SERVICES
I translate (from English to Spanish and from Scottish Gaelic to Spanish) in a variety of fields, specialising in the oil and gas industry and in children's educational literature. As a proofreader and editor my experience ranges from Scottish Gaelic literature to celestial mechanics.
I offer quality services at competitive rates. As required by the Code of Professional Conduct (Clause 4.3) of the Chartered Institute of Linguists, of which I am a member, I will handle your documents in strict confidentiality. Below is a description of the services I provide. Please see my Terms of Business, and contact me for a quote.
Translation
From initial contact with the client to submission of the finished text, I put every translation assignment through a strict process of development. As well as drawing on my own resource bank (specialist glossaries – one for each client – dictionaries, linguists’ forums, personal professional links) I will research your field or your industry as required, translate according to the style of the original and to the intended audience, and subject the final draft to a meticulous Quality Assurance system. My translation will be true to your original while reading in a natural way, with the ‘feel’ of a text composed originally in the target language.
I will also be happy to proofread and / or edit your final text, but please bear in mind that a separate charge applies to these additional services.
Copy-editing
Copy-editing prepares a text for publication. Some of the main tasks involved are as follows:
-
Structural review (checking that the content is appropriate and complete; establishing whether additional material is needed)
-
Language and style (checking that both of these are suitable to the intended readership; checking for clarity of writing, consistency in tone and style; checking for redundancy, irrelevance, contradiction, etc.)
-
Presentation (ensuring that the text is simple, clear and effective, and that title and headings are appropriate to content; checking the appropriate placement of illustrations in the text, that referencing is included where appropriate, etc.)
-
Checking grammar, spelling, capitalisation, punctuation, hyphenation, etc.
-
Checking language consistency (e.g. terminology, abbreviations, spelling, capitalisation, referencing)
-
Checking accuracy (misused words, errors of fact, incomplete references, etc.)
-
Checking adherence to copyright law
Proofreading
Proofreading is the very last quality-control step before a text is published. It includes:
- verification of copy (checking for discrepancies and insertion of amendments)
- integrity check (from cover and copyright information right through to end matter - appendices, indexes , etc. - as appropriate)
- proofing (checking spelling, punctuation, typos, cross-referencing, etc.)
- ensuring adherence to the house or set style (consistency in page layout, headings, terminology, spelling, hyphenation, etc.)
- format check (alignment, spacing, widows, orphans, bold or italics type, etc.)
