General

How long does it take you to answer your e-mail?

During office hours, all e-mail is answered within one hour.

Why can other agencies deliver cheaper?

If we carry out the translation ourselves, this is because wages in Europe are simply higher than in Japan or China, or because contrary to many well-meaning amateurs, we regard translation as more than just an interesting job on the side.

If we outsource the translation, this is because we are one of the very few agencies that check word by word whether the translation done in Japan/China is correct (yes, even Asian translators make mistakes)!

A 100,000 word manual cannot be translated within 3 days

This actually happens more often than you think, and the numbers are not made up. Translating requires more thinking than writing. After all, when writing there's only a creative process involved, and no conversion process. So the first thing you should ask yourself is this: how long did it actually take me to write this manual? Chances are translating it will take just as much time.

Here's another perspective. Google tells you the average translator can only translate 2,000 words per day. To translate the above manual in three days, we need to reserve two days for translation and one day for proofreading. That leaves two days for 100,000 words, i.e. 50,000 words per day. To translate 50,000 words on one day, you need no less than 50,000 words / 2,000 words per day per translator = 25 translators.

Try to imagine what happens if 25 people start writing your manual simultaneously. No management tool is going to help you with this. The result would be a disaster, with 25 different writing styles. The same applies to translation.

Note that the proofreading on the third day merely means checking grammar and spelling. To actually unify the 25 different styles, you need one extra person (not more, as that would result in multiple styles). It will take at least 3 extra working days to have one person unify 100.000 words. When you need this 'unifier' to start working to make your deadline, the translators haven't even started yet. At that moment, there simply is nothing to proofread.

So the above is technically impossible. Any agency that says they can cater to your needs anyway and deliver a good translation, is lying. But of course, there are plenty of shady businesses that will tell you otherwise.

However, that doesn't solve your problem, does it? How do you prevent ever getting into a situation like this? Well, you can try to plan things in advance, for example by feeding translators pieces of text as soon as they become available (the above-mentioned manual surely wasn't written in 3 days)! Even if some of these pieces change later on, CAT tools should be able to tell translators exactly what changed where, so that you'll never pay twice for the very same sentence.

Make sure that documents are received on time

Translators and translating agencies have more than one customer: therefore translations must always be carefully planned. If you are unable to provide the document on the agreed date, this is a lost day for both the translator and for you: if the translator has scheduled other translations, it may even occur that one day delay in the delivery could result in several days delay in the translation being completed.

Try to prevent additions

The more additions you present to us during the translation (one sentence here, another sentence there), the bigger the chance will be that a specific addition will not end up in the right place. Every addition means that the translator has to update the text, the word count, the invoice and the administration. So please, take into account that the translator always has the right to charge a minimum rate for every individual assignment. This does not mean that this will always happen, but it can!

If possible, provide text electronically

An electronic text can easily be processed and sent. E-mail is faster and handier than the fax or sending documents by mail.

Ensure high-quality, unequivocal source text

We would prefer a good text in Dutch than a bad text in English. Unfortunately, it all too often happens that customers try to write English texts themselves: often resulting in incomprehensible or unequivocal source texts. The same quality principle applies in this respect: you get what you deliver. A good source text is cost-saving for us. By definition, poor source texts can never be processed by our translating software. As a result, you will not be able to benefit from attractive discounts.

Probably superfluous, but articles, names and numbers are also charged

Otherwise we would have to leave them out. Word rates are based on an average text: the translator has had bad luck if the text is extremely difficult. If the text is easy, the customer will lose out. Regrettably, it would be impossible for us to start charging separate rates for articles and numbers: in that case, we would first have to separate the numbers from the normal text. The time this would take would definitely not outweigh the small cost-reduction this could realise for you. If you want to avoid tables with numbers, names and such being charged, you can omit them from the source text.

If possible, provide us with source text in advance for inspection purposes

In some cases it is impossible for us to give hard guarantees for deadlines or costs, at least, this can not be done before that specific project is started. Here one can think of e.g. editing activities. It is impossible to determine how many faults a source text will contain before one has actually started editing a text.

On the other hand, misunderstandings can be caused about the level of difficulty of a text. With the more exotic languages (e.g. Japanese) a completely different concept of 'difficult' applies than with translations to less exotic languages such as English. In this context, we mean that a text with a high level of difficulty will not necessarily be difficult to translate. The reverse is also true: a source text which looks very easy could in fact be very difficult to translate. This is due to the fact that a Japanese translator is faced with entirely different language-related problems than, for example, a German or French translator.

An example? Take a text which contains a lot of names of famous people, e.g. a history book. An English translator will be in luck here: apart from possibly the names of some kings, practically every name can be copied from the source text. On the other hand, it will take a Japanese translator a lot of time to translate these names. In Japanese, all names first have to be phonetised for which there is no standard. Therefore, every name will have to be looked up in the dictionary. A name such as Charles the Great can cause a lot of problems: this name can be translated in three ways (Charles V, Carlos V and Karl V)! Which Charles are we talking about? The translator will now have to reach for the history books. This example is somewhat simplified, but hopefully illustrative.

Always ask for a quotation

Because prices can always be subject to change.

Consider having your text checked by a second translator

You can rest assured that our translators will do their best to make a perfect translation of your document(s). However, please don't forget that translators are only human. And humans can make mistakes. If your document requires extra care, we can have your document checked by a second translator at an additional charge.

