Frequently Asked Questions About Translations

What services do you provide?

We specialize in written translation. We do not do subtitling or interpretation. We offer graphic design and desktop publishing services.

What are certified and apostille (Hague Convention) translations?

For official use in Portugal, translations must be certified by a notary public, lawyer or chamber of commerce. For use abroad, they also require an additional legalisation (apostille) from the Attorney General’s Office.

What languages do you translate?

We translate from and into Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Flemish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovakian, Spanish, Swedish and Ukrainian. We can also translate other languages through our international partners.

How long does it take to prepare a quotation?

Except for very complex jobs, a quotation is delivered in less than two hours. If you do not receive one within this timeframe, please contact us, as your request may have gone missing. For our prompt payment special prices, a quotation is supplied immediately.

How long does the translation take?

Excluding the day of the order, a moderately technical report of 5 pages takes one day. For larger jobs, we employ several translators simultaneously to ensure delivery by the required deadline.

What does the cost of a translation depend on?

Naturally, it depends on volume, as well as the complexity of the text and the delivery time.

How many translators and revisers do you have?

We have 7 in-house translators/revisers and a network of around 240 freelancers. We also employ 18 freelance revisers.

What are your main specialisations?

We have translators/revisers in nearly all technical fields: engineering, marketing, finance, law, medicine, etc. If you have a text in a more specialised field, contact us and we can always find the right translator for your translation.

What computer tools do you use?

We use Microsoft Office, Open Office, Trados, Wordfast, Adobe Acrobat Professional, the various Adobe applications, CAD, etc.

How do you manage to offer such competitive prices?

Our prices are lower than those charged by companies offering a similar level of service for the following reasons:

• We only use native-speaker translators
• Translations are revised by different native-speaker translators/revisers.
• Our prices are lower than those offered by companies that offer a lower level of service:
• They do not employ exclusively native-speaker translators
• Or revisions are not performed by native-speaker or different revisers
• Or they do not have our resources.
• Only individual translators with very limited support and consultation resources, and who are rarely native speakers, can offer prices lower than ours.

Why can you offer these prices?

• Strict cost control
• Intensive use of Computer-Aided Translation (CAT) tools
• Continuous Improvement System (Kaizen) which encourages individual and organizational development, increases quality, reduces the error rate and raises productivity.
• Management with symbolic remuneration (ex-senior management of large companies)
• Total reinvestment of profits (quality and growth strategy)

What different types of translation do you offer?

• Regular Translation (equivalent to level C under standard EN 15038:2006), including translation and revision by native-speaker specialists in the target language. This service is ideal for internal and official use, tender bids and similar such documents. All the translators and proofreaders are native speakers of the target language and specialists in their respective fields. This service is available on two deadlines:

1. Standard Delivery provides the best quality at the most competitive price. This is perfect for customers with a comfortable time margin for the completion of projects or bids.
2. Urgent Delivery completes the job on a tighter deadline, using more human resources to guarantee the same quality in less time. This is suited to clients working to very tight deadlines and who need top quality work in the shortest time possible.

• Premium Translation (equivalent to level D under standard EN 15038:2006) includes a special further review in addition to our regular services, to ensure that the final translation is word perfect for its context and purpose. This service is ideal for articles and books destined for publication, exclusive brochures, websites and similar such material. Due to the complexity of this task, we only offer one delivery timeframe. However, this is flexible and open to negotiation.

How is the whole translation service processed?

New customers often make an exploratory contact. They then send the text to be translated for an initial quotation. The text may be sent by e-mail, through the inquiry form on our site, by FTP, virtual FTP, by fax or by post.

A quotation is then prepared which details the quality, price and deadline. The deadline is flexible, depending on the number of translators allocated to the project. For urgent jobs that involve large amounts of resources and/or extraordinary work, a surcharge of between 10% and 25% may be added to the price. The quotation is usually sent by e-mail within two hours.

When the job is confirmed, the customer is asked to provide the telephone number of the text’s author so that any potential doubts can be clarified, and the translation process begins.

The translation, once completed and revised, is sent to the customer by e-mail or another of the aforementioned means, if preferred. We only consider the translation concluded once the customer is completely satisfied. Certified translations are sent by registered mail or courier.

The invoice is issued within five days, with payment  due after 30 days.