FAQs

Just send me an email detailing your needs and, if possible, attach the text in question. I will then have a closer look at it and discuss your individual requirements with you in order to find a tailored solution for you. Or call me if you prefer chatting over the phone (see “How can I contact you?”).

Yes. I store my files locally on a detachable encrypted hard drive, backed up regularly onto another detachable encrypted hard drive. My office has lockable doors and both hard drives are stored in a safe when not in use. I am currently also looking into improved methods of secure data transfer so my clients can avoid transmitting important documents via email.

I offer a large number of text- and language-related services, ranging from translation to text production (copywriting) and proof-reading. In addition to this text-based work, I also provide training in the use of language technology as well as consulting services to support clients in developing their individual language strategy.

I (Amelie Aichinger) personally work with English, German and Spanish. If you need help with other languages, please feel free to still reach out; I will ensure that your project is handled by of one of my trusted and accredited colleagues.

First and foremost, a German version of your English original—or an English version of a German text. But translation is much more than just replacing English words with German words and tweaking the grammar: German-speaking readers have different expectations of how information should be presented to them. So don’t be surprised if your translation looks a little different from the original – it simply means that your translator adapted it to the expectations of a culturally different audience.

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question. It always depends on how complex a text is and how much adaptation is needed. Most translation agencies and self-employed translators use complicated metrics such as charging per word of the original text or even per “standard line” of the translation (which means you only find out how much you actually have to pay once the translation is done!). To avoid confusion, I base my estimates on the time needed and present them as per-project quotes.

Just like the cost, this depends on how long and complex a text is and how much adaptation is necessary. The average translator can handle about 3,000 words per day – which corresponds to roughly six pages of text. An estimate of how long it will take me to complete your text as well as a suggested start date will of course be included in my quote.

Maybe. The real question is: is it advisable? German grammar and punctuation are very complicated, even Germans often struggle with it. (A recent study shows that over 40% of German-native university students studying German demonstrate a severe lack in spelling and punctuation competence.) But formal characteristics of the language are not the only problem: you need to also ask yourself whether you know the cultural expectations of German-speaking readers well enough to be able to adjust your text accordingly. If you do and you have the time to take care of your translations yourself, go ahead! If you prefer getting professional help, feel free to contact me.

Of course! Even when I can’t provide a translation myself, I am more than happy to put you in touch with a trusted colleague in the language combination you need.

Yes and no. It very much depends on the use case and what a client’s requirements are, especially when it comes to tailoring the translation to a specific audience, but also data privacy! While I pride myself in using cutting-edge equipment and tools for my services, I am also aware of their drawbacks and risks.

Would you trust predictive text to write your materials for you? Probably not. So why would you trust machine translation, when the underlying technology is basically the same? Another compelling reason to pay a translator is the fact that we are humans. We understand the different cultural backgrounds of writers of the original language and readers of the translated texts. We understand things like sarcasm and references which would not make much sense in a literal word-for-word translation. We know which terminology our clients prefer, whereas machine translation is usually trained with a large volume of different texts that contain multiple translations of the same word, but none of them might match your text. We look at a text as a whole, try to make it flow and sound as natural as possible, when machine translation only works sentence by sentence, which often leads to confusion and inconsistency. And last, but not least: confidentiality is a huge issue when feeding your texts into free machine translation tools!

Writing convincing and easy-to-read texts is a time-consuming task. If you have someone on your payroll who is in in charge of your written content full-time, that is great! You already have your copywriting capability in-house. But if you do not, chances are that your colleagues (or you) have to create content in addition to their normal project workload. These people are too expensive to waste their talent on writing texts when they could be so much more useful pushing the boundaries of technology. So why not take some work off their plate and pass it to someone who does it professionally? It will save you time, money and worry in the long run.

First and foremost: peace of mind. You do not need to worry about a colleague finishing both their texts and project work on time. You do not need to worry about potentially overlooking embarrassing spelling mistakes. And you do not need to worry about the content not matching the chosen platform for publication. Your copywriter will take care of all of these issues. All you need to do is send me a short brief (see "What information do I need to provide in my brief?" further below) and the rest will be taken care of.

There is, unfortunately, no simple answer to this question. The cost of a copywriting project depends on how much text has to be produced, where it will be published, how detailed the brief was and how well I know my client and their specific needs. Just send me an email with a few details and I will discuss your individual needs with you so I can issue you a tailor-made quote for your project.

