Frequently Asked Questions about our Translators
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about our Translators
This is where you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions on this topic. Don’t hesitate to call us, we are happy to help you personally.
Our translations are only produced by native speakers, i.e. by translators who grew up in the country into whose language they translate. It’s important to us that our translator lives in a country where their native language is spoken. Many translators notice that staying abroad for long periods and spending all day in an environment where a foreign language is spoken has a negative effect on their own language. That’s why living and working in the country of the target language is the best way of ensuring language and terminology in a translation are correct.
Machine translation programs such as Google Translate or DeepL can neither recognise the stylistic intricacies nor take the text’s function and its target audience into account when making word choices influenced by these factors. All of this means you still can’t beat a qualified translator! Translators work with CAT Tools, and while these programs support translators and make their job easier, they cannot replace them.
We take the specific quality requirements of our customers very seriously. Therefore, the relevant quality assurance workflow is comprehensive and tailored to your needs. Thanks to a multi-level quality assurance procedure based on the guideline ISO 17100 and consolidated through extensive internal controls, we regularly exceed customers’ expectations. All this at no extra cost!
A freelance translator is often an individual working alone. In order to offer a good service, they have specialized in a specific language combination, in a specific subject area. So, while an independent translator is a master of their subject, a translation agency covers many language combinations and a lot of subject areas. If you have multiple texts on different subjects in multiple languages, using a translation agency is the right choice.
According to our agency’s figures, translators can translate around 2750 words per day at most. Under the right conditions this is around 340 words an hour for a high quality text. This number decreases when working with a highly complex subject. The factors influencing the number of words a professional can translate vary widely. That’s why we always offer you an individual quote including costs and delivery time.
Literary translators mainly work with literary and technical texts. They work as freelancer translators for publishers or translation agencies like Berlin Translate. Works of literature belong to the artistic domain, so aesthetic aspects play a more central role than they do in more practical texts. From a stylistic perspective, translating literary texts is no mean feat. It requires a great feel for the style of the original text and a first-rate understanding of literature on the translator’s part.
Software localization translators are specialized in the IT sector. They translate texts specifically intended to appear on computer screens and programs. For example, putting user handbooks, online help, menus, program user interfaces into the language of the target market all fall under the scope of a software localizer. Aside from using conventional CAT Tools, they also work with special localization software.
Translators often use these tools:
Word processing programs
Electronic dictionaries Translation memory systems (data banks where translations are saved) Terminology management systems Desktop publishing programs
Word processing programs
Electronic dictionaries Translation memory systems (data banks where translations are saved) Terminology management systems Desktop publishing programs
If your texts fall into a similar category, we will try wherever possible to assign the same translator every time, helping us to guarantee consistent translations. Should your regular translator not be available at any time, we will of course make their translation memory available to the next translator, enabling them to maintain consistency with your original translator’s previous texts.
In terms of training and testing capabilities, the translation industry is not legally protected in Germany or in other European countries. Like authors, anyone can call themselves a translator. However, there are a wide range of training opportunities, up to and including carrying out state-certified training, but these are only available in certain Federal States. At Berlin Translate we only work with professional translators who can demonstrate multiple years of experience.