Client rating (Jan 23, 2008)

ljkrauland — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:14:32 +0000

Je souhaite transmettre au traducteur mes félicitations pour ce document. Je l’avais lu avant de le transmettre et je suis conscient de sa difficulté.

Quelques modifications à apporter sont de notre ressort.

Client rating (Feb 25, 2008)

ljkrauland — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:06:47 +0000

Laurent is a talented linguist and fine professional.

It is truly rare to find a translator who is both a talented writer and talented translator: Laurent is both. Moreover, for this project Laurent demonstrated a deep understanding of our target readers in France and Germany.

We recommend Laurent very highly and we will certainly work with him again.

“I view the translator…”

ljkrauland — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:54:00 +0000

As found on a forum…

I view the translator in modern society as something of an anti-hero.

The translator spends years or more developing and honing an eclectic set of skills which he knows society neither understands nor values enough. He then struggles valiantly to use those skills to earn a living, taking test after test, filling out form after form, dealing with agencies, clients, the IRS, and others to make enough money.

He wins clients and then loses them. He is hired by a company and then fired during the next round of restructuring or outsourcing. He is expendable and he knows it.
Yet, he fights on, convinced that his skills have value. Ultimately, he leaves the profession and takes his skills forward to better things.

He quixotically raised his lance and charged the windmills, only to find they were all too real.

He is a dying breed which society does not recognize or acknowledge but cannot afford to lose.

Quality in Translation Services (1)

ljkrauland — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:01:09 +0000

Advocating quality in translation services also means, as far as I am concerned as a professional, setting limits to what can reasonably be done. It is most likely the only safe way to keep my standards at a high level. The French saying puts it right when it states that “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien”.

Everybody today likes added value. So do we translators!
Therefore, there must be some way to determine a critical ”point of non-return” in business processes. At that point, work ceases being profitable and enters the red zone of loss.

And when I say “loss”, it has to be understood for both the translator and their customer! Wherever time, energy or money are put to waste does not really matter.

From this starting point, I have taken Pareto’s first principle (aka “20/80″) as a standard evaluation of my work – and of its benefits.

My transcription of this principle goes as follows: No part of any business process should take (or cost) more than 20% of the total order value.