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A remark beforehand: for years I have been translating a variety of documents into English or Polish and certifying them in accordance with my official status as a sworn-in translator at Frankfurt am Main District Court. I am not aware of any single case in which a certified translation issued by me would not be […]

Translation agencies, with in-house project managers and translators are, for the most part, only appropriate for large multinational companies requiring their technical documentation or websites to be translated into various languages. The situation is different if you e.g. have a small or medium-sized company or work as a freelancer and need a translation into one […]

As a freelance translator and interpreter, I am responsible for and carry out all orders and only in my three working languages, i.e. English, German and Polish. Should you be looking for a linguist for any other language, I recommend the searching tool of the Federal Association of Translators and Interpreters BDÜ. You are safe […]

When searching for a translation service provider, you will encounter different professional titles. First, you should bear in mind the distinction between a translator and an interpreter (in German “Übersetzer” and “Dolmetscher” respectively). While translators only deal with written texts, interpreters render spoken contents into another language. The fact that neither the translator’s nor the […]

Unlike some other regulated freelance professions in Germany, translators and interpreters are not bound by any particular official fee schedule. A fixed scale of charges would be counter-productive as translation projects can vary greatly in terms of topic, scope and language combination. The only exception is the Law on the Remuneration of Interpreters and Translators […]

As the world’s foremost language English has some special characteristics. It is spoken as a first, second and foreign language in entirely different countries and contains therefore an enormous vocabulary. English spoken in Wales is distinct to the English spoken in California or Kenya. The differences are not only found in pronunciation but also in […]

In Germany it is customary to calculate prices for translation work with the help of standardised lines of text, so-called ‘Normzeilen’ consisting of 55 characters each including blanks. The number of characters in a source text (original text) or in a target text (translation) can be used as the basis for price calculation. In case […]

Professional qualifications acquired abroad are assessed by means of particular procedure, before they can be deemed equivalent to professions protected by German law. Such procedures take place on the Bundesland level and are therefore conducted by various authorities depending on the region. For instance, in the State of Hesse it is staatliche Schulämter (State Education […]

Translation companies with highest standards of professionalism, the industry’s ‘big players’, often on their websites refer to ISO certifications or their own quality management procedures which in most cases include the ‘two-man rule’. The phrase «we only work with native speakers» is rarely found on these renowned agencies’ websites, while it almost dominates those of […]

Certified translations are usually issued as a hardcopy and physically signed and sealed by a sworn translator. However, the qualified electronic signature has been a legally valid alternative to the “classic” certification on paper for some time now. The digital certification is becoming more and more popular. According to EU Regulation 910/2014 (eIDAS), the qualified […]