Hello Everyone,

I guess this question would be directed toward those of you who translate docs i.e. websites etc.

I have a potential client, he is a lawyer, he is German and works in NY in his own small two atty firm, I believe. I contacted him and offered my services and he asked me to give him a quote how much I would charge to translate their website from German to English, for starters.
I'm not quite done with the quote and this is my first translation project, at least of that size but I'm torn about the whole thing.
I'm using 3 different online translation programs to speed up the process. I'm translating the home page for free to see it the wording would work for him. But there are a couple of very business specific phrases that I can't make sound like anything that makes sense in English.
Do any of you translators come across this dilemma sometimes, or do you always have a 100% translation for everything? I don't want to give up on this, or loose the client for other work, but I don't want to look like a looser either.
Any suggestions? Is this normal?
Thanks

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Tanja

Have you tried Systran? Or do you know someone that speaks German?

I'm afraid I'm not much help. I thought of Systran because I have this software because I am a member of an online holistic GERMAN cat group, but I know NO German. I do have a couple members on another English-speaking holistic cat group that help with the meanings of phrases that Systran doesn't quite get right.

Just thought I'd toss this out there. Sorry I'm not much help... <sigh>

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Jules, SunRise Virtual Solutions - WordPress Customization & XHTML/CSS Web Sites

Thanks Jules, I am a native German, but some of this legal/business written stuff is even hard to decipher when you're a native. At least to me. I guess I'm too used to speaking regular German and not business German anymore, since I've lived in the US for 18 years.
But thanks for your response anyway. Have a great day !

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Tanja

I'm currently translating a website from English to French (you really can't translate word for word so as long as you get the main idea of the sentence it should work). It's a very difficult job and I'll have someone look at my work after to make sure it makes sense. My spelling in French is not always good so I need some help with that. Translators don’t usually work very well and has wrong sentence structures a lot of the times but it gives a good base and speeds up the process.

Good luck!

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Genevieve Lachance
VA Simple Services

Hi Tanja
I am a Swiss National, also offering German - English translations. I'd be happy to read it, if it's just a couple of phrases... Let me know
Sarah

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Simplicity Admin Solutions

Ladies, thank you for your support. I think we got it done as best as possible, where it makes sense. I will turn it in today, as a freebie to him with my quote and we'll see what happens. Hopefully the more I do, the easier the process will get. I agree, the online translation site do help some and definately speed up the process. I'm just glad to hear that I'm not the only one that has to get past the obstacle when it comes to big texts. We'll see what he thinks. I'll let you all know.
Thanks for everyones time. Have a great day.

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Tanja

Well, I just needed to get my good news off my chest. I GOT THE JOB FOR THE WEBSITE TRANSLATION!!!! And he signed my contract and sent me 50% of the fee upfront, as requested !! I was a little worried about him agreeing to sign the contract, because after all he is an attorney, but they did and didn't question my price, which was another thing I worried about. But I refused to cut myself short and knew that it would be time consuming. I also downloaded a business language English/German/English dictonary, which was $200 but I have to just look at that as the investment it is. Plus I got my business license the other day AND opened a business bank account where my first big pay check goes into TODAY !!!!!!
Thanks everyone for your support !!

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Tanja

If you need any help let me know Tanya, since I live in Germany (although an American) if I can't help you I can always ask my German husband for advice!