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When does interpreting at the police become necessary?Based on the Directive 2010/64/EU, interpretation must be provided free of charge to suspected or accused persons who do not speak or understand the language of the criminal proceedings. Interpreters are also called when witnesses or victims have no sufficient command of the official language. Lawful interception practised […]

A contract is concluded in accordance with German law and translated into English. What is the legal status of the English translation? Is the German version always prevailing and the English text is for information only when it comes to interpretation and legal assessment of the contract? A translation becomes legally effective only if the […]

The legalisation is a certification of authenticity of a foreign official document by a consular officer of the country in which the document is to be used. The apostille certifies (just like legalisation) the authenticity of an official document. However, an apostille is issued by the country in which the document itself was issued. This […]

The notion that translators are an endangered species has already been circulating for some time. Machine translation (MT) offered by companies such as Google or Bing is, after all, free of charge and available any time. Granted: MT is improving year on year. It is fairly adequate for private purposes, for example when you are […]

A remark beforehand: for years I have been translating a variety of documents into English or Polish and certifying them in accordance with my official status as a sworn-in translator at Frankfurt am Main District Court. I am not aware of any single case in which a certified translation issued by me would not be […]

Translation agencies, with in-house project managers and translators are, for the most part, only appropriate for large multinational companies requiring their technical documentation or websites to be translated into various languages. The situation is different if you e.g. have a small or medium-sized company or work as a freelancer and need a translation into one […]

As a freelance translator and interpreter, I am responsible for and carry out all orders and only in my three working languages, i.e. English, German and Polish. Should you be looking for a linguist for any other language, I recommend the searching tool of the Federal Association of Translators and Interpreters BDÜ. You are safe […]

When searching for a translation service provider, you will encounter different professional titles. First, you should bear in mind the distinction between a translator and an interpreter (in German “Übersetzer” and “Dolmetscher” respectively). While translators only deal with written texts, interpreters render spoken contents into another language. The fact that neither the translator’s nor the […]

Unlike some other regulated freelance professions in Germany, translators and interpreters are not bound by any particular official fee schedule. A fixed scale of charges would be counter-productive as translation projects can vary greatly in terms of topic, scope and language combination. The only exception is the Law on the Remuneration of Interpreters and Translators […]

As the world’s foremost language English has some special characteristics. It is spoken as a first, second and foreign language in entirely different countries and contains therefore an enormous vocabulary. English spoken in Wales is distinct to the English spoken in California or Kenya. The differences are not only found in pronunciation but also in […]