Feedback is always appreciated

It is advisable to have the final translation checked by one of your contacts from the relevant target market. This will give you extra certainty. Suggestions which could contribute to a higher quality translation are always and will remain to be welcome. But please, try to make a distinction between grammatical improvements and 'improvements' in the style of writing. Give a text to ten translators and you will get ten different translations. Every translator has his/her own style of writing. If so desired, clients can commission a small test translation to determine whether a specific style of writing fits with their company style. The costs are minimal and it can definitely prevent disappointment.

Localization and TMAs

What is a TMA?

TMA stands for Translation Memory Archive. In effect, this is software which remembers everything the translator has ever translated. If the TMA encounters a sentence which bears a lot of resemblance to a previously translated sentence, a so-called match will be generated: the translation of the previously translated sentence will be placed onto the screen. This is cost-saving. If the TMA encounters exactly the same sentence on numerous occasions, this will result in a so-called perfect match: the translator will usually not have to change anything in the translation. Note: usually! Because translations are always dependent on the context of a text.

What are the advantages of a TMA?

TMAs will result in a quicker translation with consistent terminology and sentence structure. Hence, TMAs are extremely suitable for the localisation of software and the translation of manuals.

What are the conditions for using a TMA?

It must be possible for the TMA to process the source text. This usually means that the source text must be available in a common format: rtf, txt, rc, h, etc. Naturally, if texts are provided on hard copy, the TMA cannot be used.

A perfect match is still charged

If the TMA finds a perfect match, the translator will still have to check whether the automatically generated translation fits in the context of the text. This takes time, but not as much time as the translation of the sentence would take. That is why we give 75% discount on perfect matches.

Chinese/Japanese Typesetting

You don't need exotic software to print exotic languages

Because we can supply all text boxes separately and vectored in an EPS-file. These EPS files can subsequently be imported in the image frames of your DTP-programme one by one.

Provide organisation charts for business cards

We are often requested to provide translations of business cards as EPS-files. This is no problem. However, you should realise that the organisational structure of, for example, Japanese or Chinese companies is totally different to the structure of Dutch companies. Japanese companies do not have Export Managers or Scientific Directors. The word Director alone can be translated in different ways in Japanese, depending on the legal entity of your organisation. How to translate the word Manager depends on among other things, the size and structure of your company. That is why we need to know the legal entity of your company/organisation and where your position is found in the organisational structure in order to be able to translate business cards.

Western addresses are never translated into Chinese or Japanese.

Customers often insist on the address on a business card being translated into Japanese. However, a Western address is intended for Western postmen and sorting centres, which do not recognise Chinese or Japanese (please note: Japanese postmen and sorting centres do recognise Japanese addresses transcribed into English). If you insist on the address on your business card being translated 'because it looks so good', you will not only look ridiculous to your business relations, possible correspondence will never reach your business address either. The words 'Tel' and 'Fax' are also generally not translated into Japanese (they are into Chinese). Once again, you can insist on them being translated, but don't be surprised if you are regarded as being highly conservative. Job-descriptions and your name, for example, are transcribed/translated.

We are often provided with 'already translated' business cards that only have to be composed. If your address has already been transcribed on such a business card, you should tackle the person/agency that translated the card for you. Translating/transcribing addresses is quite simply wrong.

Legal Translations

Liability

We only outsource legal translations to translators who specialise in Law. Legal translations require that extra bit of knowledge and scrutiny, because a tiny mistake in a contract could have severe consequences. Although we make every effort to ensure the best possible quality, translators are human and can make mistakes. As such, we would urge you to have the translated contract checked by a lawyer before signing it. In addition, we would advise you to have a second, independent, translator proofread the document at an extra charge, so that you can be sure that the quality is satisfactory. And no matter how convenient it might be to do so, liability for translations can never be completely passed on to the translation agency, unless there is evidence of gross negligence. In short, our advice is to always call in the help of two translators and a lawyer!

Certified Translations

Delivery by mail

Certified translations must always be performed from an original. Therefore, the source text for a certified translation must always be sent by (registered) mail. If you do not think this is safe, you may send us a copy of the original. However, please take into account that if a translation is made from a copy, you will have to submit the certified translation from that copy to the relevant body together with the original. It is always advisable to gain information on the preferred method from the relevant body beforehand.

Hand-written documents

It is not unusual for some passages in the text offered for translation to be hand-written. Regrettably, these hand-written parts are all too often illegible. It is absolutely forbidden for certified translators to give their own interpretation to the source text. So if the hand-written passages contain names, we recommend that these names are supplied separately in capital letters, together with the source text. In this way, it can be prevented that the translation will have to be performed again.

Chinese and Japanese names

If the source text contains Chinese or Japanese names, we advise you to supply the spelling of these names separately in capital letters. This spelling must correspond with the spelling used in the passport of the person in question. If the spelling in the translation does not correspond with the spelling in the passport concerned, the translation will be declared invalid.

Quality Assurance

Hourly rates are applicable to texts translated by non-Akebono translators

By definition, hourly rates are charged for Quality Assurance. No matter how much we would like to provide you with certainty, it is very hard to predict how much time corrections will take beforehand. This is because several influential factors can apply in this process: how will the text be supplied? How must the corrections be performed? How far may we go in correcting the text? What is the quality of the source text? Does our corrector also have to look at the consistency of the text? Should the correction take place in a TMA?

We can however give you a 100% guarantee of the maximum price per word: the price that would be charged if the source text was so bad that everything had to be translated again. The price will never exceed this amount.

We cannot guarantee anything else in advance, though we can make a little 'start' and provide you with an estimate of the time and costs involved in the corrections.