TEXT-AND-TALK Academy
โรงเรียนพัฒนาการภาษาสากล
Language Development and Teacher Training School
1961 Phaholyothin Road, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900
Telephone: 02 561 3443, Fax 02 561 4381 http://www.langserv.com

“The Language Service Institute that Cares”

F A X-W R I T E^®FULLY EDITED

DOCUMENT TRANSLATION SERVICE

**(For both Thais and Foreigners)

WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE IN THE WORLD?**

(Are you in the U.K? In the U.S.? Europe? Canada? Australia? New Zealand? India? Africa? The Middle East?
Anywhere else in Southeast Asia?)

Wherever you are from, we can help you to
communicate and do business with Thai people ― now!

LANGUAGES TRANSLATEDTO ENGLISH:
Thai, Japanese, French, German, Chinese, Burmese, Italian, Spanish.

FROM ENGLISH TO:
Thai, French, German, Italian, Spanish.

WHAT WE DO. In a way, there is nothing special about what we do, in that when a customer gives us a document to translate for him or her, we do so: just like millions of other 'translation shops' the world over. Indeed, the customer in most cases could not care less how we do our job; he or she just wants to know that we will do it well, completely and correctly ― and, if we do so ― and he is a business executive ― we know that he will give us other work to do, time and time again.

Isn't that what business is all about? Any successful company, whether providing products or services, knows that the cheapest means of acquiring new business is getting it from old, satisfied customers. And these old customers will send other people (new customers) to do business with the company because they can vouch from personal experience and confidence for the quality provided.

That's what we do! We go for repeat business, and we are successful a result. But how can we know if a translation is good or not, and that the client whose document we have translated will be happy with our work?

There is only one way, and that is through a careful system of Quality Control and Assurance, just like that of a factory manufacturing bicycles! Indeed, these days few of us would dream of buying a product that we knew was not manufactured under strict controls ― for nobody likes the frustration of having to go back to a company to lodge a complaint, or contacting a service department only to wait and wait (endlessly, it seems) for a simple repair to be accomplished. Sure takes the fun out of owning a product manufactured for convenience, doesn't it?

Yet, strangely enough, in the service sector most consumers haven't yet learned that Quality Control Systems need to be operative there, also. Insurance agents shouldn't issue the wrong policy; surgeons shouldn't remove the wrong organ; aircraft mechanics shouldn't forget to tighten a screw (thus risking the lives of passengers); shipping companies should not lose or misroute one's packages or containers; and ad agencies should not publish a client's ad in the 'wrong' newspaper or magazine. But, unfortunately, these things happen all too often! And it's either because there is no Quality Control and Assurance System, or because it is faulty and poorly administered.

TRANSLATION ASPECTS THAT NEED TO BE QUALITY CONTROLLED.

1. Completeness. Did the translator work late into the evening and forget to translate a small part of the document?

2. Numbers and figures. Did the translator forget to type one of the zeroes in the sum $120,000,000 (U.S.)?

3. Names, dates and spelling.

4. Correct translation of key words, phrases, clauses, etc. (In translations from English, to ensure that "provided that" is not translated in the meaning of "provide", for example.)

5. Fluency, integrity and effectiveness. Would someone knowing both of these languages be able to tell which document is the translated version? If so, ours probably needs extra editing (and, sometimes, a brief 'rewrite' of certain sections)!

FAX-WRITE^® Quality Controls all documents in this manner. And two document workers ― one for each language version ― coordinate to produce the final translated version for the customer. Indeed, 25% of our 'translation' charge on any document goes to the 'editors'!

SO ARE WE EXPENSIVE? No! We charge rates competitive with translation companies located in the heart of our city ― and these have no Quality Control system at all! This means that, on a given document, FAX-WRITE^® earns 25% less money! But the repeat business comes to us, and we find that a small profit on a whole lot of work is a very good deal for us!

