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First things first: communication is paramount. The more you will tell me about your needs, your business, your style and your objectives, the easier it will be for me to deliver the best possible translation, tailored to your needs and not a standard, formatted (and boring) French version of your carefully written English content.

If this is your first time dealing with the translation process, let me give you some hints and tips so you can find your way around, ask the right questions and, hopefully, answer mine.

First, let me give you a tour of the translation jargon:

• Source: When talking about the source language, this is the language from which I will translate (English for me).
• Target: Don’t shoot the translator! This is the language into which I will translate (French), but you had already guessed that.
• Deadline: This is the date and time when your translation is to be delivered. Easy, huh?! It needs to be clearly set to avoid any last minute panic attack!
• Wordcount: The exact number of words in the source text is generally used as a basis to estimate the time and cost of a translation.
• CAT tools: They are the translator’s best friends. We use them to create translation memories where segments of text are entered with their corresponding translation. They allow consistency and a faster workflow when the same segments are repeated in different documents, for instance.
• Editing: This is the stage where the translation is reviewed a first time to correct any error, to check any terminology issue or grammatical mistakes.
• Proofreading: A last revision, ideally by a second pair of eyes, to spot any hidden typo, missing punctuation or forgotten word.
• Localisation: Sometimes translation is not enough. Your content needs to be adapted to fit the audience. How so? It can be by converting the  currency or the units used on a website (£ into €, Miles into Kilometres, etc.) or in a more subtle way, by not translating literally a typical saying like « pigs will fly when… », which in French is said as « hens will have teeth when… ». In a word: be smart!
• Transcreation: This is one step further : when your content needs to be fully re-written in French in order to reach your target audience, taking into account its cultural background and references. This is sometimes essential for marketing material, slogans, etc.
• Anything else? Please ask away!

Now, you can help me to help you. By answering those questions, you will help me to give you what you need:

• What kind of material do you need translated? Is it a brochure, a flyer, a whole website, a newsletter?
• What is the subject matter? Tourism, a theme park, sustainable development or environment?
• Who is the audience? Prospective clients, travellers, families or business people?
• What is the volume of the content you need to translate? A few words, a few lines, several pages? I can either give you a quote per word or per project if you need to translate a website, for instance.
• When do you need it? Yesterday? Well, that could be tricky… A reasonable deadline will ensure best possible quality.
• Which file format do you need to translate? This can impact the complexity of the translation process. A PDF file or a Powerpoint presentation won’t be handled the same way as a simple Word file, not to mention .html files.

If you’re not quite sure about some of these, no problem, get in touch!