Dragoman Transcreation

Charts and Tables: Dates, Financial Figures, Statistics 1. Months of Year: To abbreviate months use these three-letter forms without a period: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec 2. Days of the Week: To abbreviate days use these three-letter forms without a period: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat 3. Percent Symbol (%): use the percent symbol (%) in all charts and tables in...

This is an important  update on our syle guide for Turkish lira. Effective November 1, 2018, we will be using TRY for the acronym of Turkish lira instead of TL in all English texts. TL will be used in Turkish copies only. For so many years we have sticked to TL in both Turkish and English translations. It was our editorial choice when different media and finance outlets were using NTL, TRL, TRY or...

Time may be expressed in one of two ways: 1. 24-hour clock: 06:30, 18:30. A colon separates hours and minutes; do not use a period. 2. 12-hour clock: 6:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. A colon separates hours and minutes; do not use a period. Do not write “am or pm” or “A.M. or P.M.” Please do not mix the styles; be consistent in the translation. You may be writing time differently before joining Dragoman Team...

Notes from the Editor – November 2015 Get the names of administrative divisions right Names of administrative divisions change from country to country. When you are translating or editing a text that contains names of administrative divisions, you have to make sure you are using the correct terminology. The key to using correct terms is doing research. County, for example, is an administrative div...

Does “sade kahve” mean “black coffee“? Rarely! It’s common usage is for Turkish coffee and “sade” means “no sugar“. However, if a Starbucks barista asks “How do you like your coffee?” in Turkish and the answer is “sade“, then it means “black“. I saw “plain coffee” and “just coffee” in some restaurant menus. “Sade” also means “plain” and “just” (only). What to do – and this is primarily for my fell...

As many of you already know by now, “Translation quality is not an absolute!” It depends on the client’s requirements, job type, intended audience, and above all the content itself. To manage quality expectations, Dragoman offers several service levels addressing unique needs of our customers. We require our translators to understand these service levels and adjust their skills & output accordingl...

Dragoman offers three service levels in translation: Standard, Plus and Gold. We advertise these three levels. Is it just a marketing gimmick or a value-addedproposal? When pronounced together, one easily feels that standard is good, plus is better and gold is super. But what is exactly included in a standard service? Can you and should you buy this service for all your needs? Of course not. Let’s...

Notes from the Editor – August 2015 Do not translate full company names Full company names are registered names of businesses in their country of incorporation and, therefore, should not be translated.* Canon Inc., for example, is the full company name of Canon in Japan. The company was incorporated in Japan as Canon Inc. So, if you come across Canon Inc. in the text you are translating, you shoul...

Notes from the Editor – July 2015 Style for acronyms Spell out the entire phrase the first time you use it and put the acronym in parenthesis. Even if the style of the source text is the other way around, use the spelled-out form first, followed by the acronym in parentheses. For example, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). After the first instan...

Notes from the Editor – June 2015 Get the job titles right Forget about translating job titles or using online dictionaries for that purpose! The ideal way to find a person’s professional title is to check the website of the company they are working at. We need to look for other reliable sources only when the company website is not comprehensive enough or when there is no English version of it. On...

At Dragoman we’ve simplified our review and editing process for translation and transcreation workflows. For localization and testing assignments or video subtitling & dubbing tasks please refer to specific guidelines. Background The thinking behind this is that it didn’t make sense to be spending the same amount of time on “Plus” projects as “Gold” projects. You’ll know which projects are which b...

Simultaneous interpreting is our core competence, because we were founded in 2005 as an interpreting office. Written translation, business language school and technology divisions were all added in later years. Dragoman manages up to 2000 interpreter requests every year. Most of of them are onsite but our online interpreting services are growing exponentially. Turkish – English interpreting is alw...

Do you need interpreting booth, microphones, headsets, sound system, speakers, powerpoint projector, presentation equipment or computer devices for your event? Thanks to our 20+ years experience in conferences we know some of the best interpreting equipment providers in Turkey, Europe and the US. We have tested all our partners in live events for hundreds if not thousands of times. We also provide...

If I was asked what one of the most commonly occurring mistakes I see in translations is, my answer would be the attempt to pluralize uncountable (mass) nouns. Uncountable nouns: Are seen as a mass and cannot be counted or separated (i.e., bread) Are not used with indefinite articles a / an Can be used with much / little / some / any (e.g., “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing“) Mistakes are u...

Integration is now almost an elusive term embracing the whole issue of interoperability among softwares. Switching into a new system is a turning point in the life circle of an LSP, and it is very much required. Each product comes with certain promises varying from timesaving to cost-saving, and indeed they are quite successful. But it is only natural that each product has certain limitations as i...

The use of left-branching sentences is a common problem in translations. Yet many translators are unaware that they are even writing them. In most cases, right-branching sentences are more appropriate and easier to read. So what’s the difference? Left-branching sentences Left-branching sentences can resemble a magic trick. This is as they keep the reader in suspense by only revealing at the end of...