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The responses to these frequently asked client questions are intended to give you an overview of translation work in general and our own work in particular.
Please don’t hesitate to contact Ms.
Inge Noeninger with any questions you may have. She will gladly
provide you with solutions that are custom-tailored to your specific
needs. Ms. Inge Noeninger can be reached by e-mail at
info@ntgp-legaltranslations.com or by telephone at
+1-506-529-4880. What is the difference between translation and interpreting? Translation refers to the work of transferring a written text from the source language to the target language in order to make it as understandable as the original. Foreign language skills are a basic requirement for this work, but constitute only one of many qualifications professional translators must possess. In particular, translators need profound expert knowledge and translation expertise for their work. They must be able to produce naturally flowing text that uses the relevant professional terminology while observing the rules of grammar and style and ensuring lexical cohesion, proper syntax as well as the inclusion of local conventions and standards. Interpreting is the verbal transfer of spoken words from one language into another. The industry distinguishes various interpreting methods, such as simultaneous and consecutive interpreting. While German court proceedings use simultaneous interpreting (i.e. almost at the same time as the speaker), consecutive interpreting, in which the interpreter waits for a speaker to complete a paragraph before rendering the meaning in another language, is preferred in business negotiations. How will your company process my order? We promptly respond to every inquiry to answer your questions. Upon request, we will be happy to provide a detailed quote. Once the details of the order, such as the deadline, the required format (e.g., synoptic display for contracts), the desired language (e.g., U.S. or U.K. usage), the use of specific client terminology, and other questions have been clarified, the translation will be processed in accordance with the agreed terms. Ms. Inge Noeninger usually performs client translations in person, but may assign specific texts to other team members, depending on specific fields of expertise. The editor is typically determined at the same time. This is an important step, since the team of translator and editor must “click” well. Upon completion of the work, the translator will perform a thorough review of the text in accordance with defined criteria. Any questions that may have arisen during the translation work are clarified with our in-house terminologist or in consultation with the client. The translator and the editor may also discuss specific questions or refer them to a larger group of linguists to find the best solution. In the next step, an editor reviews the translation in accordance with the second-set-of-eyes principle. The editor has the same qualifications as the translator and carefully compares the translation to the source text, paying special attention to completeness, accuracy, and consistent use of the selected terminology as well as the adequacy of register and style (see also “Quality control - what exactly does it entail?”) After a final review, which is always performed at our office in St. Andrews, we deliver the translation to the client, usually by e-mail. Billing practices for translations vary by country. Germany, Austria and Switzerland base translation pay on standard lines, which consist of 55 characters, including spaces. Belgium and Luxembourg use either standard lines or words, while it is customary to bill translation by the word in France, in the United Kingdom, the U.S. and Canada. Typically, the invoice will be based on the number of standard lines or words in the target text, i.e. the finished translation. When calculating a text volume for a quote, the so-called expansion or contraction factor must be taken into account. For example, a finished translation from English to German may have up to 25% more lines than the English source text. Conversely, the German translation is likely to have a slightly lower word count. Of course, we will be happy to make you a binding offer on the basis of the text to be translated, which ideally should be available as an electronic file. Additional rush charges apply in the case of urgent translations that require us to work outside of regular office hours or over the weekend. Again, we will let you know in advance what charges to expect in your individual case. Can you accept my national currency as payment? Of course! We accept Euro, Swiss Francs, U.S. Dollars and Canadian Dollars as payment. Payments in Euro can be made to our bank account with Frankfurter Volksbank, while Swiss payments may be sent to our Swiss PostFinance account. Invoices within North America are typically payable by check. How fast will you be able to turn my translation around? That depends on a number of factors and most importantly, of course, on the length of your text. Thanks to team agreements with trusted colleagues, we are in a position to process even larger rush orders in professional quality within a reasonable turnaround time. If you are located in Europe, you can use the time difference (CET minus 5 / UTC minus 4 hours) to your advantage for shorter translation projects. Orders not exceeding 5 standard pages, which are sent to us at office-closing time in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, or the UK can be completed here on the same day, depending on available capacities, and are back on your desk when you come to work the next morning. Quality control – what exactly does it entail? The first level of quality control consists of a systematic editing process the translator completes on his or her own. It is essential to check whether all meaning was correctly transferred and whether the text contains any omissions or errors. All requirements defined for the order must also be met. However, the most important element of quality control lies in the second-set-of-eyes principle we have been practicing for years. The editor of the completed translation carefully compares the translation with the original text to verify that it
