FAQs
Justification wants to demystify the translation process as much as possible. Here are some of the questions we’ve been asked over the years. Feel free to email me your own.
What is translation?
Translation is spending up to an hour searching for a single word. Translation is calling up an architect friend to understand an obscure building term. Translation is joining an online knitting forum to pick up the lingo. Any of which might be done in French, Chinese or any other language.
Translation is thoughtful, painstaking, fascinating. It can even be frustrating at times when that perfect word is just out of mental reach. But immensely satisfying when you finally pluck it from your mind and place it seamlessly in your sentence.
Translation is so many things – most of which a computer cannot experience – to make sure every nuance, message and specific reference is carried over into the target text.
Translation is a craft.
Translation is human.
What languages do you work with?
Albanian, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (American), English (British), English (Canadian), Estonian, Farsi, Finnish, Flemish, French, Gaelic, German, German (Austrian), German (Swiss), Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Macedonian, Malay, Maltese, Moldavian, Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (Continental), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish (Continental), Spanish (Latin American), Swahili, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Welsh, Zulu…
What assurances do I have that your translation is accurate?
Plenty! Justification works with professional, experienced and often accredited translators; a translator will work through each text at least twice and sometimes more to get things right; typically translations are reviewed by a second person; a third pair of eyes will check the document as a final QA check before delivery.
Just some of the assurances Justification provides to make sure you are happy with the result.
Can’t I just use Google Translate?
Google Translate and other machine translation software are designed to translate strings of words for basic meaning. Context, situation, nuance, register and other essential parts of discourse are pretty much overlooked when a machine translates.
Would I trust it to help me order a beer in Mexico? Sí, sí.
Would I trust it to put your sales presentation into Russian? That’s a hard nyet.
What happens if I’m not 100% satisfied?
Please tell us. We do our utmost to deliver excellent work. However, translation is by nature subjective. Of course, human error can happen and we will hold our hands up if that is the case. In some instances, it may just be a difference of opinion in terms of language or style.
When we send you your translation, that doesn’t mean our relationship is over. We will happily go over your concerns and answer any questions you may have until you are happy.
Are there industries you specialise in?
We have grown organically over the years rather than run sweeping marketing campaigns. This means we have fallen comfortably into certain niches and built up our expertise gradually over years, from tennis to cosmetics to the arts. At the same time, we have a broad network of specialists that can confidently handle an incredible variety of work. The best of both worlds.
What do you do if you are unsure how to translate something?
Translators have many tricks up their sleeves to handle all kinds of challenges a text can throw at them. A translator could also be called a researcher as scouring the web, books and other resources is a large part of the job. Always maintaining confidentiality, translators are known to ask questions on specialised translators sites, online forums and to personal contacts to find a specific word or term or understand a concept. Of course, there are times when the only person who can give a full explanation is you, the client, in which case we will be in touch rather than resort to guesswork.
Further questions?
I’m happy to chat about your needs and answer any questions you may have. Feel free to give me a call anytime Monday to Friday between 9 am and 6 pm.
Alternatively, please fill out the form with as much info as possible and I’ll come back to you quickly.
I look forward to hearing from you.
T : +44 (0)203 239 9453
M : +44 (0)7841 655 453
E : justin@justification.uk.com
