A lot of people seem to think that translating just involves entering a few words in Google Translate. Translating however involves a lot more than putting a word in a different language. In a proper translation the idea behind the original source text is transferred to a text which can be understood by another culture.
Let me give you a practical example. When a US citizen transfers money to another bank account, the system will often show a confirmation like “Amount successfully transferred”. The Dutch “Het bedrag is succesvol overgemaakt” seems a proper translation, right? It is at first sight since it is the exact translation of the English source text. For the down to earth Dutch people however the word successful is superfluous. Dutch people expect the transfer to be successful, otherwise the system would prompt a different message. Hence “Het bedrag is overgemaakt.” would be a better translation. This is just one example but I could mention many other cases where it becomes clear that translating involves a lot more than randomly transferring a few words to another language.
Below you see 3 links where you will find more information about the translation services that Kattenoog Producties offers three translation services: translations, post-edits of machine translations and proofreading. In the sections below you will find more details about the service itself and the estimated rates. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with me.
Translations
Kattenoog Producties will be happy to provide you with the following translations:
- From English to Dutch
- From Dutch to English
- From German to Dutch
- From Dutch to German
I specialize in:
- Marketing texts
- Texts about travel and tourism
- Video games and video game related content
- Product descriptions and manuals
- ICT
- General medical texts
In the translation industry it is common to charge clients based on the number of words in the source text and Kattenoog Producties is no exception to that rule. My rates may vary per text, however on average you may expect an invoice total of approximately € 85,00 for a translation of 1000 source words. The exact price depends on the requested date of delivery and the subject of the text.
Post-edits of machine translations
In the translation industry it is very common to have a translator post-edit a machine translation. This means that a software program has done most of the work and it’s up to the translator to finetune the translation. Although I’m not a huge fan of the whole concept, I do accept requests for post-edits, provided a proper software program has done the groundwork. Depending on the subject of the text, the software used and the deadline, I will charge approximately 50% of the amount that I would normally charge for a real translation. As such, a post-edit of 1000 source words will cost about € 42,50.
Proofreading
Imagine this: you just collected your flyers from the printer. You meet a friend and in a spurt of enthusiasm you show your flyer. After a few seconds however your friend discovers a spelling mistake that you missed as a result of the short deadline. Such a shame and unnecessary as well. If you had someone (me for example) proofread your text, none of this would have happened.
When proofreading I look at more than just these ordinary spelling mistakes. I also check the readability and, if necessary, I will also recommend changes to improve the readability of your texts. For websites I makes sure that the texts contain words that are often used in searches. This is called SEO compatible (Search Engine Optimization), in other words, make the best possible use of the search engine's capacity.
Proofreading is also charged per word and you may assume that I will charge about a third of the amount that I would normally charge for a translation. In other words, proofreading 1000 words will cost you approximately € 28,00, depending on the subject of the text and the required date of delivery.