Frequently Asked Questions
We understand that you may have questions about
our services, and we’re here to help.
Translation is a skilled human craft. Becoming a great translator requires years of training and delivering each day requires hours of focus and research. Here is why our rates, while higher than some competitors, are a fantastic value:
- Specialized translators command higher rates. Paying well enables us to work with only experienced, expert translators (fewer than 1 in 20 applicants pass our screening and testing processes).
- Paying a decent wage allows them to give your project the care it deserves, rather than churning through words as fast as possible. Well compensated translators have time to research key terms, and think about nuance.
- Our translation rates include editing by a second skilled linguist, to ensure accuracy, good style, and remove typos.
- Our work is 100% satisfaction guaranteed, so if you have any need for edits for 30 days after submission, we will quickly and professionally adjust the text.
We translate between Arabic, English, and French. If you need service in other languages, we may be able to refer you to someone we trust.
We are 100% hand crafted and human powered (no machine translation or Google Translate!). We start by picking the best linguist from our team to translate your file. The draft is then reviewed for style, accuracy, and formatting by one of our expert editors. We have both native English and Arabic speakers on staff to ensure that the writing flows smoothly in the target language. After that, the document goes to our typesetter for layout if requested before being submitted to you for approval. Please see our full description here.
We recommend budgeting 2,000 words (about 7-8 pages) per business day. This corresponds with the daily output of an average translator on an average difficulty text. That said, we specialize in turning around big jobs fast. How fast? We have translated a 1,000 page document in one week. We are able to move quickly by splitting up the file between many translators, and then using our editorial team to make the document a coherent whole. Extreme rush projects have a quality trade-off because adding many translators introduces stylistic differences that must be resolved in a very short time.
We have a professional Arabic graphic designer on our team who can match the formatting of most documents exactly. We will typically flip the formatting to match Arabic’s right-to-left orientation (or vice versa if translating to English or French). We typically work using Adobe InDesign or Illustrator, but can work from PDFs or any other design file formats you have.
All files we receive from clients and prospective clients are considered fully confidential. All members of our team sign NDAs before having access to any client materials and must agree to our data protection guidelines. We are happy to consider any additional security measures, including but not limited to NDAs, use of encrypted file sharing systems, enhanced InfoSec protocols, or on-site translation service. Please contact us to discuss your needs.
We work with:
- Standard MS Office application (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)
- Google Apps
- Adobe Creative Cloud (PDF, Acrobat, InDesign, Illustrator)
- Photographs and handwritten documents
- Audio materials
- Video materials
- Subtitle files (.srt)
- We use CAT tools subject to project requirement, including Transifex, Trados, etc.
We’re fluent! Our team has extensive experience with PowerPoint and has translated tens of thousands of slides. We train our people specifically on how to adapt the abbreviated style of business English into proper Arabic, and on how to properly adapt slide formats into Arabic.
100% satisfaction is our guarantee. If for whatever reason you are not totally happy with our work, we offer unlimited revisions within a period of 30 days from delivery. We are open to extending this period for longer projects. Our clients rarely ask for revisions because we get it right the first time, but rest assured that we will be available to promptly make any modifications that are requested.
Yes, our volume discounts start at the level of 300,000 words annually and are tailored to your organization’s specific requirements. Please contact us here to discuss. It is helpful to have an idea of:
- Expected job size
- Expected job tempo
- Required turnaround times
Yes. A certified translation means that we affix our company seal on each page of the translated document(s). In addition, we can provide a notarized certificate of accuracy on company letterhead, again with our stamp. This is usually sufficient for U.S. legal purposes, but check with the local laws and courts of your country to confirm.
No, we forbid our team from using Google Translate and similar machine translation tools. We do accept the use of professional dictionaries and CAT tools such as Trados. These do not automatically translate the text, but rather provide expert resources for terms and memory of previous translations a translator has produced. In the right hands, these tools can greatly increase efficiency. In the wrong hands, they can produce sloppy translation. So it’s more of an art than a science.
Yes, well, maybe. We do offer a “pro bono” translation service to support projects with a public service impact. More information is here.
We’re always looking for talented translators to add to our network. To find out more, please visit our employment page here.