Proofreading

A good text does not contain any orthographic, grammatical or syntactic errors, is reader-friendly and well-researched in terms of its contents. Furthermore, it approaches the target group in a convincing way. To achieve that, it is often necessary to apply the two-man rule (also referred to as 'four-eye principle'), especially when your texts are to be published in many copies. By applying this rule, the text is checked by an independent linguist who can spot mistakes that went unnoticed.
Feel free to contact me when you need to get your texts proofread, edited or revised in English, German or Polish.

Proofreading

The scope of this service may vary depending on the case. On the one hand, it can involve spell-checking, in the course of which mistakes in spelling, hyphenation, paragraph formatting, punctuation, orthography, and grammar as well as omissions and typos which, despite wide-spread spell-checkers in text editors, astonishingly often make it to the final version. On the other hand, more comprehensive linguistic review can be required. In that case, whole sentences are rearranged to make the text more fluent. Proofreading work does not involve any corrections of substantial statements in a text.

Editing

Editorial review of a text is particularly laborious and requires specialist knowledge of the matter. This kind of proofreading is not limited to the linguistic level but it also involves the actual content of a text. While editing, imprecise terms in a given context (e.g. murder instead of manslaughter) will be rectified and a more accurate word will be suggested. Such substantial suggestions are not made as part of simple proofreading.

Translation revision

When proofreading a translation, it is not just the style and spelling that require thorough examination. The conformance of the translation with the original text in terms of the content must be checked as well. Therefore, the following aspects are put under scrutiny:

Accuracy: Are all terms used correctly? For example, is the subtle distinction between "threat" and "hazard" maintained in the translation?
Consistency: Are all items previously mentioned in a text phrased in the same way in further sections? Can the reader follow when all of a sudden synonyms appear?
Target group: Is the text comprehensible for the intended target group? Will, for instance, a British reader understand whether 'district court' denotes a German Amtsgericht or Landgericht?
Style: Is the writing style appropriate for the topic covered by the text? Does, for instance, in an official document, the colloquial "get" appear instead of "take receipt of"?

Order procedure and fees

You will receive my corrections in two files. In the first one, the corrections will be marked in and can contain explanatory comments. In the second file you will find the final version of the text with already integrated changes (without blue marking and comments; so-called "cleaned version"). If necessary, I can issue a formal opinion about the quality of the writing.

The fees depend on the scope of service and are agreed upon on an individual basis. In the translation industry, typical rates for proofreading work start at net 40 EUR. Editing and revision work is remunerated with at least net 70 EUR per hour.

Proofreading

Blog