Translations into over 40 languages

In order for a translation to be authenticated, or officially recognized, it is necessary for the translator or the translation agency to be authorized and certified, and to provide its own authentication, guaranteeing that the text in the target language corresponds to the document in the source language in terms of content, length and meaning. In Switzerland, this authentication is recognized at the Cantonal level.

In order for the translated and authenticated document to be recognized nationally, a recognized notary must affix the translator’s signature. However, if the document that is authenticated by the translator or by the translation agency and by the notary needs to be recognized internationally, it requires an apostille or legalization by the State Chancellery.

The certification process actually entails two different authentication options: an apostille statement, or legalization by means of final certification by a diplomatic or consular representative.

The apostille is drawn up in accordance with the Hague Convention of 1961, which Switzerland signed up to in 1970. The apostille is a certification that validates the authenticity of a public document for international use. The procedure is much simpler than legalization, in that it does not require any additional attestation, whether in the country of origin or at the diplomatic or consular level. It therefore replaces legalization of the document carried out at the embassy of the Country in which the document will be used. Its validity is recognized only in Contracting States to the Convention and it must be affixed by one of the Authorities identified in the Convention itself.

For documents to be used in Contracting States to the Hague Convention, TI Traduce carries out its own recognized authentication, the notary authentication, the delivery of documents to the Chancellery in Bellinzona by post or courier, the apostille, and delivery to the client, by post or courier or in person.

As for documents to be used in non-Contracting States to the Hague Convention, TI Traduce carries out its own recognized authentication, the notary authentication, the authentication by the Clerk of the Court of Lugano, the delivery of documents to the Chancellery in Bellinzona by post or courier, the legalization, and delivery to the client, by post or courier or in person. The client will still have to personally go to the respective Consulate for final authentication.

TI Traduce can carry out the whole authentication process, up to legalization, within one day.

There are various ways to calculate the size of a job: by character, by word, by line or by Page. This is almost always based on a word count in Microsoft Word (in an open Microsoft Word document, click on Tools -> Word Count).

By character

Characters are calculated with spaces included. If characters were calculated with spaces excluded, this would be the result: wordsthatareattachedtooneanotherandalmostillegible. One word is roughly equivalent to 6 characters (5 for the word + 1 space) if the text is in English – therefore, a page of 1,500 characters is around 250 English words. An Italian word is equivalent to around 6.875 characters, according to the AITI (Associazione Italiana Traduttori e Interpreti), and therefore there are around 218 words per page of 1,500 characters.

By word

The word count is the oldest and most widely used system in the world. Microsoft Word considers the following to be a word: that which is separated by a space, a new line, the end of a paragraph, or some types of punctuation. German words tend to be relatively long, while in English, for example, words are shorter. This means that a client cannot compare the cost of a translation in multiple languages based on the word count.

By line

This system does not penalize those languages that tend to have long words. However, it is imprecise because the final line of a paragraph may contain just one word, so systems were invented to count half lines. These methods were then replaced by calculating the characters contained in a line, which, in turn, may vary depending on the language, but on average there are about 55 characters, or 7 words, per line.

By Page

There are various types of pages when it comes to calculating the size of a translation: legal, journalistic, editorial, and university. In most cases, however, for translation purposes, a Page consists of 1,500 characters. One Page of 1,500 characters corresponds to approximately:

• 212-218 words in Italian
• 250 words in English
• 210 words in French
• 200 words in German

There are between 6,000 and 7,000 languages in the world, spoken by over 6 billion people in 189 independent states. In theory, it is possible to translate into and from all of these languages. The most widely used, however, are Chinese, Spanish, English, Arabic, Hindi, Bengali, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese and German. Italian is the 19th most spoken language in the world.

It begins with reading the text to be translated. Certain terms are underlined so their translation can be checked, and the necessary research is carried out, both in terms of terminology and in terms of the cultural knowledge needed to fully understand the source text. If necessary, a glossary is created. Our translators specialize in a specific field, so the research and study phases are streamlined thanks to experience and specialization.
This is followed by the translation of the text, sentence by sentence. Then, if the first version reads like a draft, the translated text is looked over again and corrected. The text is then printed and left to “rest”. After this, the translator revises their own translation, comparing the source text with the final version, and correcting any remaining errors.

It is estimated that a standard page contains around 250 words (depending on the language). On average, a professional translates one standard page per hour. If this does not seem like much, you must remember that this time frame includes the research, the glossary, the formatting, the revision, recording the assignment, and invoicing it.