World Translations Ltd
118 Piccadilly
London | W1J 7NW | United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)20 7189 8375 | T: +44 (0)20 7569 6754
F: +44 (0)20 7748 0988

Services

Member of the London Chamber of Commerce

Translation

World Translations is a front-line Language Services provider for the twenty-first century. Based in London, which is undeniably the multicultural centre of the world, our integrated network of translators, interpreters, localisers and language professionals extends to the four corners of the globe. Our consummate professionalism and ability to provide allow us to stay on top in a competitive market where only accurate, cost effective and high quality services will suffice.

Our first duty is to understand our clients’ needs, and this is possible thanks to our close dynamic partnerships and CRM. Once we have discussed and fully covered all the task requirements, we will provide a tailored solution for even the most demanding language-related projects.

Translation is so much more than words, and buying a translation is often a source of frustration – Will the original message be understood correctly? Will it come out in good quality language? What about the format? Does it matter that I need it in a particular target dialect? How will the translator know who my end audience is? How much will it cost? Can they meet my deadlines? Wouldn’t it be easier to use a machine translation?

World Translations understands all this, which is why when you use us you can rest assured that the translation will be exactly what you need. And the more information you can provide us about the origin, use and destination of your document, the better the end product will be.

It doesn’t matter what format, style or subject matter you need, we handle all types of translation with consummate quality and professionalism. From technical manuals and websites to medical and business patents, legal texts or annual reports, our extensive international network of translators, all highly experienced, enables us to offer translations on any subject in any language combination.

A frequent point raised is the ‘mother tongue question’. If you want your catalogue translated into Spanish and Italian, the work will be done by a native Spanish speaker and a native Italian speaker. Native English-speakers translate from foreign languages into English. This is the only way to guarantee high standard translations, and it is our fundamental policy to only use translators who work into their mother tongue.

Localisation

Localisation is not only the translation of words, but the adapting of every element of a product or service, be it a document, software package or presentation, to the cultural and technical environment of a specific locale. If your product does not meet usability requirements of the target audience and language, then it will quite simply not be used.

It is a very detailed process involving great cultural awareness and technical expertise. Graphics text may need to be extracted, and GUI elements resized or positioned. Currencies, date and time formats and presentation expectations will also differ from country to country.

By using translators trained in these processes, World Translations offers a very high level of localisation services and we are more than happy to discuss general issues or details of a specific project with clients so that we can determine how to supply the best solution available.

DTP & Document formats

We work with documents in hard or soft copy, and with our specialist translation software we can handle a huge range of document formats across various platforms as well as all the major language encodings, including Western European, Nordic, Baltic, Central and Eastern European, Cyrillic, Asian (Double Byte) and Middle Eastern (Bidirectional).

In addition to providing formatting services for traditional publishing and repro, we are able to localise content created through mainstream desktop publishing applications or specialised authoring environments for SGML/HTML/XML with PDF deliverables.

Revising, Editing & Proofreading

Sometimes you may require a previously-translated document to be revised against the original. You may have an article to be proofread, or for extra-stringent quality control you may wish us to translate your document and also have it proofread by an independent party.

Our professional editors and proofreaders are adept at detecting any errors involving figures, misplaced captions or headings, tables of contents, typographical mistakes or misspellings that have been overlooked by spell-check tools, and any other inconsistencies. They will also check the cohesion and style of the document, and compare each part against the original document to ensure that the translation has been rendered accurately. This service is particularly relevant to companies with in-house translators who simply wish to have their finished product checked over.

Back Translation

Back translation is the process of translating a document that has already been translated back to the original language - usually by a different translator to the one who did the initial translation. The original and back translated documents can then be compared in order to compare the quality and accuracy of a translation.

Due to the cost involved, back translation is not overly common, but in high risk/high return situations it is well worth the investment. Anyone wishing to make use of this quality control procedure must however be aware that there is no such thing as a ‘single translation’ of any phrase, and so there will be many correct ways in which the document can be translated and then back-translated. This means that the two resulting documents are very unlikely to be identical, but nevertheless they should retain the same meaning and intent.

Interpreting

Whereas translation deals with written text, interpreting deals with the spoken word.

We offer professional quality interpreting services, covering hundreds of language combinations and dialects. It is important to bear in mind that a meeting involving a Brazilian Portuguese speaker from Latin America may require a different interpreter from a discussion with nationals of peninsular Portugal. We will therefore ensure that your interpreter is experienced in the particular accent and subject matter at hand to guarantee that no information is lost in the transfer.

We provide interpreters to help you with both simultaneous and consecutive interpreting. Whether you require a personal, sentence-by-sentence solution - ideal for small meetings - , or real-time interpreting - through a loop system with no pauses in a larger gathering or conference - , our trained and knowledgeable interpreters are capable of conveying the nuances of the dialogue quickly and accurately.

We supply clients with private, public service, legal, and medical interpreters who can work either remotely with a telephone or internet link, or on-site, at the client’s request.

Subtitling

Subtitling is the display of a textual version of the dialogue in films and television programmes, usually at the bottom of the screen. Whilst the text is often translations of a foreign language, they can also be a written rendering of the dialogue in the same language to help viewers with hearing disabilities.

It is not simply a question of transcribing the dialogue, as reading speed is not as fast as listening speed and so the dialogue will need to be adapted to fit in with the time and screen-space available. Moreover, further background and sound effect information may need to be included.

Our translators have all the very latest subtitling technology at their disposal.

Multilingual voice-overs

Voice-overs (dubbing) is the technique by which a (usually pre-recorded) voice is played in radio, theatre, industrial shows, presentations, television commercials, programmes and animation or films, for example.

We can provide high quality lip-sync dubbing for TV and radio commercials as well as broadcast and industrial narrations or commercial film trailers. Past assignments include voice-overs on documentaries for the Discovery Channel and CNN as well as films and various other programmes across Europe on mainstream TV channels. We also provide narration for numerous industrial and multimedia projects and telephone prompts.

Audio & Video Transcription

World Translations also offers a transcription service with quick turnaround and 100% accuracy. This is available for most languages and in WAP and MP3 files, as well as conventional tapes and CDs.

We also offer transcription into Braille.

Web Translations

When it comes to websites, translation goes so much further than just the words. It is important to know the cultural conventions of the target language to ensure that not only does your website meet local expectations and standards, but that neither does it offend. Certain colours have certain connotations in different countries, and some regions have restrictions on what images are acceptable for public view.

We can translate and localise your website taking into account all of these factors, using our own proprietary software developed for this purpose and ensuring that all these pitfalls are successfully overcome.