Frequently Asked Questions

We have close to 20 years of experience in translating and interpreting.
This means that you can count on us to help you deliver your projects on-time and within budget.

Wir verfügen über 20 Jahre Erfahrung im Bereich Informationstechnologie.
Das bedeutet, dass wir selbst hochspezialisierte Texte wie technische Dokumentationen, Handbücher, White Papers und Patente erstellen, lektorieren und übersetzen können.

If you want people to actually read your text, then you need a human translator. While machines may be able to learn, they are unable to understand. And understanding is the key to a good translation. Only a human translator can truly understand your business, your customers, emotions, contexts, complicated concepts and more and effectively translate them into the target language. If it's important enough to be written by a human, it's important enough to be translated by one.

There's nothing wrong with translating your content internally - as long as you have professional linguists working for you who don't have any other responsibilities. What many companies fail to consider is that understanding or even speaking a foreign language well doesn't automatically translate into the ability to write persuasive copy. Moreover, many employees are already overburdened with their existing duties. Translating websites, marketing brochures, manuals and catalogs becomes something employees are forced to do in their spare time, without compensation. Little wonder so many corporate communications are rendered virtually incomprehensible due to quick-fix machine translations. And even if employees spend hours slaving over a translation, even the smallest grammatical mistakes can call into question the integrity of the company in general. Why waste thousands of euros in lost productivity and business when a basic company website can be professionally translated by a native speaker of the target language for just a few hundred euros?

When you send us a new project for translation, we will contact you to find out the details of the project. What are the language combinations? Who is the intended audience? Where will the translation be published, sent, read? What are the deadlines for the various milestones in the project? Is there supporting material, like a website or an informational brochure? We read through the material to be translated first to gain a general understanding of it. After that, we conduct the necessary research to thoroughly understand it and to clarify any terminology issues that may arise. Then we translate the text, spell-check, proofread and revise as necessary. Once we have delivered the final document, we remain available for final proofs (print or .pdf) or other questions that may arise during the desktop publishing or printing process. Translators and proofreaders are always experienced in the field they translate and are always native speakers of the target language, with a fluent, active command of the source language.

Der Preis für eine Übersetzung wird normalerweise anhand der Normzeilenzahl des Quelldokumentes bestimmt. (Eine Normzeile umfasst 50 Zeichen einschl. Leerzeichen). Manchmal berechnen wir den Translation prices are usually calculated according to the number of standard lines (containing 50 characters including spaces) in the original source document. They are also sometimes calculated based on the number of words. This allows us to quote exact prices before project completion and provides you with a consistent reference framework for better planning.

In Microsoft Word, click on Tools - Extras - Word count. To count the lines divide the number of characters including spaces by 50.

We use professional computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools such as Trados Studio. These tools enable us to save translated material in a database for later use. We can even leverage your existing translated material using an alignment process. Send us your document(s) and we will provide you with a free analysis and proposal.

ISO 17100 is an international standard governing the quality of translation service providers. It outlines best practices and sets norms for human resources, technical equipment and work processes. The standard is not mandatory for translation service providers; customers are free to choose their preferred language service partner and individually define the translation and localization process with that provider. If you are seeking a language service provider that offers services such as translating and proofreading performed by native speakers who are experts in your field of business along with professional project tracking and quality management services, you might want to learn more about the ISO 17100 standard. Contact us for more information. We would be happy to provide you with more information about the ISO 17100 standard, our compliance and how to align the norm with your specific internal business processes.

Localization is the process of transforming the written word, audio, video or software such that it meets the demands of a specific locale. For example, software is localized to meet the demands of different users around the world. The process involves not only translating menus and strings but also converting measurements and dates, changing graphics and interfaces and making any other linguistic, cultural or legal changes necessary to market and use the product in a foreign country. Documentation, marketing collateral and multimedia content may all need to be localized at some point.

Globalization describes the concept of rendering a concept, brand, document, product or company in such a way that it can be presented locally. Corporations are globalizing to incorporate diverse companies, brands and information under a single, unified umbrella. Cornillie Consulting offers expert advice on how to approach the topic of globalization with regard to branding, multi-lingual content management and terminology management.

Internationalization describes the method by which content and services are prepared in order to address a broad, international audience. It involves the use of controlled language, internationally appealing graphics and color schemes and international support networks. Companies are internationalizing their content, documentation, support infrastructure, brands and marketing collateral in order to offer these services to a variety of customers throughout the world without having to invest millions in re-writing and re-translating material for every single market they target.

There is some debate about which version of English is best suited to target an international audience. The question you must ask yourself is: "Who is my target audience?" While there is no single solution to this issue, we do have a few recommendations for you: 1) If you are addressing a specific market, like Great Britain, Canada or Australia, adapt the language to that locale. This is especially important if you want to promote the benefits of being close to potential customers, for example with products adapted to their specific needs or with offices in their area. 2) If you are addressing a broad market, like all of Europe or the world, consider using clear, concise English with British spelling conventions as outlined in the Oxford Dictionary of the English Language. 3) For IT companies, we recommend using American English. Remember, no matter which style of English you choose, Cornillie Consulting has native speakers and freelance partners from Great Britain, North America, Australia and South Africa to help.