Glossary

Apostille

An apostille or authentication is a confirmation of the signature of the certified translator by the responsible Regional Court. In Lower Saxony, this is the Regional Court of Hanover.

Authentication

Please refer to “Apostille”.

Certification

When a translation is certified, the translator stamps and signs it to certify that it is correct and complete. A certified translation is only valid, if it includes an attestation clause and an official stamp. In order for a translation to be certified, the translator must be officially certified and registered at the responsible regional authorities. In Lower Saxony, this is the Regional Court of Hanover.

Interpreting

Interpreting is the oral translation of the spoken word from one language into another. When interpreting it is important that the meaning of what has been said is correctly translated. As making a speech is an ongoing process at very high speed, the interpreter is often required to summarise several sentences in one single one – but without changing the meaning or leaving out vital information.

There are two different interpreting methods: When an interpreter interprets consecutively, he/she first listens to what is being said and then repeats it back in the target language. A simultaneous interpreter (conference interpreter), however, listens and speaks at the same time and uses one of two methods. The first is called whisper interpreting and is meant for a very tiny audience whilst the second method involves a technical interpreting system (either from a booth or using a mobile system with a microphone and headphones).

If the interpreter is required to interpret at a court or other official event, e.g. at a wedding, he/she must be officially certified.

JVEG

The JVEG is the German Judicial Remuneration and Compensation Act. It regulates the payment of experts, translators and interpreters when they are consulted by a court or public prosecutor.

Source text

The source text is the original text to be translated.

Standard line

The length of a standard line has been defined to allow different text lengths to be objectively evaluated. The number of standard lines is used as a basis for submitting a quote or issuing an invoice. One standard line consists of 55 keystrokes and includes blank characters.

To calculate the number of standard lines contained in a document, the total number of keystrokes is calculated (e.g. using the Microsoft Word “Word count” function) and then divided by 55. A standard page consists of 30 standard lines.

Target text

“Target text” is used to describe the translated text.

Translating

A translator transcribes a written text from one language into another in written form. For most texts, it is extremely important to ensure that all the phrases included in the original document are fully transcribed into the final document.

Some types of text – such as marketing or advertising texts -, however, require the translator to deviate from the original text in order to adapt it to the linguistic flow and culture of the target language. The translator must observe the habits and knowledge of the target group and localise the statement contained in the text. For a successful translation, the translator must be able to empathise with the cultural viewpoint of the target group and to find the exactly the right words to convey the feeling of the text. This presupposes that the translator knows what effect certain expressions will have on the target group and that he/she is capable of cleverly transcribing a pun into the target language without losing the joke. Without this special knowledge, wrong expressions may end up in your translation – something that is quite likely to cause your company more harm than good.

On the other hand, in a legal translation, e.g. a contract, certificate, deeds etc., it is imperative to choose exactly the right technical term. However, local institutions, public authorities, processes, preconditions, documents etc. can vary quite considerably from one target country to another. In such cases, a suitable equivalent must be found or expression used that clearly describes the term to be translated in an unambiguous and comprehensive fashion so that it is absolutely clear in the target language what was meant in the source text. When translating such texts, the translator must try to keep as close as possible to the wording and syntax of the original text (source text).

The translation of both of the types of text described above can be extremely time-consuming.

Have you discovered an important expression which is currently still missing in this Glossary? I would be happy to add it. Please do not hesitate to contact me either per email or phone.