all over the world, i.e. on the seven continents identified so far ("Okay, not all of them, but mainly three").
I have the organisation, the professional liability insurance and the payment methods that allow me to reach these distant horizons.