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One of the things I do: scientific translations

SmarterScience has applied its expertise to a large number of scientific translations. Below, you find a portfolio selecion and some client feedback.

Minimum rate for scientific translations English-Dutch or Dutch-English: EUR 0.16 per word source language.

Minimum rate for scientific book translations: EUR 0.10 per word source language, with occasional exceptions.

SmarterScience offers scientific translations and also provides other services requiring scientific knowledge and expertise, such as scientific editing and scientific literature studies.

New clients looking for general translation services, please note that SmarterScience is not a translation agency and also see the page with partners of SmarterScience. By all means, do contact me if you are looking for the specific expertise SmarterScience provides. I'll be delighted to help you.

• Numerous patents for clients in several countries (several language combinations, subjects like organic chemistry and biotechnology)
• Forensics For Dummies by Douglas P. Lyle (English to Dutch - Forensisch Onderzoek voor Dummies, including adaptation and writing of new material)
• Various texts to do with wind energy and electricity
• Various texts to do with veterinary products
• Laboratory manual for a school, 93 pages (Dutch-English)
• Various texts to do with clinical trials (Dutch-English and English-Dutch) for various clients from all over the world
• Participation in an on-site harmonization meeting in relation to a clinical trial (English-Dutch)
• MSDS materials (English-Dutch)
• A pocket guide to the stars and planets by Duncan John (English to Dutch)
• Medical file, 224 pages (Dutch to English)
• Reservoir engineering report (Dutch to English)
• Astronomy - the definite guide to the universe by Duncan John (English to Dutch)
• Genetics For Dummies by Tara Rodden Robinson (English to Dutch - Genetica voor Dummies, translated and adapted)
• Weather For Dummies by John D. Cox (small parts translated and some new material written for the Dutch version)
• Chemistry For Dummies by John T. Moore (English to Dutch - Scheikunde voor Dummies, translated and adapted)
• Biology For Dummies by Donna Rae Siegfried (English to Dutch - Biologie voor Dummies, translated and adapted somewhat)
• Astronomy For Dummies by Stephen P. Maran (English to Dutch - Sterrenkunde voor Dummies, translated; Govert Schilling carried out the review and wrote the introduction)
• Physics article
• Various medical texts (French to Dutch)
• Medical articles and patents (English, German and French to Dutch and Dutch to English)
• Many minutes, notes, articles and so on for an international engineering company
• Letter to AGU EOS Transactions (English to Dutch)
• Various scientific texts (German to English)
• Several chapters of Java for Students by Douglas Bell and Mike Parr (English to Dutch)
• Several chapters of Programming & Problem Solving with Delphi by Mitchell C. Kerman (English to Dutch)
• Several chapters of Essentials of Systems Analysis & Design by Joseph S. Valacich, Joey F. George, and Jeffrey A. Hoffer (Second Edition, English to Dutch)
• Monthly, since 2000: abstracts for a magazine on information science (Dutch to English)
• Various technical texts for various clients (English to Dutch and Dutch to English)
• Several geo-engineering texts and reports (Dutch to English and English to Dutch)
• Report regarding hurricane damage to vegetation (Dutch to English)
• Several chapters from a popular-science manuscript (Dutch to English)
• Teaching texts (Dutch to English)
• Various IT texts and reports for various clients (mainly Dutch to English)

Examples of feedback

• We were not happy with work carried out by a translation agency. We evaluated it and concluded that we did not want to continue with that party. As, at the same time, you were clearly delivery very good work, we started looking to you.
  "We waren ... ontevreden over het werk dat werd geleverd door een ... vertaalbureau en hebben dat nu min of meer systematisch geevalueerd. De conclusie was dat we niet meer met hen verder willen. Omdat jij tegelijkertijd zichtbaar heel goed werk leverde richtten de ogen zich op jou."
  (Jan 2008 - A new client)

• "The editor was more than happy and so were we so thank you for helping out."
  (May 2007 - A Danish translation agency that had been in a jam and was directed to me by a translator in Spain.)

