The Pharmaceutical Approval Documents
A multi-national pharmaceutical company needed to translate its technical documentation and letters of intent for the governments of countries where they intended to market their products. They sent us the documentation as scanned PDF files, where the text was a picture and not editable text, and they asked us to transcribe it, assuming it would take several weeks for the size of the documents they needed.

We used Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software and Computer-Aided Translation Software (CATS) to change the scanned text into editable text, greatly reducing the turnaround time on the translation.

Later, the same company asked for the same documentation set to be translated into multiple languages for their efforts in other countries. Using the converted text from the first pass, we were able to send editable English text to different linguists and, again, cut the total translation time by more than 40%.

The Website Conversion
A manufacturing company decided to expand into international markets, and needed to translate their major web pages into Spanish, as a start. The client sent us a large set of Microsoft Word documents, containing very organized listings of the text, button text, and captions for illustrations on each of their pages.

We informed them that our team of linguists and designers could translate the pages direct, from HTML to HTML, delivering a finished product that would require only minimal design work by their people, in order to suit their look-and-feel needs. We saved them weeks of design time prior to their deadline, and helped them push their launch date forward by a matter of months.

The Multinational Company Policy
An occupational safety compliance expert needed a single page, containing a company’s rules for treatment of workers, translated for their plants in ten different nations, including the People’s Republic of China. In their initial inquiry, they asked us to wait to begin the project until they called China to verify which of its dozens of dialects they needed the policy translated into.

We called them back and told them the answer was…one. While there are over a hundred different dialects spoken in China, Simplified Mandarin is the national script. Even people who speak Cantonese read Mandarin. Problem solved: Twenty different translations replaced by the one the client really needed.

The Other Translation
A restaurant management consultant sent us a page from their handbook that had been translated, years ago, by what was described as a “bilingual” manager. They had received complaints that one or two words did not seem to “get across” to their Spanish-speaking clients. They wanted us to proofread the original work.

We did. When we called back, we found out that the manager had managed Spanish-speaking employees, but had limited himself to single-phrase directives like “clean the oven” or even just “floors” to mean “Please, mop the floors.” Their translation was done using an online translation website, which can be great for vocabulary, but usually falls short in the grammar department because, well, it isn’t human, and doesn’t know the intentions of the person writing the words.

Our team reworked the handbook page and sent it back to the client to try out. The client responded, a month later, by requesting a quote for the translation of an entire handbook.

The Newsletter
A local philanthropic organization publishes a newsletter for its constituents each month, and needed the work translated for its Vietnamese clients. They sent us the fully graphic version, along with a list of specific words that needed to be left in English, because all of their clients were used to using those words in English.

We adapted to the needs of the client and returned the document for their review. They have begun sending us the newsletter each month.