Translation |

Translation Services

How do Translators Work?

People often ask us: What’s the difference between interpreting and translating? In a nutshell, translation is the conversion of written text from one language to another and interpreting is the conversion of speech from one language to another.

The key skills of a translator are the ability to write well in the target language and the ability to understand the source language, the culture of the country where the text originated, and the thematic discipline of the subject matter—including current terminology.

Sheila has demonstrated the skills necessary for an interpreter and translator: linguistic competence, precision, the ability to think rapidly and express herself clearly as well as having excellent interpersonal skills. (Reos Partners)

Languages

We provide translations between:

English
Spanish
French

Documents

We have translated documents on a huge range of subjects from:

Justice reform—to gender equity
Organized transnational crime—to labor law
Education—to migration
Disaster risk reduction—to killer robots

Other recent translation projects have included:

Fiscal covenants in Central America to tackle the economic and social effects of Covid-19 for the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies (ICEFI)
American Institute for Fiscal Studies (ICEFI)
Climate Change Adaptation for CARE
Guatemalan Labor Inspectorate needs assessment for the International Labour Organisation (ILO)
Covid-19 press releases for the Guatemalan Tourist Board (INGUAT)
Food security of people with HIV for FAO

Please consider contacting us about your next translation. Our clients, who are from countries throughout Latin America, North America and Europe, regularly express how pleased they are with the clarity of our translations and the timeliness of our delivery. We look forward to hearing from you.

Books

We have translated books on a number of different subjects including:

A 600-page book about Guatemala:
Weavings of the Soul. Memory of Mayan women survivors of rape during the armed conflict.

The service was amazing!! Everyone was extremely impressed with the level of service – you far exceeded our expectations. Thank you for all your help! (US Army South)

What is the first step in working together?

the length of the document
your schedule
the type of document (contract, user manual, website, etc.)
the format (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
any special requirements

If available, email us a copy of your document since this will answer most of our questions. After seeing the document, we will respond with a quote within 24 hours. If you are uncertain about your exact requirements, we can work together to determine exactly what you need.

Our tips for you:

Make sure your text is clear and concise and contains no mistakes or ambiguities before you send it to the translator.
Plan ahead. Don’t expect a good translation to be done overnight.
If you have organization-specific terminology, make sure your translator has it before starting to translate.
Establish a long-term relationship with a translator so that she can adapt to your terminology and style.
Agree on requirements and project specifications in advance.

What do our services include?

We usually send you your completed translation electronically. The translation process develops as follows:

Upon acceptance of our quote, we begin the translation, working from your document word by word, line by line. We maintain glossaries of terminology used for specialized themes so that we can ensure the use of correct, contemporary terminology and we update these glossaries for every translation we do, adapting them to the organization we are working for.

Upon completing the first draft of the document, we go back and check it very thoroughly with the source document to make sure they match in meaning, style and intent—this is the second draft. We go over it again to produce a third draft, reviewing content and readability to make sure the text doesn’t read like a translation but as if it were written in the target language. Our final version is achieved after the final edit to make sure that the document reads smoothly and fully conveys the intent and meaning of the original. When satisfied with the quality of the translation, we return it to you as an e-mail attachment.

Experience

30 years.

Our organization’s leader, Sheila Wilkin, has worked in Guatemala for 30 years, dividing her time between interpreting and translating the English and Spanish languages as well as teaching English at universities in London, New York and Guatemala.

We work with people from all over the world on an unusual variety of projects. For example, in the past three months, we’ve enjoyed the experience of working with clients from Canada, Germany, Peru, Uruguay, the US, Belize, the UK, Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, India, Spain, the Dominican Republic and many other countries.

“One of the challenges of being a translator is being able to stay on top of all of the terminology in two languages from an incredible array of subjects. One day I will be working on a food security project, the next day on the conservation of coral reefs in the Caribbean. I work with organizations to translate project proposals or quarterly reports or with businesses to translate webpages, letters or publicity brochures.

In order to efficiently translate terminology, I have a huge collection of glossaries – and a lot of translator friends that I can call on! Although many translations are conducted by email, one develops relationships across hemispheres through correspondence. I am frequently lucky enough, however, to meet many of these clients when they visit Guatemala, the country I am currently living in.”

How do we manage to stay on top of all the translations?
Online reference sources are essential for gleaning background information about the topic and preparing terminology. We are also very thorough about preparing bilingual terminology lists, keeping them for years and adding to them whenever we work on the same subject again. These lists might be subject based or an organization’s specific terminology since we work for the same organizations over and over again.

Recently we’ve worked with over 50 different companies and organizations including:

American Embassy, AGEXPORT, American Institutes for Research (AIR), American Jewish World Service (AJWS), Inter-American Development Bank, British Embassy, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), Embassy of Canada, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Center for Sustainable Development, CEPREDENAC, CONRED, Danish Institute for Human Rights, ECAP, ECPAT, FAO, Guatemalan Coffee Growers Federation (FEDECOCAGUA), Friendship Bridge, Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies (ICEFI), IEPADES, International Labour Organisation, INGUAT, International Committee of the Red Cross, Mercy Corps, OPS/OMS, Oxfam, PAHO/WHO, Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation, World Food Programme, Rafael Landívar University, Rainforest Alliance, Reos Partners, Guatemalan Tax Administration Office (SAT), Office of Security Cooperation (OSC), SIECA, Southcom, Spring Strategies, Sustainable Agriculture Network, UNAMG, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNOPS, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, University of Marburg Germany, USAID, US Army South, World Bank

Would you like to learn more about our translation service? Simply follow these links:

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We Translate Ideas, Not Words