Translating a website

I’m looking for someone to do some translating from English to French. No official papers, so it doesn’t need to be an official translator. Just some text for a website, my French is not strong enough to make it ‘flow’ properly. All together I guess it would be two A4 pages.

Sorry, no longer translating but a word of advice - make sure it’s a native/mother tongue french person. Don’t be fooled into the “I translate both ways” - a serious translator only ever translates into their mother tongue :wink:

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I saw an interesting example of exactly that very recently. A friend had written a letter to a French neighbour asking about some property. She wrote the letter in English then paid to have it translated by a recommended British translator. When the translation came back she asked a French friend to check that it was OK. He was horrified by the accuracy of the French it contained and corrected the mistakes. At the end of the day all was well and they got the answer that they were seeking. The neighbour who corrected the poor translation could not understand why they hadn’t been asked in the first place.

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Hi are you still looking to have the text translated? I have a friend that does translation work, he is French he lives in the uk teaching French in schools and private work. He translates any kind of document at a very competitive price

Try www.peopleperhour.com and look for someone with excellent reviews

That’s a bit ‘black- and-white’.
I’ve been in France since 1978, and have been translating both F>E and E>F since 1980.
I haven’t had any complaints so far.

Yep, and I stand by it as a rule of thumb, both as someone who has also been here for over a decade, has a bac +4 (maîtrise fle) and who speaks French 99% of the time. French is my second language and not my mother tongue which is why it is also a golden rule for translators and one which the majority of translators stick to. I’ve done so much proof reading of work from those who don’t stick to it but who should! Yes I’ve translated letters or odd bits and pieces for people into French but never full on translations professional translation work. A perfect example of this is en email I got yesterday for the Albigeoise which is taking on an international slant this year - the email was in French and English - the English “got the message across” so it was a translation but no-one in their right mind should ever pay for that quality, and it’s something I see more and more of, some bike parts I got the otherday had a horrendous tranlsation provided… in short, I stand by the rule!

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I agree with Andrew, very few people are bilingual to the extent of expressing themselves equally well in two or more languages with the same mastery of nuance, range of vocabulary/idioms etc. I “live” in French, virtually all my work-related communication is in written/spoken in French and I will translate into French as a favour, but professionally I only translate FR>EN. However it does depend on the purpose of the translation and it’s a topic that’s argued about even amongst the professionals, co-incidentally this question was raised just the other day on the professional translators’ forum PROZ http://www.proz.com/forum/prozcom_job_systems/313394-agency_seeking_translators_working_to_and_from_source_and_target_languages.html

PS the OP could also look on Proz to find a translator, but it would probably be several times the price and several times the quality of PPH - all depends what you need.

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I regularly do French to English (as a favour) but would NEVER offer to do the other way around. :anguished: even though I can and do prattle away in both languages more or less at the same time…:laughing:

In fact, when I do have to write something in French (for the local Bulletin or whatever)… I always apologise in advance and tell the Editor to please change anything as may be necessary. :blush:

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I use several website forums. Although they are all English language sites several of them have members who do not have English as their first language. In general their level of communication is high but their posts often give them away. They use English very well but the language they use is subtly different from that used by a native English speaker. There are, of course, many first language English speakers who who crucify their own language but their posts are quite different. If I wanted something translated well from French to English I would use a translator who had English as their first language, from English to French the other. Not black and white at all, there really are several shades of grey. Or as a non native English speaker might write, gray.

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I am lucky enough to have worked, since the early eighties, with medical
students,
as well as having taught in primary schools. I also teach civil engineering
in English and French
at the local Technical College.
Since 1989 I’ve been working with champagne-makers and so know all the
terms by heart.
I have no difficulty in translating websites for those professionals. I
spend 21 hours a weeks with different groups,
and am happy to say that I don’t make mistakes when I help them to prepare
their guided-tours, their mail, phone-calls, etc
The only black and white aspects in this domain is to be found in the
grape-varieties.
I suppose the rule of thumb helps when one feels sure enough of himself or
herself not to trust in others.
Nicolas Sarkozy is like that.

Ha ha… I didn’t offer to do it… but a French friend has asked me to translate the Owner’s Manual for a 1978 Corvette (his latest toy) …and that has the added disadvantage of being written in American NOT English…:anguished:

I’m concentrating on the Section 5: Service and Maintenance…(only 23 pages of that)… the other 5 million pages will have to wait :wink:

In my last post I was teaching French to foreign students at the local IUT, can relate to most of your career info but my time spent as a professional translator and proof reader leads me to stand by what I said earlier. It’s not about getting it right or wrong - no problems there either - it’s getting it “native”. I think we should just agree to disagree on this one :wink:

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Hi John… sounds like you are the Man iI need to help me translate the Corvette Manual… :innocent: