The cost depends on the length of your text or video (in words or minutes), the complexity of the subject matter or file, your preferred deadline, and the delivery format.

For text translations, I analyse the file in a Computer-Assisted Translation tool to count the total words, including any repetitions. If I have translated texts for you before, it will also check to see if any content can be reused from previous translations. In this case, I can apply a discount based on how similar the content is.

For transcription and subtitling projects, the cost is based on the total minutes and amount of speech. For example, a drama with lots of pauses will be cheaper than a marketing video with constant speech.

Please send me your files and as much information as possible for an accurate quote.

To provide an accurate quote, I need all the source files to judge the subject matter and difficulty of the project. If any changes are made to the files before the quote is confirmed, I will need to make another quote based on the final versions of the files. If you can’t share all the source files, I can only provide an estimate until they are ready. Don’t worry – they’ll be kept confidential.

I also need to know the following:

• What service(s) do you require?

• Do you need UK or US English?

• What delivery format do you require?

• Do you have a deadline?

• Do you have any reference material, like video scripts?

• Who is your target audience?

• Where will the translation be published?

• Do you have any style guides, glossaries or subtitling guidelines I need to follow?

Please contact me here and provide as much information as possible about your project. I will aim to get back to you within one hour during business hours, Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5:30 pm UK time (one hour behind Central European Time). I may have to ask more questions before I can provide an accurate quote.

Yes. I have a minimum charge of one hour’s work, as it can take just as much time to set up and carry out research for a small project of 100 words as it does for a larger project.

I do not charge VAT.

My preferred currency is GBP, but I also accept EUR and USD.

I accept payment by bank transfer and will provide the bank details in the invoice.

For businesses, payment is due 30 days from the invoice date. Any late payments will incur a late fee. For individuals, payment may be required in advance of the project.

By confirming the project and agreeing to the quote, you are committing to pay the agreed fee even if you cancel.

I work Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5:30 pm UK time—that’s one hour behind Central European Time. I don’t usually work during weekends or evenings, as I have lots of other commitments like renovating my Victorian house and playing at gigs with my drumming band Katumba.

I will provide an estimated turnaround time in working days when I send the quote. Please specify any urgent deadlines you may have to see if it’s possible. Once you have confirmed the quote, I will then confirm the delivery date. This may be longer than the estimated turnaround time in the quote depending on how busy I am, but I will always try to meet your preferred deadline.

My productivity depends on the complexity of the subject and how much speech there is in the video, for example. Here are some average workloads per day to give you an idea:

Interlingual subtitling: 20 minutes per day (including self-editing)

Monolingual subtitling: 30 minutes per day (including self-editing)

Translation: 2000 words per day (including self-editing)

I work from French into English and German into English. I am British and so mainly translate into UK English. I only work into US English when the language is neutral (e.g. colloquial US English is not needed).

I only translate and transcribe into my native language, English. It is recommended to only use native-level translators to make sure your translations are natural and idiomatic.

I am a professional, highly qualified translator with over seven years’ experience in the translation industry as a project manager, translator and subtitling tutor at university level. As an affiliate member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, I adhere to a high professional standard by upholding the ITI Code of Conduct. As a full member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, I also adhere to the CIOL Code of Conduct.

I carry out all of the translation, transcription and subtitling work myself.

If you need a service that I do not provide or proofreading by a second linguist, I will always make it clear that the work is being carried out by someone else before the project is confirmed.

I treat all projects as confidential and am happy to sign an NDA. I promise not to share your files or information about your project without your permission. The software I use for my translation and subtitling projects are computer-based and confidential.

I work with a range of document formats, like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, HTML, IDML, JSON, etc. Please send me the editable version of your file and any final files, like PDFs, for reference.

For audiovisual projects, I can work with most video and audio formats, like AVI, MPEG, MOV, WMV, etc.

For text translations, you will receive your translation in the same format as the original file. My translation software replicates the layout and formatting of the original document.

For subtitling projects, I can deliver a range of subtitle files, such as SRT, STL, PAC and VTT, if you wish to turn your subtitles on and off. Alternatively, I can hardcode the subtitles directly onto the video image and return a video in the same format as the original video.

For transcription projects, I deliver a Word file. Let me know if you need any other format.

