Matthew Butt
MB Translation
Professional Translation Services
Professional Translation Services
Matthew Butt - BA Hons, PGCE, Dip Trans IoLET, MCIL
Your project - Step by step
Maybe this is the first translation you've ever commissioned, or maybe it's a regular occurrence.
Here's a step-by-step guide to a typical translation project.
1) You contact me. Use the contact form or email me at contact@mbtranslation.co.uk.
2) You tell me a bit about your project:Â
     - source language (French or Italian),
     - target language (British English as standard, please specify if you require US English),
     - subject matter (technical, medical, business, general etc.),Â
     - target reader (expert, general public, employee etc.),
     - roughly how many words there are to translate,Â
     - whether you have a specific deadline,
     - the service you require (full translation or machine translation post-editing),
     - any other special requirements (output file format, translation memory in TMX format etc.).
3) If you have a sample of the text to send me, attach it to your email or copy it into your message.Â
4) Or you can send the full document(s) - as Word files, PDFs, scans etc. - attached to your email, for exact costing.
5) I send you a quote, explaining:
     - whether I can take on your project,
     - how much it will cost (The exact cost, if you have provided all the source documents. Otherwise, it will be a rough estimate.)
     - and how long I expect it to take.
6) If you wish to proceed, move on to Step 2. If not, please let me know so that I can delete any documents you may have sent me.
1) If you only sent me a sample in Stage 1, send me the full document(s) for an updated and guaranteed price quote. You are still under         no obligation to proceed.
2) If you wish me to proceed with the translation, ensure you have sent me the latest version of the document(s) you would like me to translate,   and confirm you would like me to go ahead, on the basis of the quote provided.
3) If you have any reference documents, like glossaries, style guides etc., send them over so I can follow them.
4) At this stage, it would be helpful if you could provide a telephone contact number (for urgent queries) and your postal address (for invoicing      purposes).
5) I will translate your document(s), contacting you if I have any queries, and providing progress updates as required.
6) I will send you the translated documents, once completed and thoroughly checked for quality.
7) On receiving the documents, please check through them to make sure you are happy and that nothing has been missed.
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1) Once I have delivered the work to your satisfaction I send you an invoice (usually by email).
2) The invoice explains the different payment methods available.
3) It also shows a payment deadline (usually 60 days from the date of the invoice, after which late payment interest and additional charges          may be levied, in line with current legislation).
4) I confirm receipt of payment.
I want you to be fully satisfied with the translation you receive. If you have any questions or comments - both positive and negative - please don't hesitate to contact me. I welcome feedback as a way of improving my services to clients, and ensuring my work continues to meet their high expectations.
Any files you've supplied to me, along with the translated versions, will be deleted from my system 60 days after the translation is delivered, unless you specifically request otherwise. Of course, there's nothing to stop you resending the files to me at a later date if you want to commission a follow-up project.
I hope you'll want to come back to me for any future translation requests. It's worth noting that updates to previously translated documents often work out much cheaper that the first translation.