• "I was just reading your e-mail when I received the feedback about the translation. I'm happy to tell you we are very satisfied with the translation!"
  (January 2007 - A client's client regarding an office product patent translation)

• "I would like to let you know that the client was very pleased with the translated text. I have listed this in our database and maybe in the future, (even) more specialist 'science' texts will come your way."
  "Ik wil graag nog even vermelden dat de klant zeer blij was met de vertaalde tekst. In onze Database heb ik dit vermeld en misschien komen er in de toekomst (nog) meer specialistische 'science' teksten jou kant op. Zo... Dat wilde ik even melden!"
  (October, 2006 - about the translation of a geological engineering report: the evaluation of a field)

• "We are very happy with your expert translation as well as the pleasant communication. In addition, the texts' lengths are appropriate and you complied very well with the tight deadline. Our compliments!"
  "Naast de prettige communicatie zijn we zeer te spreken over je deskundige vertaling. Daarnaast zijn de teksten goed op lengte en heb je je uitstekend aan het krappe tijdschema gehouden. Complimenten!"
  (July, 2006 - about the translation of an astronomy book)

• "...impression is a very positive one. There is no other way to put it: You translate very well"
  "En die indruk is erg positief! Je vertaalt zeer goed, ik kan niet anders zeggen. Je maakt mooi lopende zinnen en hebt een uitstekende woordkeuze. Je blijft dicht bij de brontekst, maar de afwijkingen ervan zijn altijd zinnig."
  (June, 2005 - a reviewer with regard to a chemistry book that I translated, adapted and updated, my third book for this client)

• "...told me he was very pleased with your work" (Fall, 2004 - a contact about a patent translation I did for a mutual contact in Israel, who later called my work "very very impressive")

• "Oh dear, I completely forgot to thank you. It's wonderful that I can always count on you."
  (January, 2004 - a Dutch client about editing and translating)

• "I fully agree with you that the source document was a can of worms ... and under the rather tight deadline it was really difficult to make a purse out of a sow's ear. What had disturbed me most though was that there were parts left out and some small untranslated phrases. That is normally something that a careful proofing should catch."
  (January, 2004 - a Belgian client about a confidential, pre-translated "working" translation, which would still undergo final editing - non-scientific but highly technical. It consisted out of about twenty separate documents. I gave this client a substantial discount because I agreed that I had misjudged this translation and then time ran out. I should have asked permission to engage a third party to carry out the proofreading. Being a professional also means that you are capable of admitting mistakes.)

• "Fantastic. It's really "You ask, we deliver," with you."
  (June, 2003 - a Dutch client about my translations)

• "Wonderful! Thank you very much for your perfect cooperation!"
  (May, 2003 - a Dutch client about my translations)

• "Highly professional translation"
  (June 26, 2001 - a highly content Dutch client about a non-scientific Dutch-English translation for a campus conference hotel, first carried out by another translator and then sent to me)

  
  (A recent review by a science journalist of a book translation that had been offered to me at a fee I considered too low, and then was withdrawn.) -->

Translation of scientific materials is not trivial and my motto is: if anyone can do the job, you don't need me.

SmarterScience stands for high IQ, over twenty years of experience in science and technology, pretty up-to-date academic knowledge in combination with good language and writing skills. And when I need to log into Le Monde to purchase and read an article that is relevant to a book translation, I will. SmarterScience always strives to go the extra mile. Because you're worth it. And your project should be worth it, too.

Scientific patent translations are a very special kind of scientific translation. They have legal value and need to be extremely precise. They represent the opposite of article and book translations. Great writing skills are not necessarily required, but familiarity with the subject matter is. Interpreting what someone may have meant is a no-no and so is trying to create nicer sentences or correcting errors.

Patent translations tend to be confidential and highly scientific or technical. Scientific patents are many regular translators' worst nightmares - so to speak - while scientific translators enjoy them very much. Some chemical patents for instance include chemical formulas that take up three lines.

I have translated many patents for parties in Europe and beyond. They ranged from very urgent to not urgent at all and from four pages to one hundred or more pages. They covered various subjects, including pharmaceutics, medicine, environmental technology, IT (such as ANNs), chemistry, mechanical engineering, microbiology, and genetics.

Interested? Send me an an e-mail.

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April 27, 2008