I can deliver a range of subtitle files supported by my subtitling software EZTitles, such as SRT, STL, PAC and VTT, if you wish to turn your subtitles on and off. Alternatively, I can hardcode the subtitles directly onto the video image and return a video in the same format as the original video for an additional cost. We can discuss the font and presentation of your hardcoded subtitles before the project goes ahead.

I self-edit all my work at least twice. Firstly, I compare my translation with the original text to check for accuracy, and as a final step, I re-read the translation alone to make sure it flows naturally and doesn’t contain any surface errors like typos. Unless you request proofreading by another translator, your quote will not include proofreading by a second person.

It is always good to get the opinion of a second professional linguist. If you require proofreading by another linguist, we can discuss this during the quoting stage. If you choose to proofread the file yourself or a get a native speaker to do it, I am happy to make one round of changes to the final file, as long as they are accurate and idiomatic.

I do offer machine translation post-editing, but only in specific circumstances when the subject matter and text type is suitable for automated translation. If the automated output is very poor, for example for creative marketing texts, it is often quicker and cheaper to start from scratch, and the quality will be better. Please share any documents you have and we can discuss the best approach.

I am happy to review translations written by non-native speakers, but the fee and turnaround time will depend on the level of the English and quality of the translation. I also proofread English texts written by non-native speakers.

I use a Computer-Assisted Translation tool, which stores translations in a Translation Memory. This means that if you make an updates, for example to just one word, I can run the updated text through the software and pulls out the previous translation, so I can just make that update. This means your translations remain consistent, but are also cheaper and more efficient. The matches found in the Translation Memory are called “Fuzzy Matches”, and the discount depends on how close the match is.

If you have the original and translated files, I can align the texts in my translation software and create a translation memory for an additional fee. Alternatively, if you have the translation memory, I can use that to leverage previous translations in my own translations for consistency.

Google Translate can be very useful in everyday situations, like when you’re on holiday and you’re trying to understand a menu or talk to someone in another language. Even though AI has seen many advances recently, machine translation is still not an adequate solution for customer-facing or high-profile material and does not replace humans, particularly for audiovisual material. If you want your translations to be nuanced, creative, functional and precise, always choose a professional human translator.

Subtitling has many time and space constraints, as we naturally read slower than we hear. This means that we can’t translate every single word if we want the subtitles to be read comfortably. There is no point in crafting the most amazing translation when it is too long to read in the available time. Instead, we must prioritise the most important, meaningful information or choose more concise expressions. A good translation is also unlikely to follow the source text word for word, so don’t worry if the translation is quite different from the source. A lot of thought and creativity will have gone into making it suitable for the target audience.

I use Express Scribe Transcription software.

I use EZTitles. For audio-only files, I sometimes use Subtitle Edit for efficiency.

I use SDL Trados Studio 2019. If you have your own software and licence, like MemoQ or Phrase, I'm happy to use that too.

A Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tool is a program that helps translators work more efficiently. It displays the original and translated text side by side in chunks to make it easier to cross-reference. It also automates translation tasks, like referencing previous translations stored in the translation memory, checking terminology in a term base, and running QA checks, but it doesn’t use machine translation. When the translation is done, it reproduces the formatting of the original file on exporting.

Of course! Please share any subtitling specifications, like characters per line, lines per subtitle, reading speed and minimum gaps, if you have any, as well as glossaries or style guides before the project goes ahead.

If you don’t have any specific subtitling guidelines, I will follow the standards and norms for UK/US English:

• 42 characters per line for horizontal videos/37 characters per line for vertical videos

• 2 lines maximum per subtitle

• 17-20 characters per second

• 20 frames minimum duration for one-word subtitles, 1 second for more than one word

• 7 seconds maximum duration

• 2 frame gaps between subtitles (for 24, 25 and 30 fps), 4 frames for 50 and 60 fps

• No gaps between 2 frames and half a second

• Half a second no-subtitle zone around shot changes

• Italics for electronic media, narration or voice-over

• Capital letters for translated on-screen text

These rules ensure that subtitles can be read comfortably and there are no flashing effects around shot changes or between subtitles.

Yes, I can make a glossary with approved translations on your request. Glossaries, or term bases, are important for accurate, consistent and on-brand translations. Glossary creation is charged by the hour.