What a fabulous year 2009 has been - thank you to all our clients!
Thoughts become things.
At the end of February this year, we had a Web-lingo team meeting and made a decision that this was going to be the best year since 1997, when it all started for us here at Web-lingo. Not only have we increased our turnover by 400% since 2008, the increase in translation volumes has done wonderful things for our self esteem, marketing material, salary increases, not to mention our cash-flow, and the mindset of our very productive pool of project managers and translators. Our success this year has allowed us to upgrade our internal hardware and software systems, as well as given us the time and budget to train some of our African language translators on software tools such as SDL Trados and Microsoft LocStudio. We continue to count our blessings and realise more than ever just how important it is to be positive.
Being a translator:
Should one of my children decide to pursue a career as a translator, I'll have to sit them down and explain a few things:
Many translators work an average of 12 hours per day, mostly without talking or interacting with anyone, while under tremendous pressure to meet deadlines. Also, in order to be recognised as one of the "best" in the business you'll need at least 10 years experience during which you will have to translate many millions of words while specialising in some particular field (i.e. legal, medical, technical etc). You will have to become seriously computer literate in order to understand all the software tools needed, not to mention gaining formal academic qualifications (BA, BA Honours, Masters in linguistics, PhD etc), as well as other very expensive stamps of approval. Over and above this, you will need a psychologist to help you deal with constant criticism from proofreaders who always know better, and the jobs you'll lose when you decide to take a break to feed yourself. Once they understand all this, I will wish them all the luck in the world, and recommend they reconsider plumbing as a possible alternative. I take my hat off to our translators - they work extremely hard! We cannot thank them enough, as sadly they are all underpaid, in this very competitive world we live in
Some interesting projects this year:
- Translating learners' licence books into 10 official South African languages.
- School books for various publishers into 10 official South African languages.
- Completing the Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 (more than 3 million words) in Afrikaans, Zulu, Setswana, Sepedi and Xhosa, as well as starting with the Windows 7 and Office 14 translation project. (Windows LLP)
- Ongoing daily translation projects for 2010: Translating daily websites for a British Casino Site into 10 languages (Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, French, German, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish and Swedish). Translation memories are growing daily, as the 60 translators on this team all work with SDL Trados or Wordfast.
- Ongoing daily translation projects for 2010: Translating the Dutch newspaper Flanders Today from Dutch into English on a daily basis, 360 days a year.
- New contracts for 2010: FIFA, Eskom, DBSA, PetroSA, Various online gaming groups etc.
- Other regular clients include: FIFA, FNB, Standard Bank, TNS Research, Spider Switzerland, Afrifresh, Microsoft, Amplifier Marketing Communications, Ogilvy, Dubai World, Pfizer, American Embassy, Ipsos Markinor, Rhodes Food Group, BP, Oxford University Press, European Commission, Bairds, Definity, Hyperlink Media, Dept of Premier - FIFA 2010, Total Safety, Medi-clinic, Health Outcomes Group, Translations.com etc.
Some important lessons for 2009:
- We were devastated when our trusted sales person left to set up in competition with us - the lesson here was that there is enough business for everyone, so best to focus on what you do well, and do just that. Everything happens for a reason and it is all perfect.
- When a client's proof-reader claims that a translation is of "poor quality", but refuses to provide valid reasons, get 2 independent reviews from 2 independent specialist translators to give a balanced view on the quality, and let the client make their own decision.
- Say thank you.
- Thoughts become things - it's been a good year, just the way we decided it was going to be!
Thank you for your support during 2009 and we look forward to working with you again in 2010.
Sonette Hill - General Manager
Translation Services - since 1997
Services:
Translation, Proofreading, Editing and Transcription
Languages:
Official South African languages, All European, Scandinavian, Asian etc.
Areas of specialisation:
Technical, Legal (contracts, patents), Financial, Marketing etc.
Project Management team:
7 full time project managers: info@web-lingo.com
Translation teams:
More than 300 pre-approved, mother-tongue, mostly in- country, tried and tested linguists (various areas of specialisation).
Documentation available:
Financial statements 2005 to 2009, Tax Clearance, BEE
Software capabilities:
Trados, Office 2007, Adobe, InDesign etc.
Pricing:
Quotes depend on subject matter, language(s), volume, turnaround time etc.
Clients:
Microsoft, PetroSA, Sasol, Development Bank, Pfizer, FNB, ABSA, Tasima (Pty)Ltd, Development Bank of South Africa, National Language Service - South African Government, Fundamo, Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy, Newcom, Touche Tohmatsu (“Deloitte”), Group Five, Slickstreet Marketing and their clients, Ogilvy, Mixit, Medi - Clinic, StarGrow, Department of Agriculture and their clients, Indigo Cosmetics (Pty) Ltd, Digital Planet, Blueprint Media, Flanders Today (Belgium Newspaper)
Projects:
Vista/Office 2007 translation/localisation for Microsoft (3M words), various legal contracts for PetroSA, Technical manuals and training material for Sasol, Flanders Today newspaper - daily translations 360 days a year. Various translation projects into and from 10 official SA languages.
Microsoft Press release:
"Web-lingo was one of the driving forces behind the recent release of Afrikaans, isiXhosa, isiZulu and Sesotho sa Leboa language interface packs (LIPs) for Microsoft’s Office 2007 suite and Windows Vista operating system."
Development Bank South Africa:
"Once again I could just say the word and you were there. THANKS, this kind of service is highly appreciated."
StudioRepro:
"A big THANK YOU for turning the job around at such short notice, you and your team exceeded our expectation working under such extreme pressure. My client was delighted with the end product and appreciates the quality and the efficient, professional manner in which the project was rolled out. Once again a huge "Thank You". From another satisfied client. Regards, Anthony.”