This does of course depend on the length of text, how much information was provided (see next question) and how creative it needs to be. A straight-forward blog post about a recent event does of course take a lot less time than creating text for a glossy brochure. I therefore cannot provide a general answer at this point, but I am more than happy to give you an idea when you approach me with your specific project.

There are three sets of information I need. The first set is information about the project itself, which usually entails the following:

• Subject (What is the text about?)
• Purpose (What is the goal you would like to achieve with it?)
• Audience (Who will be reading this text?)
• Channel (Where will it be published?)
• Visuals (Will there be images, videos, etc.?)
• Style (Does your company have a style guide or guidelines on how they communicate or would like to be perceived by readers? Are there expressions that should be used? Expressions to avoid?)
• Timeline (By when would you ideally need your text back?)

The second set is information about you (the company you work for) – this is especially important if we have not worked together yet:

• Background information on who you are and what you do
• Who is your competition?
• What is your brand?
• How would you like to be perceived?

The third and last set of information consists of project-specific details, which I will discuss with you on a case-by-case basis.

There is nothing keeping you from doing it yourself – especially with the advent of generative AI, which produces good (if unimaginative) texts in seconds. But you should ask yourself: is this time well spent and is the product of sufficient quality. But you should ask yourself the question: is this time well spent? Or would your time be spent better doing other things, such as administration or technical project work? Is this one of your strengths and do you enjoy it or should you better leave it to someone else? If you feel like you could be spending your time on much more useful tasks, please feel free to get in touch.

I myself (Amelie Aichinger) don’t. But I have a network of trusted colleagues who will be happy to help you with your project. Please feel free to get in touch, even if you don’t need texts in English or German.

There is, of course, no obligation to have your texts checked by a professional proof-reader. A colleague who knows grammar and punctuation rules well often does the job. But do they have time to do this for you, again and again? Or would their time be better spent on project work? Things get even more difficult when you are writing a text in a foreign language. Unless you have been immersed in it for a very long time, chances are that you do not know every nuance of grammar, spelling and punctuation. This is where professional proof-readers are worth their weight in gold – after all, we are being paid to know these details and can take one more worry off your plate.

First and foremost: peace of mind. There is no need to worry about people potentially spotting embarrassing spelling mistakes in your presentations or, worse, in your glossy new marketing brochure or right there on the landing page of your website. After all, an error-free presentation of your company matters.

This does again depend on scope and length of the text as well as its visibility. If it is just a document for internal use, it might not need to be checked as thoroughly as a marketing brochure that is about to be sent out for printing. There are documents where you just need to make sure that there are no more spelling and grammar issues present, and then there are documents where you also want to make sure style and tone work for the intended purpose. After discussing scope and length with you and having had a look at the text in question, I will issue you a quote containing the fixed project cost.

Depending on complexity and scope of the task at hand (see "What does proofreading cost?"), a proof-reader can check somewhere between 1,000 and 3,000 words per hour. My quote for you will contain an estimate of how many work days it will take me to complete the text in question.

Together, we will have a look at the various aspects of your operations that include language. They are both monolingual (one language) as well as multilingual aspects (several languages). We will take a look at scenarios, determine your needs and do a risk analysis to set out policies for all these areas. In the end, you will have a thorough grasp of which elements of your business involve high-stakes language aspects and how these are to be dealt with. A language strategy could, for example, include a translation policy for international content.

No, you are by no means obligated to purchase any translation, copywriting, training or other services from me after we have established your language strategy together.

Yes, webinars and online workshops can be delivered where travel is not an option. Where time zones could be an issue, we will discuss the optimal timing and strategy that suits both you and me.

Absolutely. I personally find that in-person classes have the potential to be much more productive and tend to be less prone to distraction than workshops delivered purely online.

This depends on your individual needs. Do you wish to receive in-depth insights and work on a lot of practical examples? Or would you prefer to just get an overview and a rough idea of what is out there? Workshops can take anything from a couple of hours to a couple of days.

Unfortunately, I do not currently offer pre-recorded on-demand content, but this may change in the future.

This is entirely dependent on format and scope. Generally speaking, online formats such as webinars or online courses can accommodate more participants, but also mean that there is less time and space for individual feedback. Just like the workshop duration, the number of participants will be tailored to your individual needs.