The editor must be an equally qualified professional translator. In most cases, Ms. Inge Noeninger will complete the translation and ask a colleague to edit; in select cases, she will also edit translations prepared by others. This depends on the team constellation for the respective order. All client requirements for a specific delivery, such as American or British English, use of pre-reform German spelling, defined terminology, etc. are taken into consideration during the translation process. The editor will verify that these requirements have been observed. In contrast to previous versions, the new European standard for Translation Services, DIN EN 15038 (August 2006), specifies that translations must be reviewed by a second qualified person in addition to the translator: the second-set-of-eyes principle. The Standard Guide for Quality Assurance in Translation (ASTM), which was revised and published in June 2006 under the designation F 2575 – 06, is also essential for our profession. Our office complies with both of the above-listed standards wherever applicable. What is the “native speaker principle”? As a general rule, translators should translate into their native language to ensure optimal translation quality from an idiomatic perspective. However, our experience has shown in exceptional cases involving specific types of text that it can be more important for a translator to have native mastery in the source language. Naturally, a native speaker has a much better understanding of complex syntax structures in the source language. Example: A legal opinion written in German is to be translated into English. A native German speaker, who of course must have near-native idiomatic and professional command of English, is ideally suited for this assignment, since he or she will be better able to correctly interpret the deeper meaning of the source language and to establish the appropriate logical connections. In such a case, the translation would need to be edited by a native English speaker to improve its intuitive flow and to round off the translation in linguistic terms. How can you guarantee accuracy in terminology? We continually update our terminology and dictionary resources. Our office in St. Andrews has a sizeable professional library, to which we keep adding new publications about various fields of law from the legal systems we serve. Handouts from seminars attended or notes from these events are also an important part of our reference collection. In addition to this, we subscribe to professional legal journals, such as NJW or Anwaltsrevue. The collection also includes the regular publications “bfai Recht & Steuern International” by the German Office for Foreign Trade (Bundesagentur für Aussenwirtschaft), which discusses legislative developments from around the world. Our terminologist uses these resources to assist the individual teams with specific research questions and terminology management. One important component of terminology management consists of the creation and electronic administration of client-specific and project-specific glossaries. How do you keep your professional knowledge up to date? Following the principle of lifelong learning, Ms. Inge Noeninger as a professional translator and Mr. Peter Noeninger as a terminologist make it a point to regularly take part in professional seminars. These seminars give us an opportunity to deepen and update our knowledge. For Ms. Inge Noeninger, this primarily includes new developments in law, linguistic details, or advanced techniques in translation review, while Mr. Peter Noeninger has been pursuing the further development of his tools, new and updated software, new research techniques, and terminology management. We keep adding new publications about various fields of law from the legal systems we serve to our office library in St. Andrews. We are regular readers of the publications put out by our professional associations in Germany, Switzerland, France, the U.S., and Canada as well as various specialized journals for legal professionals. How do you address confidentiality concerns? We expressly guarantee the confidential handling of your documents and other supplied information. This guarantee extends to both partners of Noeninger Translations G.P., Inge Noeninger and Peter Noeninger, as well as to all freelance team members. We will be happy to issue a written declaration to personally guarantee the confidential handling of all procedures entrusted to us. Ms. Inge Noeninger and all professional translators she works with are members of at least one professional association. As part of our membership in these associations, we are obligated to keep all client documents and information strictly confidential. Furthermore, we have been working for legal firms and legal departments of international corporations for many years. As a consequence, the strict non-disclosure obligations of all associated procedures have become “second nature” to us. This also applies to the colleagues on our teams. Our clientele includes renowned legal firms and legal departments of international corporations in Europe, primarily in Germany, Switzerland and France, but also in the U.S. and Canada. As you will certainly appreciate as a legal professional, it would violate our non-disclosure obligations to publish a list with specific examples of documents and translation projects entrusted to us over the years. We will gladly provide you with multiple references upon request. The ladies and gentlemen listed as our references will be able to give you specific details about our work methods and their satisfaction with our services, based on specific examples. The full name of our historic little town is St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, which is located in the Canadian Province of New Brunswick (Atlantic Canada), on the shores of the Bay of Fundy. Loyalists who had fled over the St. Croix River first settled in the town in 1783. This river now forms the border between the USA (Maine) and Canada (New Brunswick).
The picturesque beauty of the town itself, its location directly by the sea, and the gorgeous landscape around it attract numerous visitors in the summer, particularly from the neighboring United States, but also from Europe.
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