As demand for Chinese-English translation grows, there remains a shortage of good Chinese-English translators.  Choosing translators in China can prove cheaper than from a UK translation company but what you might gain in price you could well lose in terms of service and after-sales service.

At SanTranslate we have a policy of providing a value-added service which entails using our selected translators to draft your translation, followed by a review by native editors and a final edit by bilingual experts.

Since many of our clients are in the legal and financial sectors, this level of accuracy and attention to detail is precisely what they appreciate about the service they get from SanTranslate so why not contact us about your Chinese translation needs.

Recent research from East Midlands Tourism shows that the economic impact of the tourism sector in the region has risen from around £5.9 billion in 2008 to £6.05 billion in 2009. Some of this growth can be attributed to the trend within the UK for holidaying at home but, as we’ve seen recently, the UK government is keen to increase overseas tourism into the country.

As a Nottingham-based translation company, we’d like to see local businesses benefitting from any UK-wide strategy that will help boost the regional economy so we’re also interested in helping tourist attractions, leisure and sporting facilities, hotels, restaurants, transport providers – in fact, any business or organisation that benefits from the tourist trade – to communicate to their overseas visitors in their chosen language. Even simple translation of essential information can make a visitor feel more welcome, and more likely to recommend your business as part of a visit to the UK on their return home.

Certificate translation is a service that we have regular demand for that can cover a multitude of requirements from visa applications and passports, to professional certificates and licences, as well as birth, marriage and death certificates.

When choosing a translator, you are wise to make sure they understand the fine details that apply to each. Here are some examples of the issues you can rely on us to deal with accurately and sensitively.

The translator’s declaration

Translation of a certificate requires a declaration from the translation company and/or the individual translator to the effect that the translation is a true and accurate translation of the original. A reputable translation company will never alter the original meaning – even when the client asks them to.

We have heard of occasions when clients have tried to pressurise a translator into giving a misleading translation, for example of a person’s marital status or professional qualification, but this is something that we can never do. Not only would it damage our own reputation it would only cause problems for the client further down the line.

Different certificates require different translators’ declarations

It’s worth ensuring that your translator is aware of the different requirements for the translation of different types of certificate.
Some types of certificate or document require the translation company only to make a declaration of accuracy. A job application would come into this category.

There are more stringent regulations for other types of certificate translation which require both the translation company and the individual translator to jointly declare its validity. A certificate for the UK Highly Skilled Migrant Programme would a typical example of this requirement.

For students requiring certificate translation, the translator must come from a suitable UK recognised institution and your translation company should be aware of this.

Spelling names correctly

If a certificate is to be presented along with a passport it usually essential that the names on each match accurately. The translator’s declaration should say this or note any differences, for example where the order of names has been changed.

At SanTranslate we always ask the client to check that the spelling is correct before we bind and seal the document. Without this step, the client could be in danger of presenting a document with an incorrectly spelled name which could incur a great deal of lost time and money as the document would need to be re-translated and presented (and probably paid for) a second time.
Whilst it is the client’s responsibility to ensure their application is correct, we do as much as we can to ensure that it will be. Our systems ensure that we can reference any translated certificate quickly and easily so we are happy to co-operate should the Home Office wish to make extra checks.

At SanTranslate we are dedicated to finding ways to improve our customer service.  This means that, not only do we have procedures in place to communicate clearly at all stages of a translation or interpretation project, our back room processes are also geared towards ensuring that the service our clients’ experience is second to none.  We’re thrilled to be one of the very few Nottingham based translation companies to have achieved this standard.

We also benchmark ourselves against other translation and interpretation providers so that we can learn from what they do right – and sometimes from what they do wrong.

It’s important to us – and to our clients – that the service we provide is not just good but that it is consistently good.  We want our clients to know that we’ll look after them every step of the way throughout a translation project, time and time again.  Which is why we’re delighted to say that the effort we’ve put into developing customer-focused systems has resulted in SanTranslate being awarded ISO9001 certification.  This process can take a long time to go through so we were thrilled to achieve the accreditation in just one month.

ISO9001 is a standard that is a quality management standard achieved by just 5% of UK businesses and we’re proud to have achieved our certification at our first application.  ISO9001 accreditation does not assess how customer-friendly our process are – it’s our job to care about that and to take client feedback on board – but it does thoroughly test that we stick to our procedures consistently, and that’s what’s important to us and to you.

We’ve seen a recent flurry of enquiries for certificate translation from Chinese into English – because more Chinese professionals are migrating to the Nordic region to work.  The translated certificate is required for their visa application.

SanTranslate can, of course, translate certificates into any language and our comprehensive certificate translation package includes a Company Declaration, a duplicate of your source copy and our translation to confirm that the translated text is a true and accurate copy of the document submitted to us.