HOW WE PRICE. We calculate charges neither by the word, nor by line or page ― but through the application of a unique system that ensures fairness for everyone, and uniform service rates for all customers. It works this way:

1. We determine the complexity level of the writing in general, and what technical or specialized vocabulary, if any, the translator and editors must possess (in other words, the difficulty level of the document, and what type of background the language workers must possess). From this, we can accurately determine how many hours (and thus how many days, if the document is lengthy) that the translator, then the editors, will need to finish the job.

2. Already knowing the rates of compensation to be computed against these workers' respective labor times, we then rapidly ascertain company expenses and add on a small 'profit margin' for our own labor and supervision ― which yields the customer's price.

3. Work rates are based on level of difficulty and the intended use of the translated document:

A. Least is for documents that are not complex in construction and which possess only mildly specialized or technical terms (if any).

B. About 70% more is charged for documents with moderate technical vocabulary (though still difficult enough to require that the translator be an engineer, legal authority or scientist ), but of a sentence structure which is not highly complex. Also included in this Category are sophisticated business documents, such as proposals, formal reports, contracts of less-than-complex wording, etc.

C. About 70% more costly than Category B, above, are documents of highly complex sentence structure, technical writings describing or detailing the historical background of any scientific or mathematical subject; how a product was invented; or how a scientific discovery was made or a product manufactured ― or Annual Accounting or Auditing Reports, in which the tiniest error could damage our customer immensely.

D. 50% more than either Categories B or C, above, is the cost for contracts or sophisticated advertisements which ― with very little, if any, amendment on the part of our customer ― will actually be used as contracts or advertisements in the new language. This is because the time needed by professional editors and rewriters specialized in these fields will be about 1 1/2 times more than that needed by the translator!

4. From the above data, we do, indeed, then quote our customer a 'price per average page' rate, as applied to the document being quoted only. (Clearly, this accuracy, and this system of fairness in price quoting, requires that we be able to examine a document thoroughly before pricing it ― which will not inflict any hardship on our customer, as we explain below.)

5. Through the use of this same system, we establish a work completion date for our customer that can be honored ― and which usually arrives before the date on which he actually needs to have the finalized work in hand.

NOTE: If a document needs to be translated twice, for example from Thai into English, and then from English into French (which is often the case), the fee for that translation must be doubled in order to pay all workers fairly and by the same system.

HOW FAST ARE WE? Usually, we are about 25% - 50% faster than other translation companies who don't edit at all! The reason is, although such companies normally use full-time translators working in-house, a new customer's work has to 'get in line' until other peoples' jobs are finished first. In our case, we use very few full-time translators! Instead, we use a considerable number of part-time translators who hold down full-time professional positions during the day, Monday through Friday. But each will work 4 hours each weekday evening and another 12 hours over the weekend! (To understand why they do this, you may be sure that it is for two reasons: to 'keep up' with their English, and to earn extra money to pay for their car or home!) All of this means that a customer's work usually is begun the evening of the same day he or she gave us the work, and is continued until it's done. And ― if a customer needs a work done with great urgency ― a longer work can be 'shared out' amongst two (or even three) translators, after which our editors work overtime to 'fuse' all parts together as though they had been accomplished by a single writer!

SO HOW CAN WE LOOK AT YOUR DOCUMENT? If you're in Thailand, send a messenger, attach it to an e-mail or fax it. If it's a longer work, we will visit you and give you a quotation at your office. We also can send a messenger, or you can send it to us EMS. If you're abroad, send your document airmail express; or, if it's on disk, send us a zipped data file. Easy! At your request, we will return-mail your document if you don't accept our quotation (or even if you do), or will destroy it (or delete the data file) in the unlikely event that you find our quotation too high.

So there you have it!

FAX-WRITE® Translation Service
with Full Quality Control:

FAST ! CORRECT AND EFFECTIVE ! FAIRLY PRICED !

PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS. If you're in Thailand, payment arrangements are made
in accordance with local customs. If you're in another country,
just send us an e-mail, and we'll work out a method just for you ― in a jiffy!

For quality translation service, always choose
FAX-WRITE^®:
The only service of its kind in the world.

SEE ALSO:

FAX-WRITE^® REWRITING SERVICE

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