Suppose you’re in London with a chipped jug, two versions of a letter and a last-minute correction to the product reference. The earlier letter asks a supplier in France to replace the whole set. The later one asks for a replacement jug. The correction gives the number for the jug in your set. The person opening the French letter needs to find the right piece and tell you whether they can send it. Bring the request and the corrected reference together in the copy you send for translation.
Dialektikus UK Ltd provides written translation from English into French and from French into English. You could ask for a French translation of the corrected letter, an English translation of the supplier’s reply, or both as the correspondence develops. Our overview of English and French translation covers both directions. If you’re choosing a French translation company for a first assignment or a follow-up, start by saying which part of the exchange is in front of you and what you need to do next.
What the reader needs from the text
When you describe the purpose, put yourself in the reader’s shoes. The person at the supplier might have the order on screen and need only the reference and a clear request for a replacement. Someone in London reading the supplier’s reply in English might need to decide whether to keep the damaged jug for collection. A reply can confirm a replacement is in stock and leave the return arrangements open. Tell us who will use the translation and what they need to find out or do.
In a personal note, a friend who knows you’re still arranging your journey might read between the lines when you write ‘see you Friday’. Suppose a French version of the note will reach someone else who has offered to leave a book out for you to collect. Give the condition in the source and say when you expect to confirm your plans. The person leaving the book can then tell whether to put it out on Friday or wait for your message.
Wording that carries over from earlier correspondence
A short note can put you and the translation company on the same page when an item has more than one name. The supplier might use the name printed on the jug’s label while your order identifies it by a stock code. If both refer to the same piece, give them together. Where your organisation has already approved a name or a way to describe a recurring item, point to the sentence in which that wording was used and tell us where it applies.
If you come back with a follow-up weeks later, a copy of the last message the reader received can help you pick up where you left off. The supplier might ask whether you want the jug included ‘with your next order’. Include the part of the exchange that shows whether a new order is already under discussion. When you only need one paragraph of the French reply translated, mark it and give the surrounding message for context.
Which version to commission
When a correction comes in at the eleventh hour, it’s tempting to forward the whole email chain and assume the right change will stand out. If you can put the correction into the source text, give that copy a new date or version number. If the versions are already in circulation and the correction is still in a separate message, identify the source to use, point to the passage and provide the exact wording you want it to contain.
A change to one sentence can have a knock-on effect elsewhere. If your letter first asks the supplier to collect the damaged jug and you later decide to return it yourself, check the line about who will arrange collection and the address given beneath it. When an amendment arrives after you’ve commissioned the translation, identify the copy it affects and any passages that depend on the change. Ask what the revision would mean for the scope and timing of the work.
The copy you want to receive
Think about where the translation will go when you receive it. If you’re sending the letter yourself, you might want wording you can paste into an email. If a colleague will read it alongside the original, you could ask for a format that lets them match the passages, particularly where the document has numbered sections. Specify any part of the source, such as a subject line or a reference beneath a signature, that the finished copy needs to include.
Some recipients supply their own instructions. An organisation might ask for a translated letter to be sent with the original, or specify how it wants a reference to appear. Include the instructions you received and say which document they apply to. Any formal requirements and the requested file format are details to discuss when you enquire, along with the cost and timing for the work you have in mind.
If you’re working against the clock, say when you need to use the translation and what needs to happen before then. A colleague may need time to check the order details and send the French letter under their own name. If the English translation of an incoming reply is more urgent, explain what decision depends on it and the date when you need to make that decision. Give separate dates if each piece has a different use.
Make an enquiry about your translation
If you ask several companies for a quote, give each one the same source and describe the work so you can compare like for like. Say which material you need priced now. You may have an English letter ready to send and expect another French reply whose wording you’ll only see later. For the jug example, you might write, ‘Please translate the corrected English letter into French so I can send it to my supplier. The earlier French reply explains the product reference. I’d like wording I can paste into an email.’
To discuss a French or English translation with Dialektikus UK Ltd, email london@dialektikus.co.uk or use the contact page. Give the current text, the direction you need and any earlier correspondence that explains the wording. If you expect to commission a follow-up, tell us which part is ready to discuss now and what you expect the later text to cover.